Allotments 4 All

Basically this is 'cos Rosebud said I should get back on the site in case I was moping about the move!.......

Potted up some of my favorite plants today...now got three clems in pots, a passiflora, my special Guara Red Cherry and the Red Persicaria. Hope they're going to be OK for while.

Also did some trimming back, I'm tending this garden 'til i have to go -  love it too much!

And I've done one hanging basket of Dianthus and a tiny variegated lavendar, and I'm going to use the rest for bulbs, some Polyanthus and whatever else I can find. Might as well make some winter cheer for now.

Was GOING to dig up the Lily Bulbs (lovely scent, the dark pink and white stripy ones) and pot those but they are SO HUGE! anyone got any advise on best way of doing this?

Rain forecast tomorrow, but it was great to be out today.
Off for a glass of wine.......Cheers! CLx

hi-any more news on the timing of your enforced move yet? :'(

can lilies be kept dry out of the ground over winter, or do they need to be in a pot? hmm, perhaps someone will know the answer.

today i have emptied my compost bin-and i am amazed! literally three quarters was ready for harvesting, i am soooo pleased. i had trouble finding enough bags to put it in, and then realised they were a bit heavy-doh!

and i've been browsing the gardening books on ebay. shhh! i shan't tell you all of the great bargains on interesting books in case you bid against me! ;)

I've been digging my new lottie madly, but sadly neglecting everything on my balcony.

Need to chop down and compost my bean plants, and toms etc. And need to plant my spring bulbs in the next 2 weeks before I go away on a month long holiday.

I've also been ordering seeds for next season, and organising where I am going to plant everything  :D

Hope it doesn't rain tomorrow as I plan to garden all day.  The car goes to the doctors as she is being a b*tch to start on these cold morn, and she has a new battery and has had a full service so I fear glow plugs are to blame...anyhow, I digress....in the garden, I cut the grass last week and started tidying.  Tomorrow I will give the grass another cut, which will also get rid of the willow leaves which have now finally started to fall.  Water the plants in my greenhouse - why do pelargoniums go mouldy so quickly once indoors? - and pick of any dead bits.  Still loads of colour, both in growing things, and things that have now gone over.  The sedums are looking stunnning as they start to die, so are the seed heads on the crocosmia, and my huge grass, (don't know what it is called but the fine leaves stand 5foot tall and the flower/seed heads a good foot above that) looks gorgeous!  There are masses of berries everywhere, and my pansys that I plonked into pots just to brighten the garden have gone mad and are flowering better than the summer ones!
So for me, pottering really.

Well E-J I hope the rain didn't hit where you are - it's pouring here!
No real news yet on the move, but I have 'informed' the grotty landlords that I won't shift until the Spring, so we'll see. It's going to take ages to move plants alone, let alone what's in the house/sheds etc. Looks as if eventually I will become 'Wiltshire Lass' though, and move in with OH.
Thanks for the Lilies tip Kerry. If anyone else has ideas, would welcome the input.
Moggle I've still got to get the bean plants composted too - had planned to today but.....
Love CLx
(Still in wet and windy Cotswolds!)  :)

Sadly lilies are very difficult to keep dry over Winter. They begin to deteriorate very quickly and can reach a state where they do not recover. Look at them in some Garden Centres and you will see what I mean. A lily bulb should be firm and juicy, not soft and flabby.
All I am doing in the garden at present is attempting to shred the woody prunings which we have acquired over the season, things like raspberry canes, forsythia, philadelphus prunings. The resultant chippings will go on either the New Forest or down in the Snowdrop Wood. Trouble is I have had to strip the shredder down to get it to work.
I have cleared off the top growth from the Yellow border and removed the groundcovering of nettles. It is a bit early, but we have to do it as it takes all Winter to get round th whole garden.
Dug up and took to the Tip, Kiftsgate Rose, 30 feet of mildew, thorns and no flowers!
This is a sit and watch time of year in a way.

Hi CL - glad you've still got your lovely garden just now. Even if only for a little while. Could you pop your lillies into an old compost bag temporarily if you haven't got any pots big enough? It seems a shame to leave them behind as they are so gorgeous.

I've been winding down on the gardening a bit recently. I'm a bit of a fair weather gardener in the winter. Over the past few weeks I've sowed some over-wintering broadies, loads of aquilegias (CL - your Eerie ones - "Aquilegia Cottswolds Lass Eerie" as I've named them! - have already germinated) and a few other hardies to over winter, planted daffs, crocuses and tulips (mostly in pots, some in the ground) and thoroughly guarded them against mouse/squirrel attack. I've also been fishing - well taking fallen leaves and duck weed out of the pond with my seaside fishing net (very relaxing pursuit!) Done a little bit of tidying up (I'm really not a tidy person!). Looked at my compost heap (It's getting lower, so it must be rotting, but I'm going to leave it until spring because I have run out of bags to store it in). Actually now that i think about it, it does seem rather a lot!

Aqui that's fantastic news about the 'CL Eerie; seeds - love the name! Look forward to hearing bout their development!

The Oriental Lily bulb I nearly dug up is in great condition. It would be a huge shame to leave them behind so I think I will raise them all and store them in the dry...can only try! There are some lovely yellow ones too that I only put in this year, they are still sying back though, so guess I'll leave them for a while yet.

I must just do some seed trays as well........

Take care all,

Love CLx