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Post by Rosefriend on Oct 23, 2013 12:29:41 GMT
How was the 2013 gardening season for you all then??
I am happy - it was a very late start and I did wonder if we would ever get a bit of warmth but all in all the summer was fairly good.
My toms were very good again, 2011/2 was better but I had no caterpillar problems this year . I am sure it was because the old neighbours trees were all given the chop..
Also as the garden next door was a bare shell in the end I didn't have many problems with S & S - I have hardly used any of the blue pellets this year.
Dahlias, Begonias & Co were all very good and my Alstroemeria 'Indian Summer' was certainly the best buy that I made and it is still flowering after months and months. I do so hope I can get it over the winter in the GH!!
My garden will soon be bare and asleep for the winter but already I am planning for next year - the plan to plant and fill the garden totally against weeds has worked - just odd corners that still need some shaping..
RF
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Post by Jasmine on Oct 23, 2013 15:14:53 GMT
Like you say Rosefriend - it was a late start. I was thinking back to still having the heating going in May. Then we had that 3 week heatwave in July which ended on the day the schools broke up  and the summer holidays were just perfect for sitting in and working in the garden! The apple trees were loaded with fruit, I've not seen so many acorns for years, the raspberries just keep coming and the flowers just keep blooming. It is so nice to still have the window open and the back door open and it's nearly the end of October. Hope we don't pay for this come winter time! |
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Post by Rosefriend on Oct 23, 2013 15:31:13 GMT
Like you say Rosefriend - it was a late start. I was thinking back to still having the heating going in May. Then we had that 3 week heatwave in July which ended on the day the schools broke up and the summer holidays were just perfect for sitting in and working in the garden! The apple trees were loaded with fruit, I've not seen so many acorns for years, the raspberries just keep coming and the flowers just keep blooming. It is so nice to still have the window open and the back door open and it's nearly the end of October. Hope we don't pay for this come winter time! We have around 20-23degC this week - things that I had already cut down are growing again - hope it cools down soon... Incredible amount of berries and nuts this year - I am never sure whether it just has something to do with the conditions being absolutely right at the time or the fact that we may get a terribly bad winter!! RF |
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Post by Jasmine on Oct 23, 2013 15:35:11 GMT
I think they say if holly trees are loaded with berries then it will be a bad winter and that has worked the past 2 years - can see some splashes of red from the study window but not what I would call a lot! Fingers crossed for a less snow than the past 2 winters.
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Post by Rosefriend on Oct 23, 2013 15:40:06 GMT
I think they say if holly trees are loaded with berries then it will be a bad winter and that has worked the past 2 years - can see some splashes of red from the study window but not what I would call a lot! Fingers crossed for a less snow than the past 2 winters. Never heard that before Jasmine...I am very much in favour of a lot of snow to protect my plants but I do realise the mess it causes... RF |
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Post by owdboggy on Oct 23, 2013 15:52:14 GMT
I would love to know how trees are supposed to be able to predict the future. A good crop of berries is in response to previous weather not future. The number of acorns on the Oak trees is supposed to be an indication. Well on the trees down our lane, the acorns are plentiful, but last year there were very few. The year before that, the best crop ever and if my memory serves me right, the year before that was a good crop. That winter was not too bad at all.
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Post by Jasmine on Oct 23, 2013 15:56:31 GMT
Absolutely OB but there's nothing like an old wives tale! I guess there is a rough 1 in 2 probability that the old wives tale will be right and so they will perpetuate! I wish you enough snow to keep your plants safe Rosefriend - Germany is a 1000 times better prepared than the UK so we can have none and that will be fine by me! Did anyone find anything new that they love? I discovered geums and heleniums...and continue to love my snowdrops but am keeping myself under control over snowdrop buying! |
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Post by Geranium on Oct 24, 2013 5:49:03 GMT
I think our summer was good - judging by the number of times I had my lunch outside sitting on the new seat!  We had a bad patch in June when the garden was open - typical! I don't like the sound of the long-range forecast, but as they don't seem to get it right for a week ahead, we'll wait and see on that one. Plants have gone crazy, putting on a lot of growth this year. They've enjoyed the sun and rain. |
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Post by Ladygardener on Oct 24, 2013 9:20:17 GMT
I think it's been a mixed year here. Winter lasted such a long time and the spring bulbs were weeks behind normal. The plants were plagued by aphids and greenfly with no ladybirds to eat them and the tits ignoring them. The summer was a good one and I was really pleased with my Tomatoes and Cucumbers for a change. I had a bad time with my Beetroot, hardly any reached the plate and my onions bolted and are all gone. Strawberries and Raspberries and the Blackcurrents were good, hopefully next year I'll get enough for jam. In the garden, the Roses were wonderful although later than usual. I still had Daffodils flowering in May!! Cosmos and Geum were great as were the overwintered Pelargonium and they're still flowering yet. I had a pink Cornflower in the bottom border, I think it self seeded from last year and it was smashing, bloomed right up until last week when I cut it down. My Potentilla flowered for the first time and farmersboy Sweetpea were wonderful. Jasmine Hesperantha Major has been flowering since July, so that's been a real winner too as has Jilly Argyranthemum (sp) and the overwintered cuttings of my hardy Fuschia are blooming still. I've been especially delighted with the Tithonia, some of them still have flowers although if we get many more very cold nights they'll be gone and Rosefriend Sunflower by the gate still has a couple of little flowers opening on it. My purple Monarda that came from Tig many years ago has given it's best ever display and a couple of rescued Begonia have been great. I've discovered Helanium too and have been delighted with Sahins Early which is still blooming after starting months ago. I'll be having Coreopsis next year thanks to seeing them here on the board too. I'll maybe think of some other points to remember about 2013 but that's it for now. |
