Starved of gardening talk

Thanks Callistemon, I'll give that a go and hope they take. We visited an island near Auckland while there one Christmas and it was covered in them. Beautiful! I would love one in my garden.

Eliane It can take longer than a year for Pohutukaw seeds to germinate, quite often 2-3 years. I hope you haven't thrown the old ones away.

They also grow very well near the sea, so obviously love a bit of sand near their roots.

This may help

projectcrimson.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/How-to-Grow-Brochure-updated-2015.pdf

They can grow enormous in the righ conditions but I suspect maybe the cooler climate of the UK will curb that.

The weather is mild, at the moment and some summer flowering plants in my garden are still in full leaf. But I’d warn against too drastic pruning at the moment. The Beast from the East didn’t arrive until March and devastated some plants.
On a positive note, it is lovely to see the bulbs coming up and the birds busy looking for nesting sites.
The blue tits are hopping in and out of the nesting boxes.

We trimmed back the old leaves on the Hellibores yesterday so now we can see the flowers

If you want garden chat and advice, have you tried the BBC Gardeners world forum which is an off shoot of the BBC gardeners world forums.
It is really helpful.

What I see in my garden right now is all I ger at present is the view of my rather soggy flower beds

Thanks BradfordLass for the link.

I did think that the flowering trees were Callistemon then realised that the flowers were a different shape.
They were in flower at the beginning of October, so could they have been Rata not Pohutukaw?

Callistemon - I've just realised that your username means a plant.
I could be wrong, but I think there were some growing in our part of SW France. Or something similar.

Yes! I have one in the garden, can see it from the kitchen window.

Our bulbs are all starting to show above the soil and some of my primroses are in flower. The violas i potted up in the autum are also in flower and theb end of last week i made up some feed for them as they are all in pots. Signs of spring on the way, we will soon be able to potter outside and enjoy longer days.

Thanks BradfordLass. It sounds like I should have been more patient. Will try again!

In the meantime my cousin sent me a cushion for Christmas.

I've just finished spreading 9 bags of 'farmyard manure' wonderful stuff? I wanted to finish it sooner but that dreaded virus that we all had put things back.

I've never enjoyed the look of daffs when they come to their end ( I know ☹️) but I'm a bit anal with untidy plants.
So, I've got 16 small pots with 5/6 daffs in each that I will place around the garden. That means when they are past their best they can go behind the sheds.

I've got Irises that are about a foot tall ? My lillies are showing. A new one for me this year is: Fratillaria imperialis. They have just started showing.

They only bad thing is: I lost one of my winter clematis. It all happened in one week?

Can I put a shout out here for those with a slug problem. Look at nematodes. You have to start using it in late march.
IT WORKS ?

It’s been so wet the last few months in South Wales that our front lawn is 75% moss, we succeeded in clearing most of it last summer, now it’s even worse.

Any tips?

LadyGracie - you have to keep at it and don't forget to aerate the lawn regularly to help drainage. A dose of weed and feed in the spring could help.
When - if! - it stops raining here in the south west I shall try moving some perennials. I've not done it during winter before, usually in the early spring, but as I don't get any frost in my sheltered garden I thought I'd try it.
Does anyone have any experience of doing this kind of work during the winter months please, and can advise?

I have started clearing the land at the side of our flat. A mass of shambles and buddhlea. Have a brilliant pair of thick gloves now so don't get pickles. But am aiming to clear a patch for a Base camp where I can sit and have a cup of tea.
Also need a potting table and some shelves. Am tempted to buy a little bistro set.
Will bring some plants over from the house and any roses DD doesn't want. Have ordered 5 patio fruit trees for pots to start off with. I must be mad. Will take some photos to show you.

Tete a Tete. They are lovely
Mine are nowhere near yet but my Graham Thomas roses have bearing flowers. Rather soggy and sad flowers when frost has got them.

My garden is still very wet and I don't really want to compress the ground much more.

Thank you Gaunt47 I do aerate but obviously may need to do it more often and I'll try weed and feed.

Yes, lots of bulbs peeping through the soil. For the last few years I've taken lots of photos of the various borders over the period from February through to November. I've kept them on my phone as well as my laptop and looking at them really cheers me up in the these dark dreary days. It's also a useful way of reminding myself what plants do well and where. Try it when the flowers start to appear again.

tessagee … I'll try to remember to do that, its a great idea!

I'm still planting up Tulips here! Bought them around Christmas time in a sale. I've planted Tulips late before and they've always come up ok.
These are different shades of red mixed together. Should be nice later on.

So wet everywhere!
Funny I've seen moss growing everywhere, but I cant keep it in the shady Japanese style garden no matter how hard I try.

Lovely snowy garden FlossieTurner

Ellianne … your cushion reminds me of the Oriental Poppies in my garden!

Re pruning I’m never sure when is a good time. With some of the big shrubs/ trees I usually do them early before any birds start nesting in them, and Monty says that is one of his January jobs. I know some things are best left till later but I’m never sure what.

My patio fruit trees have arrived. So today must zoom to the allotment to get some pots and must get some compost. John Innis 3? I don't think I can put them in big pots yet as they might swim.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202001/medium-176229-20200110-142450.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202001/medium-849027-20200110-142421.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202001/medium-343290-20200110-141928.jpg

What variety are they loopyloo?

tessagee ... taking a leaf (no pun intended) out of your book!

I didn't realise the snowdrops had arrived!
If you look closely you will see the dreaded creeping buttercup is showing its leaves and a bit of ivy. I clearly didn't do a very good weeding job in the autumn!

These cyclamen are looking a bit past their best now, but boy are they hardworking plants. They gave been in continuous flower since Oct, and I dont do a single thing for them.
The leaves are glorious in their own.
Lots of jobs waiting to be done, but I will just potter for now.

DH has chopped down some overgrown fuschias and now we can see the winter flowering jasmine in all its glory, it is lovely this year.

Callistemon ... sounds lovely, little bright yellow stars. A precursor of the daffs!

Just bought myself some jonquil scented daffs for the hallway lovely