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Post by armargo on May 4, 2009 13:15:47 GMT 1
Thanks Al ....... I'll have a read of that in a few minutes ... it will be a good excuse to make a fresh cup of tea and stay in out of the horrible wet windy weather for another while Now I have a little question for you clever plant knowing people .... anyone know what this plant is ? It appeared in the garden a few years ago from god knows where and each year it seems to crop up in more places than the year before. The leaves are currently about 8inches long but by the time it is fully grown the whole plant has grown to about 4 to 5 foot tall. Once grown it produces a couple of flowers and then dies away in the late autum until the following spring again. It has very substantial thick roots, kind of like tubers Thanks Sheena
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on May 4, 2009 13:24:37 GMT 1
At first I was going to say that it looked like a dock! Flowers are wrong for that, though, and the final size! Sound like a weed of some sort to me, the way it spreads! I haven't a clue, though. ;D
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Post by armargo on May 4, 2009 15:15:53 GMT 1
I might try keeping a photo diary of it this year as I really would like to know what it is and where the hell it came from and how to get rid of it successfully
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on May 7, 2009 11:17:02 GMT 1
A member of another forum sent me some packs of Tasmanian tree seeds today and that look really exciting. Just hoping they will germinate okay, as the date on most packs is 2007. Fingers crossed, eh? They are acacia riceana - Rice's Wattle; Oxylobium ellipticum - Golden Rosemary; Callistemon pallidus - Lemon Bottlebrush, and Eucalyptus pulchella - white peppermint. Two of them need heat to break dormancy, and have to be covered in boiling water and soaking for 24 hours before planting. It makes one wonder how they manage to reproduce in the wild!
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Post by murtle on May 9, 2009 11:07:33 GMT 1
Al sorry to be a pain, could you send me the Grubby Gardeners newsletter again as I've managed to loose them
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on May 9, 2009 15:59:11 GMT 1
Copy now sent, Mary.
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Post by murtle on May 9, 2009 19:58:59 GMT 1
Thank you
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Post by lumpyblue on May 9, 2009 22:59:57 GMT 1
I wonder if your heat loving seeds are some of the type that need to be in forest fires to germinate?? And I wonder does anyone know how I can get thru the seed pods from my Paeoni?? tree. They were on the ground thru winter and I put them in pots and NOTHING!! Do they need the boiling water treatment???
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Post by reclaimingrebus on May 10, 2009 9:52:38 GMT 1
Some seeds have a combination of dormancies and each one has to be broken in turn and in the right sequence before germination can take place. For example some Lilies, Tree paeonies, Daphne etc. need a warm period during which the root develops followed by a cold period to break dormancy of the shoots, before the seedling actually emerges. Some seeds need a cold period followed by a warm period and then another cold period before they will germinate. In all cases the times and temperatures have been provided in the sowing instructions. courtesy of thompson and morgan website
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on May 10, 2009 13:25:46 GMT 1
There is an interesting article at this link: www.peonyseeds.com/growing.htmlIt seems some need an extra year for germiniation, other than that, soaking. Worth reading the article, though.
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Post by lumpyblue on May 10, 2009 13:36:53 GMT 1
Thanks for that! Will give it a go. But perhaps they will be 'spoilt' now after being potted??? Will let you know what happens, but looks like it could be a year or two!!!
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on May 11, 2009 11:16:56 GMT 1
Talking of things being spoiled, the broody hen was due to hatch her chicks yesterday, so I decided to check what might be under her... Well, to begin with, not as many eggs as she started with. That meant some had probably cracked and she'd eaten them. Took one out and gave it a gentle shake... Alas, it was quite clearly addled, as was the next, and the next! Not one had proved fertile! I left a few under her and, for the sake of the kids, decided to pop down to Caerphilly first thng this morning for half a dozen day old chicks.
Arriving there this morning, it was to be greeted by the news that they no longer sold day old ones, only point of lay hens! However, they DID sell day old ducklings. They had both Cherry Valley (a white, heavy and fast growing table breed) and Kharki Campbells. Being unsure how the old hen might take to then, I opted for just three KC ducklings. She didn't take too kindly to me putting my hand in to remove the remaining addled eggs and pop the three ducklings under her, but left her about half-an-hour ago making all the right noises in response to the cheeping babies. Will pop back in a few minutes just to check on them.
Ducklings seem to grow very quickly, and it won't be long before three will be just about all she can cover!
Fingers crossed that they will all survive.
On the aquilegia front, I have a new colour! A purpley-blue with pink tips to the petals. Only a single flower, and on one of the baby ones that I planted as seeds last summer/early autumn. One more of those little plants also has a single flower stalk with buds about to open. A bit hard to tell yet quite what colour the flowers will be, though. Possibly similar to the one already flowering.
