Gran/Grandads Gardening Corner

My DF used the pickle the home-grown shallots - he would do them in the kitchen and shed no tears whilst DM and I would be in another room, tears streaming down our faces

I don't pickle the shallots, haven't the patience to peel them and probably wouldn't eat them. I use the big ones instead of an onion if cooking a dish for one, they soften more quickly.

Do you pickle them, I love pickled shallots, mmmmm.

Banana shallots are the big ones found in supermarkets. Nice mild flavour and easier to peel than the little ones. Last year's multiplied but each only measured about an inch. I am so lazy that most of them are still hanging in their string bag in the shed, I keep buying instead. The onions were only 2/3 the size of usual too. They didn't swell for ages, perhaps it was too cold and/or dry.

Roses I have sent you a PM.

What are banana shallots shysal?

By the way Peeps and Shysal we are meeting at the Dunelm Mill on the outskirts of Swindon ( on the A420) so easy to get to, on the 28th March at 2 pm if you are interested?

Well, in that case Peeps maybe you and shysal and me will have to meet up at the cafe there some time.

Planted my onion and banana shallot sets today. Last year's were very disappointing, both much smaller than usual. Any advice would be welcome to prevent the same happening again, or was it just a bad year weather wise?

Roses and Shysal I live near Aston as well, don't go there quite as much as I used to, but it's always a real treat.

I thought the café menu looked good! Yes, I like Bampton too, the next village to Brize, but have never ventured as far as Aston.

shysal the gardens are only small, but the pottery is worth a visit anyway, and the next village on is Bampton, worth a visit and a walk around, it's lovely,and where they film Downton Abbey ( it is Downton village on tv.)

I went out to repot the agapanthus on Thursday, thinking I would put them into a smaller pot, but they have so many roots, I couldn't get them out of the existing pot, and they have started to come into leaf, so I have topped up the compost and left them to see what we get this year. The spider lilies seem to have doubled their size too, so I a leaving them in their same pot also. Except when we were in the Far East, I have grown dahlias everywhere we've been except in this garden, although having said that, I did grow some pompom dahlias two years ago, but they were for my friend whose husband had died and as he did love them, I gave her a pot to take to the cemetery. One thing I can't seem to grow are lupins. You see them growing wild in a profusion of colours on railway cuttings and waste ground, but they perpetually fail for me.

Dahlias can be fantastic with the range of colours and type but mine always seemed to be full of earwigs, so stopped growing them. I find myself tempted to try again this year as I haven't grown them here. If I put them in pots in the front garden maybe the pollution from the road traffic will kill them off - the earwigs not the flowers

roses, I hadn't heard of Aston Pottery/café, the garden looks gorgeous. DD2 lives in Brize Norton so I must take a look sometime when visiting. Thanks for the info.

I've just put an agapanthus into a small stone pot. It's in the cold frame now. I could never grow them in my old garden, it was too shady and damp. I thought I'd try them again so I've bought a cheap sprouting bulb, to see how it goes.
If it survives I might buy a more interesting variety when they are in bloom.
I have seen that you can get pale blue and white ones.
In Australia they grow like weeds, as do Clivia, another exotic looking plant. Only for growing indoors here.

I would like some white ones! I do pale colours. good thing we are all different, it would be boring otherwise.

Roses I have Dark blue ones I don't tend to do pale colours.

We have pale blue agapanthus in pots, they are crowded in, and they do well on poor soil.They grow like a weed at the side of the road in South Africa.

Dahlias are considered old fashioned but are actually beautiful flowers.There is a place we often go to (near us) called Aston Pottery, they make fab pottery items,and sell all sorts of things and have a nice cafe too, but the gardens there are a riot of colour and their dahlias in particular are amazing, every colour and type, I have never seen so many.The gardens are around the small car park, so not huge, but everyone walks around marvelling at the array.If you look online it may have pics of them.

Greyduster They do need to be crowded. I have two Agapanthus in pots and they seem to do well. I lost one in the bad frosts a few years ago so I do like to get them into shelter in the winter. Mine are in a 34cm diameter pot. I am really fond of mine.

I have cosmos in my garden, roses. As you say, it lasts well into the Autumn. I have a yen to grow some dahlias this year. I used to grow them a lot because they go on flowering so long. Not everyone's cup of tea I know. When we finally cleared the last of the old shrubbery, we found an old compost bin full of compost. Goodness knows how long it has been there, but it was good stuff, so we dug it into the garden - bonus! We also managed to cabbage a load of decent top soil at the same time, so the exercise wasn't entirely wasted.

We always put some pink Cosmos in, although an annual, it lasts so long .
Just put some more lupin plants in, and three different coloured Erysiums, but we need other things as well, so a garden centre visit again soon.

You lot are putting me to shame. A gardener a friend of a friend recommendation is supposed to be coming today to move some perennials and top up the soil in a raised bed.
I have had so much trouble with local "buisness gardeners" who don't turn up. I am sitting here wondering when/if they will turn up.
I have 2 cubic meter bags of soil on my front driveway and have to carefull drive around them to get my car out. I will probably need more topsoil.

NTO I hope you enjoy your greenhouse. I think Sultan Mix is a type of Sweet William. They usually flower in their second year, and are great for cut flowers. Have you thought of Cosmos? They are lovely and can be grown in large pots.