Does anyone know anything about gardening?

Also DiY cloches and not directly in the sun according to the YouTube videos I've seen.

Dahlia update

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Wow. What a colour.

I think it’s ottomans thrill. Should be nice once it’s completely open

Dahlia lovers - gardening express have a deal on 50 tubers for £4.99. put them away somewhere dry and plant them out next year.

https://www.gardeningexpress.co.uk/garden-plants/special-deals/mse-dahlias

3 ordered, thanks katbalou, I swear one day to repay you unless I forget or can't be bothered.

I think my Fuschia is looking particularly attractive today. Flowers are long and pendulous

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Thanks!

Dahlia update

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Good stuff one and all. The older I get the more I appreciate a good rose. Progress today. Garden cuttings, purloined parental homespun compost, and some bags from the garden centre. Many thanks to TvH for the trailer loan.

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You owe me one bottle of Orval

good work!

bottle of Orville

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So, we’ve so far been shite at growing flowers for the allotment. Just want a couple of beds that are largely going to look after themselves.
Love Californian poppies but any recommendations for perennial flowers that are east to grow from seed most welcome. Can do seedlings at home ready to plant in spring or seeds that can be sown at the moment. Never had much luck with wildflower mix seeds…

Partner loves hollyhocks and dahlias in particular…

Also, has anyone got, or seen a manzanita for sale in the UK? Germinating seeds appears to take a couple of years and involve acid/fire and extremes of temperature.
Poss my favourite plant and would love to have one…

@edmundro

You were asking for perennial flowers from seeds tips :)

Rose campion & digitalis & borage also grow easily but those are annual / biannual. They seems to self seed though.

Suggestions for things to fill out this bed?

Just planted a fatsia japonica at the back middle and a euphorbia infront of that.

It gets full sun as it’s south facing

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Nowish?

Might be worth going to a garden centre as it's quite late in the year.

Also there's nothing a garden centre likes more than selling plants that need full sun.

Hot lips should be out now and you can get them in different sizes and colours, so they'll fill the space and give some height.

Doesnt have to be now, I think some more shrubs to add a bit more height/structure, then next year plant some perrenials?

I think the problem is the garden doesn't get much partial shade, which is the vibe I want.

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You've probably realised this, but you need something big and high to give partial shade.

But you could do it with a pergola, a sail or some sort of permanent object.

Verbina mixed with salvia would give you different heights. Verbina in particular can grow through stuff. My mum usually has a big leafed mint and Verbina combo that looks really nice. Also there's one Verbina that's a fucking massive version and looks basically the same as the smaller version.... I want to say Argentinian? Anyway you could use the two of them to give variation of height.

Not a bad result from a £1 bag of DeRee annual seeds mix from the local spar :)

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If you want big leafed, tropically looking things like in those photos you could try an upper storey of things like tetrapanax, paulownia tormentosa (hard pruned every year not grown into a massive tree), cannas, hedychiums, salvia amistad, tree echiums - all of which will love full sun but most of which will be hard to find in your average garden centre.

I wouldn't plant anything in August, in a middle of a drought and heatwave though - unless you're going to be watering them twice a day. I'd wait at least a month for the temperature to come down a bit and hopefully some rain too.

You may have better luck than me but I've found fatsia japonica doesn't do well in full sun - it won't die but it doesn't look healthy. Mine have grown very well in deepest darkest shade

Thanks for the tips! Will have a look at those plants.

I only moved the japonica as it wasn’t doing so well in the shade - although couldn’t say if it was because of the shade or the fact foxes kept running through it. My grandma has one in full sun and it’s about 10ft tall!

My next investment is a tree fern. There’s a shady area in my garden that would be perfect. Also looking to add a tetrapanex too for more height and leaf interest.

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