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Pen-blwydd hapus i ti Hywel

30 comments


I’m not sure of the date Hywel but many Happy returns on whichever day it is this week. I’m sure the other members will be wishing you all you would wish for yourself.
Thank you for the big contribution you make to this site with your lovely photos and timely advice, on cactus and fuchsias especially.

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Comments

 

Are you a may baby too Hywel?
my oh and I are , and on the same day
so happy day from me too xxx

4 May, 2014

 

Happy Birthday to you and your OH too Pamg. I too was a May (day) baby.

4 May, 2014

 

Ah you beat us by a day!
I was mayqueen at school, I was only 5....bless

4 May, 2014

 

Many Happy Returns Hywel :) 21 again ;)

4 May, 2014

 

Oh Happy Birthday to you all XX on whatever day you all celebrate, I too am a May baby but a couple of weeks to go for mine....

4 May, 2014

 

Everybody born in May except me in August? HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL OF YOU.
I too celebrate in May but for my name day.

4 May, 2014

 

I've cousins born in may so a week doesn't go by without one!
all stubborn taurus bull?

happy may birthdays ♡♥♡

4 May, 2014

 

Happy May birthday to you all,and hope you have all enjoyed them too..my,there are a lot of you celebrating this month!..A lovely time to have birthdays..:o) x

4 May, 2014

 

Diolch yn fawr Scotsgran :o) x
Actually it's today:) ... I used to think I wanted to keep it secret, but, who cares !! What does it matter :D

We went out to lunch, and then to Wyevale in Carmarthen, where I bought some cacti and a Phlox divaricata ... I'll put a photo of them soon.
Then after coming home, I repotted 58 of my Fuchsias ... and only have a few left to do now :o)

It's been glorious weather here today, and I hope it lasts a while.
My mother used to say it was very hot on the day I was born, and then it rained for the rest of the summer ... lol :D
but I won't say how many years ago it was ... :o)

Thanks to everyone for the good wishes x
I wish the same to you all whether your birthday is in May or any other month :o)
My two grandmothers had their birthdays in May too :o)

4 May, 2014

 

Happy Birthday,Hywel,and I'm glad you have had a lovely day..the best kind.,to my mind..with sunshine too ! couldn't be better :o) x

4 May, 2014

 

Happy birthday Hywel, hope you have a great day.

Happy birthday to all May babies, hope you have a good one.

4 May, 2014

 

Sounds like you have had a lovely birthday Hywel ... many happy returns from me too ... :o)))x

4 May, 2014

 

You are welcome Hywel. Sounds like you had a lovely time. You certainly had a busy time with all those fuchsias to pot on. I bought five trailing and five bush type fuchsias in Morrisons last week. I potted them up and they are doing so well I bought another dozen trailing ones yesterday. I have lots of hanging baskets and they should look good with these in them. The bushy ones will fill gaps around the garden. You are only as old as you feel. If you are like me that will depend on the weather. lol.

4 May, 2014

 

Well I finally got my bus pass and am officially retired lol!
all my friends got theirs at 60, I had to wait another two years :0)

Better than folk born later than me, one poor soul only acouple of years younger says she'll be 68.......

5 May, 2014

 

Happy Birthday from me too Hywel...and many more!

5 May, 2014

 

And from me too - sent this yesterday and forgot to press Add Comment - AGAIN...

5 May, 2014

 

Thank you all for your good wishes :o) xxx

I hope your Fuchsias give a good show Scotsgran :o)

5 May, 2014

 

Hywel I read somewhere that for a 12" hanging basket you should put in three fuchsias plants. Is that correct? I have 'Blue Angel', 'El Camino', Auntie Jinks and Harry Gray. According to the packets they will each grow to 40cm high x 60cm wide. I was only intending to put one in each basket.

5 May, 2014

 

I don't know ... I never grow them like that. I always grow them individually, as specimen plants placed on shelves.
Just do what you want.

