Kitchen Garden Forum

The winter stream that appears down the middle of my garden path is in full flow, the leaves on the Apple trees are turning brown, even the caterpillars are being drowned (I hope!), but the Magnolia has decided that it is Spring and bursting forth in glorious colour - well almost. This global warming is really the pits!

Colin. What are the fishing rights going for ?

I have a friend who has two magnolia trees in her garden and this is the second year that they have flowered twice in the year. Dont know if this is usual or not but the flowers dont seem as big as the first lot in spring.

I've just about given up trying to work out what season it is. It's so dull here that I'm starting to suffer from SAD so what chance do I have of my tomatoes ripening?

Catherine, I'm not surprised the second lot of flowers are smaller, the poor tree must be exhausted!

Hi Chantal I feel the same way. We have just been outside sorting our recyling for the bin men and it feels like a warm wet October but the flower border is full of flowers, it feels really strange. The weather forecast is on at the moment showing more rain tomorrow in the North west it is raining here again, whats new. Our plot is totally waterlogged and I cant see my sweetcorn ripening though there are cobs on them. The only thing that has done really well are all my beans. I grew Hestia dwarf runner beans which have been flowering since the end of May and are still flowering now. The broadbeans did well even though I got chocolate spot, the late planted broad beans got eaten by those big rusty red slugs. Oh and my sunflowers are just starting to show their faces. Back to the plot this afternoon to see if I can do anything at all rain or no rain.

I have noticed that the Oak trees have hardly any acorn.

The suns on it's way folks, so get ready with the sun cream.

One of the gardens i work at has a really old Wisteria that often has one or two flowers on at this time of year, but it is carrying in excess of a hundred at the moment.

My Virgina creeper is already bright red, I'm sure it's a least a month early

Sun OH, what the hell is that?

oldherbaceous wrote:The suns on it's way folks, so get ready with the sun cream.

What's this sun of which you speak, o wise one

Here the last few days have been dark as an arctic night.

I haven't bothered to check the Welsh for "sun cream" as I don't think it will be needed

Tywydd hynod o ofnadwy is a more usual phrase - = amazingly awful weather

One thing i have learnt through my long and twisting road of life is, you can always trust a clock winder.