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Get your garden out

We've just had a tidyup. Our Bee Garden is slowly coming on. Battling a weird mix of soil down there, including clay. Also keeping finding buried paving slabs. The vine weed and scarlet pimpernel (both lovely) keep threatening to choke everything, so trying to keep it at least a bit under control. Sowed loads of wildflower seeds, but barely anything came up! Hoping by next year it will be packed with insect friendly plants. Excuse the refuse bags.
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This is what the Bee Garden area looked like when we moved in:
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I think that garden has just been waiting for you to move in @NatalieHurrell! Your planting must have changed the area so much already & when the plants are more mature next year you'll have bees everywhere! Don't worry about the wild flowers not germinating, we tried a wild patch a few years ago & are still getting odd plants pop up at random such as this great mullein (verbascum thapsus) with a 5ft flower spike!
 

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The Miniaturist said:
I think that garden has just been waiting for you to move in @NatalieHurrell! Your planting must have changed the area so much already & when the plants are more mature next year you'll have bees everywhere! Don't worry about the wild flowers not germinating, we tried a wild patch a few years ago & are still getting odd plants pop up at random such as this great mullein (verbascum thapsus) with a 5ft flower spike!
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Thank you. The mullien is stunning.
 
PARAGUAY said:
Any thoughts on this . Every summer get damage by Lily beetles. All the lily's are in pots as it's a small space. Very hard to control as we know and defy anyone to find one when they fall off. Just now nothing(everything crossed) and lily's in bud no damage or sign of presence at all. I noticed l have put a small Rosemary plant in a pot among them in winter for protection . The Rosemary taking off, could it be companion planting detecting the beetles
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stick an umbrella under or place on a tarp/shower curtain if in pots, give the beetles time to get back on the plants, then shake off onto he catch area and dispose of them
 
Good idea thanks. No beetle or larva damage . Buds bursting ready to flower. Might be the Rosemary or more likely seasonal.Maybe weed membrane cut to container size @not called Bob Not seen many aphids about either this year
 
PARAGUAY said:
Good idea thanks. No beetle or larva damage . Buds bursting ready to flower. Might be the Rosemary or more likely seasonal.Maybe weed membrane cut to container size @not called Bob Not seen many aphids about either this year
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That’s because I have them all on this freshly cut, well 24 hours ago plum.

Yesterday was perfect for prunus pruning. Low humidity, sunny, bit of a breeze and the ground moist from last weeks rain. So time to remove lots of growth.

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I second the rain, been jigging around trying a rain dance but only succeeded in embarrassing the cats who all went back to sleep! My water butts are really low so I've had to reduce the water change volume in my aquaria.
The pond looks so, so much nicer surrounded by gravel. I think it creates a more soft appearance so even the edging cobbles blend in. A collection of creeping plants & it will be perfect!
 
Hi all,
The Miniaturist said:
I second the rain, been jigging around trying a rain dance but only succeeded in embarrassing the cats who all went back to sleep! My water butts are really low so I've had to reduce the water change volume in my aquaria.
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And it hasn't got any better. I don't water the garden, so it is in a pretty sorry state (the Crocosmia really haven't enjoyed it).

What it has allowed me to do, is to see which plants don't mind a bit of drought.

This one, <"Sphaeralcea 'Newleaze Coral'>, has been absolutely fantastic. The plant doesn't last all that long (only two or three years before it goes really brittle and tends to split), and I guess a cold, wet winter would see it off, but it is really easy as a cutting and flowers for months and months in a sunny spot. It is a bit washed out in the photo, but is actually a good red colour.

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cheers Darrel
 
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Hi all,
A sunlit <"Abutilon megapotamicum">, from a misty Corsham this morning. It isn't a showy flower, but it flowers for <"eight months of the year"> and has survived the S. Cotswold winter for the last fifteen years. It is a slow grower, but otherwise trouble-free, and also easy to propagate as a semi-hardwood cutting.

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cheers Darrel
 
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We have lots of those around here as well. I think it's a case of everyone who knows one man gets given one.

I have kentish belle which I think is a bit more showy but not as hardy. It's equally been passed on more times than I can remember and has proven hardy for a few years. I have some megapotamicum cuttings on the go at the moment.
 
Yucca gloriosa variegata....likes old aquarium water!
We moved it last year as it had got too large, dragged the plant down the drive, then tipped the thing into a huge hole, expecting it to wither & die over winter or be fried in the summer!
 

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