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Post by petdesigns on May 11, 2009 11:21:44 GMT 1
I can't wait for the next newsletter! Are there any stories / photos you want/need for the next one one could help to get?
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on May 11, 2009 13:17:11 GMT 1
Mother hen and ducklings seem to have settled down well together now. The hen is making very proud broody sounds, and has, herself, been tucking into som food, after not eating hardly anything for three weeks. I'll check on them again later.
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on May 12, 2009 12:56:38 GMT 1
Ducklings have survived the night and are getting the hang of diving under the hen for warmth. Not being 'day olds' when they arrived, but more like 2 - 3 days old, they'd been under heat lamps at the breeders, so that might have made it slightly harder for them to bond with a 'mother'. She, however, is doing all the right things and clucking away to encourage them to tuck into the chick crumbs. I know I promised to send someone a root of the old mint variety that is particularly tasty for mint sauce, but cannot see to remember who it was I'm supposed to send it to! (Headshot, as usual!) Please can someone remind me who to send it to, thanks. ;D After the mini-greenhouse blew down, I thought that I'd lost all the remaining cherokee been seeds, but two did survive, and after hardening off, they were planted next to beansticks this morning. Have my fingers crossed they will now grow on okay. Slugs and snails have made meals out of my marigolds, alas. I doubt any of those will survive to the flowering stage. Sweet peas are starting to grab onto the trellis now, but their progress does seem slow this year. Can't say the same about the hardy geraniums, which I will really have to thin out a bit and transplant some to supress weeds in another part of the allotment, and before they supress the plants they are clearly too close to now! It's getting a bit late in the season now to send those through the post, but if anyone wants to take a chance, I can spare some! ;D
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Post by Florrie on May 12, 2009 14:37:31 GMT 1
its funny but my marigolds have failed to and some of my french beans havn't come up yet
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Post by petdesigns on May 12, 2009 18:07:14 GMT 1
Our cherokees have come up, but Martin is leaving them in slightly protected little pots for a while yet. I haven't sown any marigolds yet this year, so can't say anything about them. But our hardy geraniums I will also have to thin out a bit and transplant some to supress weeds ... but not on the field, instead I'll bring them here to plant them in the front garden! What time of year can you thin them out, Al?
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on May 13, 2009 10:46:58 GMT 1
I'll probably lift and divide my geraniums over the next week or two, weather permitting, Jutta. They really do seem to be very tough plants, and very easy to propagate. That one plant I split the last time into 29 plants now covers an area about 6' x 14', so I aim to remove alternate plants, divide those, and replant in the areas where weeds usually flourish most of all. How they will cope to suppress brambles, wild raspberries, nettles, thistles and docks remains to be seen, so an interesting experiment. I might intersperse those nearest the allotment boundary with the adjacent plot with daffodil bulbs, because I really have to lift and seperate those this year, too, once they die back. They have been busy naturalising for a few years, and, of course, the daffs bloom before the geraniums get started back into growth after their winter dormancy period.
I still aim to leave some geraniums where they are at the momnet, though, as that area is prone to the dreaded Japanese knotweed. With the geraniums in situ there, I've been pulling any shoots of that up as soon as they appear, and it does seem to have reduced it a bit.
Off now to feed, water and inspect the ducklings. The ex says he could hear them cheeping away under the hen earlier.
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Post by petdesigns on May 13, 2009 13:20:59 GMT 1
Thank you, Al. I think that's a bit too early for me to divide them as Martin has used some of our front garden flower bed as another bit of vegetable area. If we find that it's not a good area for vegetables I'll plonk Geraniums there. They do cope quite well with all the weeds you mentioned - on the field they are in a nettle area! Only the dreaded sticky grass (or goose grass or whatever that stuff is called) keeps coming up, but nowhere near to the same extent as in other areas. btw - is it true that geese eat sticky grass/goose grass? If so, I think we'll soon get some geese....
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on May 13, 2009 14:10:50 GMT 1
The geraniums will probably survive just fine if slit and transplanted later, Jutta. They are tough old things. Yes, geese do eat the grass and also seem to like mare's tails. Btw, I have three of the official 'Grubby Fingered Gardeners' group T-shirts available - 1 x extra large and 2 x large at £7.00p each, if anyone is interested? These are white, and have the group's name and a leaf design logo on the left breast. They are a good quality fabric, and ideal to wear at plant excahnge events etc. As there aren't many, it'll have to be on a first come, first served basis. If anyone wants one, please grab it now, as otherwise I'll put any that are left in the next newsletter.
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