What's happening in your garden this spring?

[Phil R]

My guess would be a rat. Several years ago I had a rat in my greenhouse. Got the local rat catcher round and she said rats can't resist sweet things. Her solution get a trap and bait it with a raisin. Sure enough the following morning said rat was dead in the trap. Rat and trap in dustbin and problem solved.

[Martinspuddle]

Three potential culprits immediately Spring to mind.

Mouse
Blackbird / Brownbird
Mrs Vale!

@black ghost, you forgot one ...Welsh sheep!

[plankton]

Three potential culprits immediately Spring to mind.

Mouse
Blackbird / Brownbird
Mrs Vale!

@black ghost, you forgot one ...Welsh sheep!

Cows, not sheep, in Milton Keynes.

[Martinspuddle]

Three potential culprits immediately Spring to mind.

Mouse
Blackbird / Brownbird
Mrs Vale!

@black ghost, you forgot one ...Welsh sheep!

Cows, not sheep, in Milton Keynes.

Welsh cows! ...that's even worse.

[Stephen]

My main plants are Penstemon which I have 9 varieties.

Just bought 3 additional Penstemon, so now have 12 varieties.

My favourite Penstemon is Amelia Jayne.
My original "Amelia Jayne" got very big and quite woody so I dug it up earlier this year and wished to replace it.
I have also removed some other Penstemons that were disappointing and down to 8 varieties.
Could I find the "Amelia Jayne" ? No. I tried several garden centres without luck.

This week we (Gill & I) took a 40 mile trip to Webbs of Wychbold just for a trip out as we like visiting Webbs.
Looking around the garden centre Gill says "There's some Amelia Jayne Penstemons". I thought she was joking just to wind me up but no she was serious.
I bought 2 new "Amelia Jayne" Penstemon plants.
One is planted in it's final position and the other is also planted but will be moved next Spring.
The other's final position is currently occupied by another Penstemon ("Blackbird") which will be relocated next Spring.
My current list of Penstemons are:-
"Amelia Jayne" (x2)
"Blackbird"
"Comberton"
"Arabesque Orchid"
"Pink Bedder"
"Purple Bedder"
"Eleanor Young"
"Laura"

Penstemon "Amelia Jayne"


I have already planned (in my head) the flower border for next year.
The existing 8 x Penstemons, existing Lavenders, existing Heuchera, existing ferns, existing Sedums, Salvia Nemorosa Caradonna (x2), Antirrhinums (x 12) and maybe some spot plants.
I currently have about 24 x Antirrhinums but will cut the number back next year as they are a little crammed at present.
I'm always thinking ahead.

Whilst at Webbs we also looked at the tropical fish.
Their prices are very good when compared to other fish stockists.

[Vale!]

Greenhouse Security Report : currently Defcon 3

Thank you for your various comments and suggestions re the greenhouse marauder. Summary of events since ...

Close inspection of a damaged tomato revealed long parallel lines perpendicular to the gouged-out hole ; rodent incisors suspected.

Review of timeline suggested that the enemy is gaining access via the ventilation grille, open during daytime. I went round the back looking for droppings and found a pile of snail shells that looked as if they might have been gnawed. I did see what could have been droppings but they were too degraded to confirm an original shape.

Having previously smoothed out the putative footmarks either side of a melon stem, they reappeared. So rat, rather than mouse, with squirrel a distant possibility.

I bought a box of two Rentokill rat traps from Homebase and baited them with peanut butter. Next time I visited the theatre of war one of the traps had been sprung and had come to rest a couple of feet from where I'd set it. The intended victim apparently escaped.

I re-baited the traps with raisins (as suggested, but previously I hadn't been able to find where Mrs.V! had stashed them). That was several days ago now, since when insurgent acivity has been zero. Perhaps: either the springing of the trap had scared the crap out of it and it's not going near again ; or the trap so injured it that it's unable to return.

Anyway, traps are still in position and we are monitoring closely : there are half-a-dozen huge melons about to become ripe and I'm guessing that if anything (bar chocolate) will tempt an incursion, they will.

[Drifty]

Today update


Improvement on this plant I'm happy






Should I cut here?




Repot


Repot


Repot


Repot








Repot













I think are looking great and I'm starting to find time to do things

[fr499y]

Looking good

[fr499y]

I’ve got this beast finally growing!



IIRC it should be a teddy bear sunflower

[Vale!]

Ahem ...


I'm posting this 'filler' pic (of some of what I feared the enemy might aim for eventually) so that if you're likely to mind an image of a successful campaign, you can scroll super-rapidly to the next post after mine.







[More filler - you have been warned!]







And here is/was the little blighter ...