Does anyone know anything about gardening?

My apple tree seems to be about to flower for the second time this year. What the hell is going on. Hope this doesn't screw up next year's flowering

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Seems to be a thing that can happen 'after extreme heat and drought stress is relieved by rain' which very much describes recent conditions. I definitely didn't water it enough in late summer and it started dropping leaves.

So, how do winter bedding plants work? This kind of thing:
https://www.thompson-morgan.com/p/nurserymans-choice-winter-flowering-bedding/T15414TM
The website suggests that they're perennials but what happens over summer? Do they die back and other things in the same bed/container take over or do you have to do something with them or what?

My Japanese quince has leaves and is flowering.

Pretty sure it's meant to flower in early spring from the bare wood.

My apple tree didn't flower earlier in the year, but is (partially) in bloom right now as well. With the weather and a serious prune a month or so back it doesn't know if it's coming or going.

I have a very small strawberry appeared on one of my plants (that had already fruited) this year. Think the cold/wet July/August has fooled them.

My apple tree that was relocated last spring didn't fruit this year, but it did last summer despite being in a bucket for about a month.

Raspberries are plentiful, but after the first batch, they have become really tiny. No no idea why.

Compost / mulch etc storage - anyone have any ideas that are nicer than B&Q quality plastic garden boxes? We have a few areas to replant and I think it's worth getting stuff in but we're shedless so I need some storage, wondered if there was a nice way of doing it

Build a little structure out of pallets? You can pretend you’re making the compost in there

The bulbs that I ordered from Bloms in June have arrived. Tulips and Muscari, neither of which I've tried before. Problem is that I've not got the border space at the moment to accommodate the sheer number so am going to dig up more of the front lawn 😂

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Once you introduce muscari you have it forever

Oh dear, I was hoping to recreate what I've seen at Eltham Palace and some displays at Hampton Court. Should I rethink my choice?!?

Especially if it's mixed into your lawn. I love it, and less thuggish than the Spanish bluebells I'm forever trying to discourage

Ah, excellent reminder I need to get my bulbs ordered in. Thank you.

Anything I can do to help my figs ripen? (Moving to Southern Europe not an option)

100 Triumph Tulip bulbs for £17 is as cheap as I've found;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274879793140?

Did the second and last mow of the year, should have done it earlier. Killed 4 tennis balls in the long grass.

This is a genius gardening life hack though. No more winding the cable back on and off again.

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I don't know if ripening is triggered by something in the plant, maybe daylight hours declining beneath a threshold, or individual fruit based, days after fertilisation.

What I do know, in the UK, the second generation of Figs each year, never get enough sunlight/temperature etc to ripen.

100% this will be knotted to fuck by the spring.

We had a small crop of great figs in July. Now there are many small 3-4 cm unripe ones. Try culling most of the unripe fruit and trimming the growing shoots off every branch you can reach. Watch out for the nasty sap. You might get some fruit if the weather holds. Later pull off all but the pea sized figs, they will be your first crop next year. Assuming you have Brown Turkey variety, the most common fig in these parts.

Any advice on when and how to wrap a tree fern for winter? Did a kind of random effort last year which got it through ok with some minor damage to some leaves, but it wasn't especially cold.

Walworth Garden wrap theres using the leaves and some hessian.

Latest Gardener's World showed a place in Leeds that uses old coffee hessian sacks that have had duffel coat buttons sewn on; basically made a coat for each fern. Very Instagram-friendly.

Somebody on here has posted a link for old coffee sacks on eBay before, they do look nice. I don't think they insulate as well as proper horticultural fleece though, so this year I am going to try a later of fleece first for warmth and then coffee sacks on top for style points

Thanks. I have fleece, may look for some hessian too.