Garden whinge

[Geranium]

Yes, mine are as well - and the worrying thing is that my Viburnum tinus by the front gate has shed a lot of yellow leaves! They need a good long watering. The vine has started, as well - that drives me insane.

[Auricula]

The cows in the field at the end of the garden were leaning across the electric fence and eating the flowers off my daylilies We phoned the farmer and he said he'd be down to sort out the fence...........sometime

[Jilly]

 

 Sorry Auricula but this was my first thought, do you know if any of the cows are called Ermintrude.

[Auricula]

they'll be called Beefburger if they do it again There are lots of cute babies with their Mums...who knew that daylilies were a delicacy for cows? I love to see them, but not to dwell on where they'll be going in a few weeks time but.... ehy can't they eat nettles and convulvious? Still, it's one up on Jasmine's bunnies

[Barbara]

Sorry A. Jilly made me laugh, but what a pain for you, and you a veggie.

[Auricula]

It's the ultimate insult Barbara.
The farmer came today though, so I hope he's put a new electric fence up there

[Barbara]

I hope Missy sent you that joke e-mail about electric fences, forewarned and all that.

[Jasmine]

Awww, you're not having trouble with the cute, fluffy, wuffy chocolate button eyed cows are you Auricula

No self respecting wild animal eats weeds! Not when there are tasty expensive ornamentals to eat to the ground!

[Auricula]

Yes she did Barbara
Yes I am Jasmine The b****y things have eaten all the flowers off the daylilies and about half of the foliage I wouldn't care but I cleared the boundary and planted flowers so we could see the cows in the first place They're big, cumbersome, smelly beasts ( who, admittedly don't know their days are numbered) unlike your fluffy bunnikins, who are sooo cute to watch
Penny had one yesterday ( bunny, not cow! ) and it got away, jumped in the stream ( very little water) and was thumbing its nose at her from the other bank She, being mortified as only cats can be, pretended great disinterest

[Jasmine]

They're tricky little blighters those bunnies! Bloob found one hiding by the compost heap and it charged up the garden with her in hot pursuit - Bonnie sat there sphinx like watching the proceedings!

[Ladygardener]

That's the thing about living in the city, the pests are all 2 legged. :-XI enjoy reading your stories 'tho.

[Geranium]

My whinge is about manure, or the lack of it. We lost our supply when my friend's horse died...but found another source. The young lady said we could go round any time, so we did - yesterday - complete with trailer and forks. Hmmm...why didn't she tell us she'd had it all cleared away? (I realise that her horse will produce more, eventually...)

Anyway, OH went across the lane to another horse-y man, who says he had loads and loads and we can collect some this morning. Fingers crossed!

[Geranium]

My fingers crossed didn't work - the horsey-man has a stable girl and she'd gone off with the gate key, so no manure. When she comes back, he's supposed to be ringing us so we can collect our manure.  This is getting ridiculous when so many people around here have horses!

[Geranium]

Still no manure....

[Geranium]

Hooray!  We collected a trailer load of good stuff yesterday morning. There's plenty more, too.

[Ladygardener]

I've been battling with Mr Fothergils for almost 2 weeks now trying to take advantage of a few of their offers. One of them was 5 packets of seeds for the price of 4 and the other was 60 Viola for some price or another.
It's been driving me crazy and still not sorted. The lady who was replying to my emails gave me a number to ring but they could'nt give me the offers advertised either. Really annoying. I think I'll just give up on them but Jenny liked the Sunflower seeds Kong and Aquilegia Pink Petticoats and the Poppy Royal Family and I had a couple of packets I liked as well. You spend the time looking up these things, only to find the website is playing up. Would'nt you think in this day and age with it being a very large company, they'd be able to fix it.

[Jasmine]

How annoying Ladygardener - even more to the point a cheery voice on the end of the phone should be able to sort things out too

[Ladygardener]

That's what I thought too Jasmine. Seems not. I asked to be put through to someone who could sort it out and she said she could'nt do that but would take my number and get someone to ring me back. Nobody has as yet.

[Geranium]

Not good enough, Ladygardener.  That's really bad customer relations.

My whinge is an odd one - I sound really ungrateful!  Eva went to the Malvern Show, and as the generous lady she is, she decided to bring a special plant home for me. She spotted a yellow Tricyrtis, but opted for a Saxifraga as the stall holder said it was a rare one.  Oh dear - I already have it! I'd have loved the Toad Lily. Never mind, I am pleased with my new pressy. I just wish she hadn't guessed I have it - from my face, I suppose.

[Geranium]

I have a (small) whinge. Those polystyrene containers for violas etc - I loathe them. The little circles that you have to push out get dropped and need clearing up, and the containers are useless afterwards. Does anyone else hate them?

[Auricula]

Yes, I do Geranium !! for the same reasons....plus, I bought a pack of violas yesterday and the polystyrene was sooo brittle, that when I picked it out of the car ( by it's edge ) it broke off and I dropped it

[Geranium]

I wish they'd all use the other containers, Auricula. At least you can make use of them!  To make it worse, one pack of Cyclamen I bought came in a dark grey polystyrene container and all the little circles were camouflaged on the path - I'm never buying packs like that again. I hope your plants weren't damaged when yours broke.

[Ladygardener]

Funnily enough they don't bother me, I use them for setting small pots on over the winter time. I always try to find a use for things.

[Jasmine]

I just worry if I find an escapee bit of white polystyrene that I've found a vine weevil! I wonder how environmentally friendly that stuff is so finding a good use for it is a good idea Ladygardener. I suppose they'd make good packing at the bottom of very big tubs to cut down on compost use

[Jilly]

That's what I use most of them for Jasmine, then you definitely get into a panic thinking you've found vine weevil  . I've also got a blunt ended plastic cane (known as my pokey stick  ) that I use to get the plants out without having to break up the trays, then I use them to prick out seedlings into. I've also got about 6 sitting in the growhouse that I've used to sow pinches of hardy annuals in. Those big grey ones are just perfect for starting of garlic too Geranium.

[Jasmine]

Good thinking Jilly - if they don't get broken they'd make good seed trays!

[Geranium]

I do break some of them up and use them instead of crocks in my large containers, but the rest were getting in the way and blowing around so I had to put them in a black sack to go to the refuse tip. They're pretty useless, really, as they do break and they're hopeless for seed growing.  It's the little circles that annoy me so much! I have to poke them out with my thumb.  I have large sheets of the stuff in the greenhouse to park my pots on in the winter. I think it was packing from something we bought ages ago.

[Geranium]

Has anyone got a trug that doesn't break? My coloured plastic ones have all got broken handles and splits down the sides. They're not that old - I think the sun makes them brittle. I have one rubber builders' trug - I'm looking for brighter ones, but all the coloured ones seem to be plastic. Am I stuck with boring black? Why don't builders' trugs come in brighter colours?

[Ladygardener]

Sorry, can't help Geranium I don't use them.

I do have a bit of a whinge too 'tho. When I got my Tulip bulbs from Mr. Fothergils some of the Ballerina and some of the Black Night were a bit mouldy and spotted. I took a pic and emailed them but apart from a generic acknowledgement I did'nt hear another thing from them. I thought it might be a one off but over on the BBC website someone there was saying hers were the same. I've planted most of them into pots and will hope for the best but Mr. F is now on my ignore list. I'd tried weeks ago to order their special offer of 5 pks of seeds for 4 and it would'nt work either despite emails from them. Thankfully Jenny and I were able to buy the seeds we wanted in Homebase last week.

[Geranium]

Mr. F should know better! I'm glad you found your seeds, Ladygardener.  Your bulbs might be OK - let's hope.