THE NEW SEASON IN THE GARDEN - 2019

[Kiya]

Grandad your D I L garden looks very nice and not to much overlooked by neighbours

And not forgetting yours very nice and neat

[LovelyLadyLux]

@Grandad Both your gardens are looking lovely Your daughter in law has created a lovely inviting space where anybody would really love to sit and enjoy all the varieties she has planted there. I see she has banana plants (?) in the pots about the center........do they live there all summer? Don't get knocked over by wind? (Am only relating to here that something that tall and top heavy would be on its side overnight).

I've seen a couple of banana plants, have never tried one by am quite tempted as I'm seeing you guys growing them.....

I also find it interesting your daughter in law has her hostas out in open weather. Mine here are mostly in shaded sheltered areas as putting them out in the sun would fry them up fast.....

I'm also liking your very last picture where you have the geranium surrounded by a yellow flower. Love that look of combined planting

[Grandad]

Thanks everyone for your nice comments.
Two very different back gardens to two very different houses. My son and his wife have a very nice 4 bed detached house with a generous plot large enough to develop a proper garden. Karen now has a true interest in horticulture and together with their double allotment where they grow fruit and veg, she has her work fully occupied. She is a teacher 4 days a week.
We have a semi- detached town house. The site was small to start with but when I increased the internal size of the house and built the extension, that took nearly half of the available space. So I slabbed the remaining space to provide just a low maintenance patio. We really like the way it is and at our ages suits us just fine.

@LovelyLadyLux
LLL, bananas can survive in our climate although I lost my nice plant last year. They need to be wrapped for protection through the colder weather and to protect from frost. Karen is keen to have banana plants and spent time on Wednesday picking head gardener Steve Edneys brains on how to care for them. The ones you can see are small and I assume she will plant them in the border. She is trying to replicate the borders we saw at The Salutation on Wednesday.
I do agree about hostas. Mine, together with some ferns, are all on a north facing wall so no direct sunlight. They are thriving and the hostas are enormous.
The little yellow annual is a 'Calibrachoa' This one is 'Can Can Double Lemon. My wife likes them because even on the dullest day they stand out bright and cheerful.

[Horus]

My Hostas don't seem to mind being in the sun or the shade.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Really H? That is very interesting. I'd lo e to have some out in the yard and I http moved A few only to find them burned. Are yours a specific variety or type?

[LovelyLadyLux]

This isn't exactly outdoor gardening but I have a large Snake Plant aka Mother In Law's Tongue that sits in the corner of the living room. It doesn't move much but recently it has decided to grow one long long long (almost to the ceiling) long leaf. I cut it off and decided to propagate it by way of cutting it up into 4" chunks.

I've marked the bottom of each piece and right now it is laying on the kitchen counter to callous over.

Was reading the best way to start cuttings and believe it or not I've been reading that they'll sprout best in water! Hard to believe a flesh leaf would sprout in water but am thinking I'll give it a try. Not terribly sure how long I should leave the little leaf chunks but am thinking a day or so. Have to find a jar with straight sides or something to keep everything upright.

Apparently they grow fast and apparently even if you try to propagate the ones with yellow side stripes they'll only re-grow green soooooo wonder how they've managed to grow the yellow stripped ones if they don't even reproduce from a cutting true to the Mother plant. Won't lose sleep over this but it is a bit of a curiosity to me.

[Horus]

Try getting a straight tumbler and place something across the top like a small stick. Take your leaf and put a small piece of kitchen roll folded over to protect the leaf from damage and fix it to the stick using a not too strong plastic clothes peg or even a stretched open large paper clip. Position the base of the cut leaf about 1/2" into the water and peg it, with any luck it will start to grow some roots at the base.

[LovelyLadyLux]

@Horus Good idea. I'm going to give that a try THEN I'm going to cut off another leaf and do the same thing in soil. Am only doing a second leaf cause I have a drooping one so will see who grows first. The daughter in Quebec took some cutting of my snake plants 3 yrs ago and showed me how they've now grow into some quite lovely potted houseplants. They're not overly tall are at quite a decorative stage.

I like snake plants as they do provide the green but don't require lots of care and grow in less than optimal conditions which means my downstairs where there is only 1 window (so light only coming from 1 direction).

[LovelyLadyLux]

By way of an update - the snake plant cuttings are still sitting in water in a bag to keep it dark on the kitchen counter and not a root in sight. Granted they're not dying either but absolutely NO signs of roots.

I potted a similar number of snake plants in a pot too and they're just sitting. No signs of life but hopefully they're forming roots. Am somewhat tempted to pull one of them out and look but figure I should just leave them alone.

Moving on to another plant - I snipped off a stalk of really lovely copper bronze colored Coleus when I came out of the pottery studio Thursday and put it into the aquarium where hopefully it'll root. It isn't a big chunk but big enough to have node where roots should form and about 3 layers of leaves on top.

This year the City planted the most gorgeous coloured Coleus - solid copper bronze and they've grown really huge. Now that we're getting close to Fall and a frost (which will kill them) I figured I'd liberate a small branch (about 6" long) to perpetuate them. I don't often do this (liberate a cutting off a plant) and didn't take any early during active growing season (when they were filling out) but now that they're going to be biting the bullet soon I figured nobody would miss a small chunk. I'm hoping it'll root and grow so I can put it out front my house this coming spring.

