- thankfully the weather nice to get out to tidy up ( grateful 
)Thanks for asking @Doodlebug005How are you all doing? How are things @Miscanthus? I’m wrecked ( shouldn’t complain) got a hint there will be a visit from a very critical person🫣 The weeding… The cleaning… fitbit says 30,000+ steps today- In bed with a large G&T ( post shower) and a mini tens on my back
Hope everyone having a nice weekend
Thanks for asking @Doodlebug005
I'm in hospital with a blood infection as of Friday. Very fed up as it will set my treatment back but getting it sorted is a priority.
Oh noThanks for asking @Doodlebug005
I'm in hospital with a blood infection as of Friday. Very fed up as it will set my treatment back but getting it sorted is a priority.
Sorry to hear that. Fingers crossed you will get over that soon Chelsea flower show on tv this week- make a list of new plants for your garden - you’ll soon be out digging and planting
How are you doing Dan? Bloody slugsHow's it going everyone?
I made a low effort into planting my sunflowers, they're normally coddled on windowsills or in the greenhouse, but this year I just stuck them in pots and left them on the patio. The blighters are sprouting and have not yet been eaten by slugs (unlike one of my dahlias).
They did for my lettuce- just bought a tray until the new ones I sat come up! am a bit worried about sunflowers they never last long! I have a gardening question- my wild rose that is rooted on my side of the boundary fence is a bit scruffy- I m training it along the fence but a few lengths have grown into top of fence the neighbours side of the fence- is it ok to tidy things up from my side- i want to pull back the bits that should be on my side- to be fair they have never complained about it- but is it ok to retrieve my roses? and i want to straighten the top a bit- all on my side (I think) 
- hope all the tea & sympathy chatters are well
I'm OK (fair to middling - I would say crap is still bumbling on in the background, but I have at least replaced the washing lineHow are you doing Dan? Bloody slugs
How are you feeling @Miscanthus - did you watch chelsea- of course I was sucked in- saw a clematis called Gurnsey cream- it should be here tomorrow
). I have a very sluggy garden generally, I gave up on lupins decades ago because they just disappear overnight. I did figure out (during lockdown when I put vast amounts of effort in) that the dahlias do much better when they're fed (basic tomato feed for everything) and don't tend to get eaten much (just nibbled here and there), and the same goes for sunflowers. My normal rule of thumb is to only plant them in containers and only when they have 2 sets of leaves (gives the plant a head start). The trouble this year is I'm growing the dahlias from tubers so one has been sacrificed to the critters but the others are ok.
That rose is absolutely beautiful- what a sweet name ! Bet it smells divine too- I love lupins but we are slug heavy- just not worth the heartache-I have some dahlias this year- 2 in potsI'm OK (fair to middling - I would say crap is still bumbling on in the background, but I have at least replaced the washing line
I think you're fine to tidy up the roses from your side, we have climbers on both sides and try and keep them in check. Helped by the majority of our Clematises (clemati?) dying from rot last year, including a 20 year old Montana that had always been sturdy as anything. The only one that survived was the one that's prone to wilt every now and then.
Stuff is finally flowering here, peonies are out, roses and geraniums are coming on nicely and no mow may means the lawn is full of daisies.
Here's one of the first roses to flower in the garden (Olivia Rose Austin - I've caught on to David Austin roses in the last few years or so, they really are fantastic plants):
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- 2 in a raised bed
- the beasties omg
vine weevil did for strawberries and rhubarb - and i did 2 applications of nematodes- 
I was glued to Chelsea! Still in hospital. There was chance I could go home last Friday and be treated at home with another IV antibiotic that was just once a day. Unfortunately they had to do a blood test first and it showed I am so anaemic I might need a transfusion.How are you doing Dan? Bloody slugs
How are you feeling @Miscanthus - did you watch chelsea- of course I was sucked in- saw a clematis called Gurnsey cream- it should be here tomorrow
First I'd heard of it! Seems levels have been going down all week. I don’t have any symptoms though. Anyhoo it was too dangerous to let me go home. I've now had an injection to help and waiting for results of further blood test. 
