Mid Summer Bits and Bobs.

[Westi]

I got excited today as very light drizzle - so light in fact, I didn't even get the little rain drop mark on the soil! Short lived as well, but I liked the wee cool down - did nothing for the plants though, but except for the poor germination on the late gap fill sows, most of the established guys seem OK.

I have a mega whitefly infestation to the extent they are distorting the cauliflower & broccoli leaves despite deterrent sprays & huge watering to disperse & drown the blighters. I have not seen more than a dozen cabbage whites though, I know they are a pest but they have a place on the planet so I hope the drop in numbers means they are vacationing somewhere less like a desert!

[retropants]

still none here, the park I cycle to work through burned badly yesterday, it got perilously close to the houses on one side. there's a huge swathe of blackened grass & shrubs this morning.

[Primrose]

Half the leaves on my stellata magnolia bush are now brown and dead and more are turning brown every day.

Can anybody please tell me whether this is an early leaf loss due to the drought or whether the bush is actually dying?
How does one tell the difference?
And is there a point where generous watering will halt the dying process?

I definitely don't want to lose this bush.

[Stephen]

No, no rain, nor any forecast (15% chance overnight Sun 14 to Mon 15 is the best on offer).

[tigerburnie]

My distant memories of the 1976 drought was that some plants did succumb to the drought, I recall my Dad used to use the bath water(after we had a bath) for watering non edibles, he said the soapy water added as a foliage spray helped get rid of aphids.
As for your cabbage white butterflies, I think I may have them all, the garden is awash with various butterflies after having none not much more than a week ago.

[peter]

Living on a school premises as a child, I recall the stench as the urinals auto-flush was turned off to save water, switched on for an hour in the evening after school closed and cleaners were in.

Wasn't that the worst extended high temperature and drought combined?
Has this current one exceeded it now?

[peter]

Almost done, had to take a couple of shelves down and rearrange the small bits of furniture, bedside stand, magazine rack/table and the rocking chair will have to go when winter comes.
Get a couple of old throws from the house and the dogs can use the sofas.

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[oldherbaceous]

Excellent job, Peter!

[Primrose]

Looks very cosy and I'm sure the dogs will appreciate the luxury.
Are you taking B & B bookings for it????????

[Shallot Man]

peter. Do you take on outside jobs.

[tigerburnie]

We had a drop more rain over night, water butts almost full to the top and the garden won't need watering today, even the grass is looking greener!
Off to the hospital for a CT scan to see if they got all the cancer out, I won't get any results today though, I pass a community garden on the way in Brechin, I have some seeds to drop off for them, take care in heat all.

[Shallot Man]

Bought 12.5 KG of no mess bird seed from a well-known seed merchant. Birds are feed using a ground cage [to stop the feral Pigeon's ]
The birds will not touch the sunflower hearts. Chucking them to the pigeons each night. Trouble is I have got about three quarters to go. I note on the bag expiry date is 25-05-23. Any ideas ?

[oldherbaceous]

Hope all went well at the Hospital, tigerburnie and they come back with good results from the scan.

[Geoff]

Strange that - I buy this one and everything goes https://willowparkseeds.co.uk/product/2 ... gbird-mix/ Some gets mixed with breadcrumbs and black sunflower seeds on the table and some goes straight in feeders.

[Primrose]

Shallotman. Do you know anybody who keeps chickens? Am sure they would soon make short work of your surplus seed. Or if you have an RSPCA charity shop in your local area they
could probably find a good home for your surplus. Mind you things may change in winter when all birds get more hungry and there's less food about.