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Post by Tig on Oct 24, 2013 9:46:59 GMT
It's not over yet! So far we've had a very good year, once the weather decided to play ball and warm up a bit. Things were late getting going but as our weather pattern appears to have gone into some sort of time shift to compensate things are still blooming their socks off which in previous years would be mush by now. All the redesign changes we made last year have worked very well for us. It has been great not having to mow.... and muddy feet are a thing of the past (apart from when I'm digging over the veg patch or making changes to other borders.) The toms eventually did OK, not brilliant though. The cucumbers - best year ever! Aubergines - success at last and a decent harvest from them. Courgettes & runner beans were fine once the weather warmed up. Onions and garlic were all attacked by allium leaf miner maggots, so I shan't be growing any in the ground again, but I have some garlic cloves Jilly kindly sent me growing in a covered pot. The potatoes in the bags didn't get blight, but neither did they provide much of a crop. Don't think I'm going to bother with them next year. Everything I've planted in the borders has done reasonably well, and the things I've moved have settled into their new homes without any major traumas. I've invested in a few more heleniums having gotten sahins early through the winter and it did really well. There are more alstroes, coreopsis, hardy geraniums, japanese anemones, hellebores, heuchera and hostas than ever before, and quite a few will flower for the first time next year, all being well  I seem to have planted up a lot more containers with spring bulbs to enjoy in 2014 ... wonder whose to blame for that then  |
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Post by Jilly on Oct 24, 2013 10:03:13 GMT
Well I definitely remember the late start to the Spring & still having Tulips in flower with the first of the Roses Although some things got off to a very slow start (also remember checking the Dahlias every day waiting for new shoots ) I don't think I lost anything due to the cold Winter. I think it was a much better summer here than for quite a few years, although some things (especially the Penstamons) didn't manage to catch up an are only starting to flower properly in the last couple of weeks, in fact apart from emptying the patio pots so that I can plant my bulbs I can't see me cutting hardly anything back, this side of Christmas New things I discovered, included lots more Salvias (don't think I'm the only one on here) especially the wonderful Amistad. I've had the perennial Coreposis before & Limerock Dream has been lovely, but more of a surprise (thanks to a free pack of seeds planted on a whim) has been the tall annual Coreopsis, which has just gone on & on. The dark plum poppies from seeds Jasmine kindly shared were stunning, so hoping for those to come back next year. Not sure if it was the variety of just where I planted them, but it was the best year ever for Sweetpeas. The tomatoes grew well, but they certainly took their own sweet time to ripen, but they did get going eventually & I'm still using the ones ripening indoors now. The chillies not so good, thought it was a good plan to grow them inside in the porch, but my biggest crop turned out to be whitefly , still I've cut them back to overwinter & think they may be going outside next year as usual. Huge crop of garlic & hardly any rust, so it's storing well. A together not a bad year at all, but then they never are really, they're just different. And as Tig said it's not over yet. |
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Post by andy on Oct 25, 2013 9:37:23 GMT
Generally a good year. As mentioned, Spring didn't start until mid may. I had march flowering tulips in flower at the end of may !!!! Work was a whirlwind with the pond being completely redone. At home, ive had the best year for greenhouse stuff ever. Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and chillis are just awesome. Im still picking bowlfulls of chiilis every week. The flowers have been good too, marigolds, geraniums, begonias, ricinus, amaranthus are all still looking good !!! And now, ive got the allotment  |
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Post by Jasmine on Oct 25, 2013 10:10:46 GMT
...or 2 andy - some folk just don't know when to stop! |
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Post by Auricula on Oct 27, 2013 13:41:50 GMT
Good year down here at the Pointy Bit too  Late start but the best summer since 2007 meant a lovely show of summer flowers. It's still going here too, I have alstroemerias, tender fuchsias, penstemons, salvias and pelagoniums still in full flower in the beds and pots. We don't get frost or snow so things don't really stop - just slow down. We cut the grass 12months a year and the weeds don't stop growing ( unless they drown ) The new flowers I discovered ( thanks girls, especially Jilly Jasmine and Tig  ) were the salvias. I love 'em My AngelFace rose bit the dust  and my sweet peas were disappointing, but they were my only real failures. Can't wait for 2014.........bring it on!!!!!! |
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and the summer holidays were just perfect for sitting in and working in the garden!
We had a bad patch in June when the garden was open - typical! 
and my sweet peas were disappointing, but they were my only real failures.