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Glorious Spring Bits and Bobs.

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 9:11 am
by oldherbaceous
Well the weather isn't quite in the title yet but, by the weekend, i'm starting to feel rather optimistic..... :)

Re: Glorious Spring Bits and Bobs.

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 10:45 am
by tigerburnie
I'm getting stuff to germinate in the greenhouse and I've put some fleece on the "roots" raised bed, but I doubt I will sow any carrots just yet.

Re: Glorious Spring Bits and Bobs.

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 2:54 pm
by Primrose
My April Birdtrack email reminds me that cuckoos should be arriving any time now. Sadly our regular one just didn,t return to its breeding patch at the back of our garden about four years ago and no new birds have arrived since to replace it so its presence is sorely missed. Its arrival, like the first swallows of summer, always marked a special point in the season.

Has anybody heard one yet?

Thanks OH for starting a new thread. Hopefully the cuckoos have noticed ,

Re: Glorious Spring Bits and Bobs.

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 4:29 pm
by Diane
The promise of Spring really lifts my spirits - managed to do a bit of weeding in the flower borders and fight my way into the greenhouse, stepping over pots of things growing here there and everywhere. Some of the labels have disappeared so it will be a memory training exercise trying to remember what they all are. Some are in huge pots that just seem to be full of earth - nothing showing at all. They must have been something precious to me last year that warranted my heaving them into the greenhouse for safe keeping for the winter. Shall I tip them out and try to guess or shall I just be patient and see if anything appears above ground. Decisions... decisions.

Re: Glorious Spring Bits and Bobs.

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:17 pm
by Geoff
You shouldn't have done that! You've made me build a cloche and plant 18 Brassicas in it.

Re: Glorious Spring Bits and Bobs.

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:18 pm
by Primrose
Asks the slugs Diane ! They probably have their favourite plant flavours! Lilies? hostas? I have several pots outdoors which are in a similar state which contain hostas so your post has reminded me that a sprinkling of slug pellets on their bare surfaces will not come amiss as I expect shoots to start showing soon if the roots have survived the sub zero winter temperatures.

Re: Glorious Spring Bits and Bobs.

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 7:00 pm
by Monika
Oh, the optimism, OH! Our maximum temperature yesterday and today has been 6C and the easterly wind is blasting everything. But I too have seen the forecast and it really does look better from about Saturday onwards. The sweet peas are bursting out of their root trainers and want to be planted.
Hope you are right, OH!

Re: Glorious Spring Bits and Bobs.

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 7:42 pm
by Westi
Balmy 16 here this afternoon, but tomorrow & Friday is not as promising, next week looks pretty good & going for it this weekend regardless! That's why they make fleece isn't it? I'll need a machete to get in the back room if I don't get the Russian heritage beefsteak toms out soon!

Re: Glorious Spring Bits and Bobs.

Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 9:34 am
by oldherbaceous
Seems more like November here, but come Saturday.... :)

Re: Glorious Spring Bits and Bobs.

Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 9:46 am
by retropants
I just said to my sister yesterday, she is in Devon this week, that it was like November here. She then sent me a photo of the blue sky over the calm bay.

Re: Glorious Spring Bits and Bobs.

Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 3:12 pm
by PLUMPUDDING
What Spring? It's been cold, wet and foggy for nearly a week now and the soil is too wet and cold to do anything with. I hope that the forecast is right about an improvement next week. I've even considered only growing salad crops and flowers this year if I don't get started soon.

Re: Glorious Spring Bits and Bobs.

Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 5:41 pm
by oldherbaceous
Nature is just waiting to burst into life.....a week of lovely weather and all this gloom will soon be forgotten about...well hopefully... :)

Re: Glorious Spring Bits and Bobs.

Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:15 pm
by Westi
PP! It will be fine - when have they ever got the weather wrong? :) :) :) :) I think nature is telling us it is real though, enjoying the blossom coming out, the daffs & tulips flowering, baby lambs & other critters. I believe my starling family under the roof tile at the back have hatched their eggs as they are really busy on the wing!

Re: Glorious Spring Bits and Bobs.

Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 10:09 pm
by PLUMPUDDING
Thanks Westi, I know it will warm up eventually, but I'm so far behind with everything I can't see me catching up. At the moment it is quite tempting to broadcast lots of flower seeds and leave them to it.
I have noticed two pairs of blackbirds feeding young so the cold weather isn't holding them back and the wet weather means there is a plentiful supply of worms.

Re: Glorious Spring Bits and Bobs.

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 10:21 am
by tigerburnie
My tomatoes look like they are peeping through in the propagator and the chillies , having been potted, on are romping along nicely.