5 May, 2014

 

I put other things with mine, then left the fuschia in the tub, its overwintered in the gh and as its been such a mild winter is not only in full leaf but filled the tub too......wouldn't normally happen but whats normal these days......

6 May, 2014

 

Thank you both. Sorry Hywel I thought you did plant in hanging baskets. Pamg I had a hardy fuchsia in a pot last year. It has come through the winter sitting in the shelter of a tree and it has leaved up very well. I don't expect it to flower until June but who knows as you say a mild winter anything could happen. We were forecast a miserable weather day today but it is bright and sunny this am so better get in to the garden and put a net on my Alpine bed. Something probably a pheasant has Chelsea chopped many of my plants. I feel I'm fighting a losing battle in the garden at the moment. I have had mice in the greenhouse which have eaten my corydalis and lots more, pigeons and pheasants ruining plants for no good reason and snails and slugs eating emerging seedlings before they get a chance. I have trays of water under the shelving to try and stop the snails and slugs getting access. Great news 'THE SWALLOWS ARE BACK'. They have been getting later and later but I heard a great twittering yesterday. The front door was open and I had to duck as one of the two shot inside. It was obviously not to his/her taste as it came out again immediately.

6 May, 2014

 

Happy Birthday, Hywel! And anyone else who has a birthday in May. Our second grandchild was due on May day, but she appeared on April 29th.

Sorry to hear about all the wildlife taking its toll on your plants, Scotsgran. Very frustrating.

I have had three or four small fuchsias in baskets and find they do well. In fact, I have overwintered some I got very cheaply in Lidl, and they look very promising. I find that plants in containers can snuggle in pretty closely.

6 May, 2014

 

Happy birthday, Hywel, what a busy day you had but just the sort I like too :)

6 May, 2014

 

Thank you all for your good wishes :o) x

Sorry to be so unhelpful Scotsgran, but I don't grow them for artistic effect. I just grow them as specimen plants, because I like the different varieties.

I never listen to rules anyway. We all want different effects so just do what you want ...

6 May, 2014

 

I did not find your answer unhelpful Hywel. I know what you mean - just do what the plants are telling you. If that sounds mysterious I'm sure other Taureans will understand. I have planted by the book and had disasters and then done something totally incomprehensible to the rules and found I was successful. Your fuchsias always look artistic and I enjoy seeing them. Mel I did read somewhere that if planting in the garden or in a pot it is helpful to plant much deeper than the original soil level in the nursery pot. That way the fuchsia will send up more shoots to grow an even bushier plant.

7 May, 2014

 

I understand what you mean. My plants are always talking to me and telling me what they need :)

You should especially plant hardy Fuchsias deeper than they are when you buy them. I understand the reason is that in a bad winter, the shoots underground will be protected, ... and if the top growth is killed off, then new shoots will be able to grow from under the ground when the spring returns :)
They will also be bushier, which I have learnt from experience :)

7 May, 2014

 

I feel for you with the wildlife Scotsgran......when night after night the rabbits decimated my pretty tubs and troughs......

7 May, 2014

 

I'm sorry to hear about your tubs and troughs Pamg. Its heartbreaking to see the beautiful flowers chopped off by a vandalising predator. The slugs can make short work of a small plant and the mice? Voles? maybe squirrels have carried away all of my cordyline bulbs and many of my small special tulips.
Hywel I thought you would understand the talking to plants. Folk used to make jokes about Prince Charles talking to his plants. That is interesting about deeper planting of hardy fuchsias. I also read somewhere that planting tulip bulbs deeper helps them to escape from ground frost. We learn something new every day.

8 May, 2014

 

Thanks for the advice, Scotsgran and Hywel. I agree about planting deeper, for the reasons you give. It is especially true of tomato plants. The fuchsias are coming on a treat - lovely and bushy and hardening off nicely. No problems overwintering in a mild one like the last. The pelargoniums have flowered continously since last summer!

8 May, 2014

 

Mel it is such a long time since I grew tomatoes that I had forgotten that they need to be planted well below the nursery pot level so they can produce new roots to support the plants.

9 May, 2014

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