My classmate with Thalassemia required frequent transfusions to deal with the anaemia. The good news was that she was always quite refreshed after one. Had we not been too young and my classmates too non-cool, I'd have made quite a few vampire jokes 
my favourite lab tech usually gets the brunt of them nowadays Makes me miss the big bush of little tea roses we had in our garden in our previous home. Wish we could have brought a cutting with us. waiting to see what colours the other two plants put out. Can't apply any sort of repellant because it's too hot and the plants will burn. So physical removal it is 
but at least right now my mood is not too bad. Especially after the breakdown yesterday. Being in long meetings (virtual) all day and hearing them all laugh and have fun (some were in client's office while the rest of us connected from home) was quite nice and comforting. Man is a social animal, after all 
Pretty earrings! xHope you're doing better, @Miscanthus
That's a beautiful bloom, @DanDanTheIceCreamMan!
I'd thrown in a few Lupin seeds a few times, nothing ever came of it. Although something ridiculous happened this year. As I've complained before, we've been going through a massive heatwave (40C+ day temperatures), crossed 50C in the national capital. People and plants dying. So I was quite pleased that my gomphrena that I'd sown a few months earlier were growing - they're pretty and quite sought after by artists as inclusions so I figured maybe a bit of commercial success? I'd made some cute earrings with flowers I'd bought from a craft supplier, was excited to use my own. Anyway, this was my first time growing gomphrena, but I could tell something was off. When the first bud bloomed, I realised that it was a zinnia. Which I'd last sown I think three or four years ago, and had never sprouted. It's a bit eaten up, but it's nodding its head around
Lots of mites, aphids, little orange-y bugs and lots more pests. I hate mealy mouth the most though. Every day twice a day I have to wash certain very spiky plants and scrub the leaves and get rid of the bloody creatures one by one by hand. And they're so icky!!! I'm very squeamish
Physical health is bleh - heatstroke and almost-pneumonia at the same time, mum's usual stuff, caught dad in some lies so I'm dealing with that (financial stuff, not anything else), super-hectic at work, haven't crafted in months so withdrawal symptoms, TV and air conditioner and other gadgets keep dying or aren't working at their best so the cost plus the boredom. And the dog bit me again.
But we have ice and cold drinking water, I can afford to buy non-alcoholic beer (the malt saves my kidneys from giving up), I'm actually contributing at work and learning stuff, weather might start improving soon, the cricket world cup is beginning this weekend, and my material manufacturer told me that we're in the correct weather for crafting so I just need to be a little less exhausted. And I love my seedlings and the ginger lily is sprouting and the Pup likes me sometimes.
So lots of silver linings.
I'm also planning to buy some fun makeup for exhibitions to push myself for some self-care
I can definitely complain
Anyway, here are my gomphrena earrings. Not a very good photo, but it will do. Tried doing a photo with the flowers but it really confused the camera
View attachment 2963704
ETA: I'd read that mealy mouth etc are attracted to lush green gardens, so I left my dried out Fenugreek plants in the containers - not much is growing anyway in this heat. Seems to have worked. Mealy mouth and others are a daily nuisance, but not as bad as previous years even though conditions are ideal for them right now. Worth a try, maybe, to leave some dried grass in?
I did go away and I'm going away again towards the end of June for a couple of weeks xThank you, Jar!
Last I remember you were on a holiday or about to leave for one? Hope that went well!
Beautiful Rose - joyful
Hope everyone doing ok? We are going through some things atm - hubby had surgery- stress levels off the charts for a while but hopefully things are settling down now curveballs… life throws them hard… and they bring their friends🫣….. Lots of deep breaths
Glad things are settling down @Doodlebug005 and I hope MrDB is doing well. How is it that things always happen at once? it's always the way isn't it.Beautiful Rose - joyful
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We can't decide whether it will attract convassers or scare them off, only time will tell 
radicalteatowel.co.uk
