Peter's Outbox

Hi Marguerite,

Try going to your homepage and clicking on your photos tab.

Above your photos is a list of the tags you added. Click on one of those to get just your own pictures. Does that help?
Peter

Hi Marguerite,

There are a couple of ways to organise your photos.

Like Hywel says, the tags are our way of grouping them. If you think of them as album names, you can tag a photo twice and it will appear in 2 albums (e.g. summer and roses). You can add tags when you upload a photo, when you edit it, and when you're looking at one of your own photos (a little box at the bottom right).

You can also link photos to plants in your garden, so you can view photos of a plant in one place.

We don't have any plans for drag and drop photo sorting, but it's good to hear your thoughts. :o)

Thanks Juid - at least it sounds like I'm sorting it out at the right time for frosts.

TT - Double dunging is the future!
Lori - Thanks for the advice, and for your blog :o)
Grenville - yup, I think drainage is the big issue.
David - Sounds like you've got a lot of work ahead, I hope your move went smoothly.

I don't think my soil is very clayey, the photo makes it look a look more grey than it actually is, the rest of the garden also seems fine, it's just the patch I removed a lot of stone from.

I'll check out what's at the next level underneath before doing anything, and try out Lori's experiment in a jar.

Lori, Thank you very much :o) Going by the squeeze test I think my soil may not be too bad, it separates into chunks quite readily but doesn't crumble. I'll get a glass jar for your test.

Hi everyone, thanks for the advice :o)
I was a bit overexcited yesterday when I claimed it was a bog, it felt like one when I was digging but it only becomes very wet (water logged) at about a spades depth. I'm afraid a proper bog garden wouldn't work.

I've added a picture of the hole I dug yesterday.

Bonkers - I'malready half there with the double digging :o)
Lori - Our house is about 6 years old, so pretty new. I have unearthed a LOT of rubble from this little strip. A mix of builders rubble and the natural flint stone. When I double dung the small section I remember the bottom being pretty rocky, but I'm not sure what type of rock.

Raised beds sound interesting but the soil either side of the double dug patch seems OK, so I'd prefer to get this bit 'fixed'.

Horticultural grit sounds like the best bet.

Ah yes, David. I can blither on the radio as well bumble in the garden :o)

Sounds like fixing the problem could certainly give me enough training :o)

Along with health benefits and sanctuary, gardening keeps us younger too! :o)

Thanks :o)
Autumn is a beautiful season - they all are :o)

Ah, so you'll miss the festival then. The glasshouse should be good as it's going through routine maintenance at the moment. We didn't actually go in when we visited this time as it was so nice outside but there was a sign up at the entrance saying sections would be closed over the next week or two. Should be all completed by the time you're here :o)

I'm not sure Greenthumb, but I suspect you're about right. Their trunks are so much thicker than the ones you'd normally see. They must get passed down from grower to grower - now that would take a lot of trust!!

HI Hywel, yeah these looked very healthy. The neon pink looks almost unnatural, especially with the sun shining thorugh the leaves making them even brighter.

I think I was worried about the slugs didn't even think about the temperature changes. A good lesson learnt, and in good time too :o) I think the chillies might have to be brought inside once the frosts start.

Hmm, a clue in the name I wonder? I thought of you when we were visiting Wisley at the weekend, David. I found Rudbeckia 'Toto' :o) A bit late now though.

Thanks Bluespruce :o) - corrected.

Thanks Janey :o)

Thanks Jacque :o) I liked the colours - they really caught my eye.

Thanks Jacque :o) When we saw these we thought they looked like the flowers on my sister's cake.

I'm afraid I don't know Janey :(

I thought so too, the leaves have incredibly bright pink veins!

Hi Pasuki, they are, and yes they did :o) I think the petals were finished with an airbrush!! I'm not sure anyone's actually tried one yet, but they're definitely edible.

Hi TT :o)
No ages were given. All of them looked very old though, the trunks were much thicker than you normally see on bonsai. Unfortunately I don't know enough about bonsai to even guess, this one was about 2-3 feet tall.

Hi Chris,

I'm afraid I don't know enough to say what might be in season or not. This weekend there were plants at the end of their season and I suspect there will be seasons when Wisley is better.

Will it be worth going? I would say yes. There'll be the pinetum, national heather collection and glasshouse if nothing else. The glasshouse was opened last year and I have some photos of it from my visit, it's very impressive. I also suspect that the RHS know enough to make sure the rest of the gardens look great :o)

I enjoy just being outside so I think I'd like the gardens in any season. If you're there 17-20 October the 'taste of autumn' festival is on - I also have photos of that from our visit last year. Let me know if you decide to go.

It was about 5' tall and the feathery bits were about a foot long. Could be my photography making it look huge :o)

Thanks everyone :o) No sunflower seeds in the cake itself, it was a traditional fruit cake.

Thanks for the complements on the cake and the advice everyone :o)

I paid heed yeterday and my new hostas and grasses were all left outside last night and are all fine this morning, no sign of midnight feasts.

Companion planting - check me out :o) A happy accident indeed, and I'll have plenty of seeds to do the same next year. Just more space I need now.

Grenville, you read my mind :o) I was thinking that the hostas would go well in my shady corner and pots would mean I can move them around easily if I change my mind. I wasn't in a rush but will get some bigger pots quick smart, thanks for the advice.

Hi TT,

It was until yesterday - I took yesterday's advice on my blog and left them all outside last night to start hardening them off. All present and correct this morning :o)

Thanks everyone, I'll pass on the complements :o)

Hi TT, You were quick replying :o) The cake is delicious, although I don't know if anyone's tried a sunflower yet.

My gardening mishaps are to be expected as I know almost nothing about gardening; I'm happy bumbling along though. Having said that, I have noticed I pick up bits from what people say on the site (like hostas being a favourite snack for slugs and sails).

One thing I've learnt is that even if you do have a plan, the chance of your garden following it are just about zero :-D