Topic: The strange warm weather and the results

[strawberry1]

My shallots and garlic have all sprouted after only 2 weeks in the ground, unusual for me
My sprouts are like tennis balls and unattractive, although they taste nice.
The kales are covered in whitefly
The swedes are huge, I had to cut most leaves off a month ago
I weeded non stop, all by hand and hoe but the allotment looks like it did in april but with even more weeds and grass
Small strawberry runners all took easily in a new bed
Butternut squashes are not storing

[galina]

We have an unusual occurrence which I am putting down to the weather.  We are harvesting the last of the Autumn Olive berries (eleagnus umbellata) and the bushes are flowering at the same time.

It is strange to see plants destroyed by wind rather than by frost at this time of year.  But on the whole I love a long autumn.  Certainly the beans are all denuded, but with pods still hanging on.  The root crops in the ground do really benefit from the extra growing time (especially the turnips that would have otherwise just been turnip tops for spring because of sowing late).  The celeriacs are still swelling and the parsnips are also benefiting.  The leeks are getting large too.  And the kales have put on a huge amount of very tasty new growth. 

There is still plenty of salad stuff outside, even the odd cherry tomato off wind broken plants.   

[Paulines7]

It's the flowers that amaze me.  Usually at this time of year the occasional rose is found on the bushes but mine have loads of buds and flowers.  My viburnum bodnantense dawn is in flower for the second time this year as well as my cistus and hypericum hidcote.  Bedding plants verbena and lobelia are looking healthy and having a second flush and my hardy geraniums, campanulas, primroses and aubretias are also flowering.  I still have the odd clematis in flower too.  I will have to try to take some photos of the flowers if the sun stays out long enough. 

It's not as though our garden is sheltered; far from it.  We are on the edge of Salisbury Plain and it gets very windy here.  I think the plants thought our summer was over at the end of June, that winter has come and gone and that spring has arrived. It is definitely more like spring than autumn in our garden and it's lovely to see so many flowers out.

I didn't grow many vegetables this year but I still have two chilli plants in the garden which are still producing fruit.  Some of my herbs are looking good too, especially the parsley, though the mint has now finished.     

[Tee Gee]

As I mentioned in another thread my Spring Cabbages are blowing as you can see here:

[ACE]

It will all change tonight.

[BarriedaleNick]

This is a mates last tom pickings - he lives en France and took them as blight set in last week.





It has been an odd Autumn - great for late crops but not so good for some (see Tee Gee's Pic)

[BarriedaleNick]

It will all change tonight.

Still looks warm in London for a while

[astraman1]

my garlic is 6 inch tall now planted end oct

my rhubarb is also starting to regrow

[johhnyco15]

so far we have had one night of 5 degrees the rest of the time its been between 8 and 14 thats night time temp  will look in the morning and see if tonight is a new low

[Deb P]

I still haven't planted my shallots and garlic yet, purely because of the warm weather. I'm worried it will establish too quickly and then get slaughtered when the weather eventually turns....which it will sooner or later.....

[artichoke]

That's been my fear for broad beans and field beans, and now it is pouring with rain all the time, I still can't sow them. Hope it is not going to end up too late. All my shallots, onions and garlic are in and up, though. I don't find they suffer much in a bad winter. East Sussex......

[Digeroo]

I have some wizard broad beans which self seeded and they have decided to flower as have my early raspberries.

Looks like it will start to get colder next weekend.   

[johhnyco15]

this weather has helped me get well up on the winter digging im all finished mucked three beds left three that i mucked last year  for this years brassicas and root crops  the root crop beds have tilled tomorrow ill cover them to stop the cats then its just light weeding till spring this allotment thing is easy  lol

[woodypecks]

....and I have flowers coming on one of my Raspberry bushes  .   

[George the Pigman]

Everything is confused. We have both winter and summer jasmine flowering in the garden at the moment.

[George the Pigman]

Galina
what are eleagnus umbellate like to eat? I hadn't heard of them before. Are the bushes invasive?

[galina]

Galina
what are eleagnus umbellate like to eat? I hadn't heard of them before. Are the bushes invasive?

Not invasive here-berries drop regularly but my bushes are the ones I originally planted. 

I harvest not by picking, but by brushing berries off with a large bowl perched underneath.  (almost) all berries go into the bowl but some fall on the ground.

This year the berries were very large, like large red currants, and because of the long autumn they got very sweet too.  They start off acidic and get sweeter.  This year they ended up much sweeter than redcurrants. 

The bushes are large - 3m if you let them - but easy to prune as the branches are quite thin. 

[maureen.alder.9]

My strawberries on the allotment have all got a lot of new growth and in my garden at home the rhododendrons have got lots of  buds on them I am a bit concerned what any frost or snow will do to them

[ACE]

There's a drawback, grabbed a handful of weeds today which was hiding a small fresh nettle plant. Hand is still tingling. Just turned the lot over after that in big spade sized lumps. Let the cold come on and deal with them, the ground was too sticky anyway to weed properly.

[woodypecks]

Today I,ll be weeding out the damned hairy bittercress from my onion beds....for a third time  ... grrrrr !