Sanbaz's Inbox

Its bonkers at your house Bonkers, lol. Must be an amazing sight, seeing all those baby birds. So funny how they know where you are ... in the house, little monkey's. Do you think this year has been an exceptional one for second broods?

Hundreds of them Dawn little fella just getting his tail feathers so out of the borders now ..lost count of blackbird fledglings most seem determined to have more than one brood .Have had to put a brick by back door as blackbirds can squeeze under and get in but cant get out again !

The more the merrier hey BB! One more wont make any difference. Are all the fledglings OK today - none trying to get in the pond I hope.

Aw well done Sandra thats a nice pic of Mr Greenfinch - the females paler more grey / green.Send him to Yorkshire we ll keep an eye on him while you sun yourself looking forward to some great pics on your return.

I really appreciate how difficult it is to get photos of the birds too PansyP. Mine are quite shy, expect for my little robin :-)

I dont have much luck either, as soon as I pick up the camera they have gone. Thats great shot Sandra I think he was waiting for you!

Soil looks great San, wish I had it :-( We have heavy clay.

Good one San.they are lovely little birds,we have a lot here but unfortunately my feeders are down bottom of garden and they always spot me first, lol........

Can't be bad, for a perrennial!!

Although I far from being a good photographer, I agree Pp, I've realised the light seems better in early evening.

Lovely bells!!! These are very elegant!

Dont want to be a killjoy Sandra, I think they are fantastic. I'm sure you will find somewhere for it. I've just looked it up in my book and it says 3ft x 2ft so maybe not so big as Crocus says (thats where I had mine from). Your soil looks wonderful, by the way.

I've recently bought one Sandra and I've put it by my pond. Mine hasnt flowered though, maybe next Spring. They get big you know, six foot high with leaves 60cm across, lol. I've always wanted one.

Good one :o)

Nice arent they - ours like the sunflower hearts :-) You did well to get the photo San.

Awww, lovely little green finch :-)

I'm a little late catching up but great blog! Vintage car rallies and races are popular over here too. I love them but my hubby would rather spend hours talking about computers not engines, so we spend more time at the com shows : )
I use to love talking with the old guy who would come to pick up his grandkids at the school in one of the old Ford model T's he had restored. My favorite was the one he had painted RED! Loved it. What a great way to enjoy a day together!

sorry sandra, im no long back in from work. its a 78 MG MGB.

lucky man having a mk 2 cortina, i think there great , is it a grey colour one

We ve all done it Sandra bought things moved them round perhaps a place at the back of the border where it can die down over winter without disturbing your other plants ?

Oh sure it will be fine and they do have lovely flowers looked it up and known as Indian rhubarb for some reason often grown in damp by ponds .. so should be fine in our weather ..

if I keep my micra any longer it could be in the show soon !!!

Nice Sandra - leaves look very much like rhubarb so if grows the same hope you have plenty of room for it !

When I kept free-range chickens they made most of their deposits whilst perched at night, indoors and easy to collect - I put it on the compost heap, great activator.

Super Sanbaz......think the white are the loveliest especially at dusk, when they seem to glow!

There are also specific fertilsers which provide a particular 'chemical' to aid plant growth. Things like Sulphate of ammonia to give plants which need high levels of nitrogen and Sulphate of potassium for ones which need stimulating to flower. There are others which give various trace elements which may be lacking in ones soil.
The speed at which the 'food' gets to the plant varies with the type of fertilser too.
This is a whole big subject which to be homest is not that important in general gardening terms.
So now I suppose people want an explanation of the N:P:K followed by numbers on the bags of fertilsers?

There are big arguments about whether one should use 'artificial' or natural plant foods.
Personally I would never use Chicken pellets. How do you think those hens are kept so that they can provide the amount of 'manure' needed to make the pellets. They certainly do not scrape it up from hens running round in the open.
Still do not think you need to feed plants in the first year after planting, if the soil is ok.

Good for you. Enjoy and can you bring some warm sunshine back with you.

beautiful cars S, i love them .
have one in my garden just waiting to be restored, thing is i never seem to find the time to start doing it lol

You hope, are you going anywhere nice, hope you have a nice holiday.

When they talk about a "general fertiliser", they always mean a nitrogenous one like Growmore; this works differently from your chicken pellets (which are good to use when you dig, as you have).Growmore or similar gradually dissolves in water and supplies nitrogen plus other elements to the plants for up to six weeks in a form which is instantly available for take up by the plant at a time when they're growing strongly, i.e., spring, early summer. Sorry to get technical on you, but thought you might like to know how the chemical fertilisers work compared to the organic ones. The difference is that the chemical Growmore one feeds the plant directly, but does nothing for the soil - your chicken pellets improve the soil by nurturing organisms which help the plants.

Lots of different things are general fertilisers, pelleted chicken manure, National Growmore to name an organic one and a chemical one. Take your pick.
Unless your plants are not growing well, or your soil is poor, there is little need to feed them in their first year, in my opinion.