Begonia tubers: Now that we're moving into Fall I haven't fertilized my one lonely begonia tuber for a while and now all flowers are gone. Lots of leaves and the plant looks lovely but I'm figuring I have to let it die back.

Should I leave it outside 'til a frost? It won't get directly hit as it is under the porch but it'll sure get cold OR should I bring it in and put it into the dark (aka the garage) 'til the leaves just die off as it dries out?

I don't know what I did last year as I actually thought I was throwing away the tuber as it wasn't growing. Was more than pleasantly surprised this year when it started to actively grow and then burst into bloom (wish the Bl**dy orchids took the hint. Two of their buddies are now gone so you'd think the remaining two would take the hint and do something before they too have to learn how to fend for themselves out in the great bid world).

[Horus]

On the orchid front I now have my third one in flower, it is a miniture version and very pretty to look at, I will take a snap when its fully open. Talking of Coleus plants, I have a beauty sitting in my kitchen window, it is very dark and red in colour. I was attracted to it as soon as I saw it as a young plant, I love this variation. Years ago I used to grow lots of them, but they can take up so much space and you do have to keep pinching the lead shoots out or they just run away. Even doing that they still become leggy and eventually they have to be binned which is a great shame, I may try propogating a side shoot off this one.

[Horus]

Here you go LLL, that pot is sitting in a standard saucer.

[LovelyLadyLux]

This is the snippet I (ahem) liberated

DSC_0055.JPG

I found the colour quite different.

I do like the one you have with all the rich burgundy colours. It is really beautiful and has a great shape. I know what you mean though that they sometimes get so big (if you don't keep them pinched back) and the flowers are zip.

[Horus]

Lovely copper colour LLL

[Grandad]

What are left of the tomatoes are now proving very slow to ripen. I think I will pick all that are left on the vines and give them a chance to ripen in my workshop. I can then dispose of the sad looking vines which have produced a good supply of small and tasty cherry tomatoes.
As mentioned previously, I have kept one tomato for seeds to try to propogate some myself next year. Mrs G would like me to try another larger and sweeter variety next year so I might have two varieties on the go.
Generally the pots are beginning to go over now. I did give them some water this morning but time is fast approaching when the annuals will be in the bin.

[FABlux]

I spent a rather hot day in the garden (30+) & have managed to unearth a few dianthus which had been swamped by the california poppies, weeds etc and cut back some golden rod. Was going to pull it out but a friend wants it to fill a large gap in her garden so will have to keep it for another 10 days until she gets back from the UK Have some new pansies & a cordyline ready to go in & hopefully tomorrow I will empty the wall boxes, replanting the osteospermums into the bed & maybe some marigolds which are still flowering. The ones in the beds are about twice the size of the ones in the troughs although they were all from the same stock.

Barry is going to cut leaves off the tomatoes tomorrow to encourage ripening, we picked 2.25 kgs of cherry toms Friday but at least as many again still left!

I accidentally broke one of my coleuses, stuck it in water & it has rooted well, they are very forgiving aren't they?

[Horus]

I am about to put some Winter Pansies in the front garden and some early Spring bulbs, love the Golden Rod, my dad always had it at the top of the garden, every time I see it they remind me of long hot Summers.

[LovelyLadyLux]

I'm starting to lag in colour out there. I did plant pansies a few year back and they morphed into Johnny Jump ups and started sprouting all over my gravel "lawn" and I spent the next couple of years pulling them out. Not sure if they cross pollinated with something or not but the pansies were yellows, oranges, whites and the traditional purple/yellow combo and all big but these little viola jobs were purple on top with yellow below and growing all over.

That being said I really do like pansies and so might just go and get some to plant for a bit of colour. I do like flowering Kale but often here it just bolts soon as it is transplanted.

Coleus are very forgiving and I'm hoping to grow this little guy into something bigger for next spring. I'm also hoping he retains his bronze colour but I can also see that it might/could change.

[Horus]

LLL, most Pansies are F1 hybrids and as such will mostly revert to the characteristics of either of the two parent plants that were originally 'crossed' to get the F1 hybrid and that is why you get something different popping up from the seeds.

[FABlux]

Barry & I agree to differ over Golden Rod, I like it & he doesn't, like you Horus I remember it from my parents garden. I admit it can be a bit of a thug but it pulls out quite easily & I have ready homes for any spare, so I am reducing the amount but still keeping a couple of clumps. I have never known it as tall as it is this year, it's way taller than me

Despite spending virtually the whole day I have still only done about half what I intended, 1 pansy in & a couple of troughs cleared & the osteospermums moved, a load more california poppies out & the Physallis have now been unearthed & lots of fruits retrieved Perpetual sweet peas cut down, & gone another round with bindweeds!

I bought small pansies, 6 yellow and 6 purple & white so I would be happy for them to self seed around.

[LovelyLadyLux]

I don't know if your "Golden Rod" is the same "Golden Rod" aka "Rag Weed" that is here but if it is here it is considered a noxious weed. Not really allowed to plant it as it can be invasive. Almost the same with California Poppies. Here they're a weed as they spread everywhere and can really take over an area.