Does anyone know anything about gardening?

I put a diary reminder in for this weekend to "sow snakes head in pots for next year".

Anyone know why?

They're bulbs in my bog garden patch. I think I planted them late so they never really did much.

Sow? As in seed?

If you mean bulbs, can do it any time up until late autumn and they'll do fine in my experience. Unless you plant hundreds and hundreds of bulbs, you need to wait a few years for them to naturalise and bulk up to really make an impact, each one is so small

Mate. I wish I knew. It was clearly a quick note.

Do the bulbs need to be pulled for the winter? Or what is an aspiration to capture seed and sow? Who knows!

These bad boys? great in any garden

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Yeah exactly. They took a million years to arrive so did very little other than die back once planted. I think it is about growing them from seed, as you're meant to do that in autumn. They're small and relatively expensive, so maybe that's what was in my head.

I'm trying to get better at diarising garden tasks after successive years of remembering in April that I'd meant to plant Rhubarb. But clearly I need to also add a link or some context for less obvious things.

It's the other half's birthday next weekend and she is out of ideas of what she'd like for presents. Last year I bought her one of these which has proven to be a very welcome addition to her tools. Does anyone have any bright ideas on what I could get her this year?

Bokashi cropped up on Gardeners World last night.
It has been mentioned on here a few times and I don't want to share The Dons thinly disguised scepticism but has anyone had any long term success with it ?

Yes makes great soil. The composting worms move in and get through everything.

Happy to answer any questions if you’re thinking of giving it a go.

Thanks.
I'd like to give it a go but at present I have the almost perfect balance of the kitchen waste I produce and the wormery to digest it.

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What about a plant?

For one of our anniversaries my OH gave me a dwarf pear, and for father's day a nice big star Jasmine.

Tree ferns are cool and would feel like a statement.

That’s looking good. I’d stick with that. If you want to give it a go for any food waste with elements you don’t give to the worms just collect it then bury it in the ground.

bury it in the ground

I have done this on the allotment (and deeply ) but as I don't eat meat or fish it would take a while to collect egg shells and cooked meals waste - but I'll give it a go if only for some drain cleaning juice 😬

One option is to freeze it until you’ve got enough. The juice is great as a liquid feed as well.

Any rise experts in the house?

This rambling rose is in its 3rd year and seems to be doing well, but. I think I read some where that rise branches aren’t meant to touch. Not sure how detrimental this is, but should I be cutting this rose back?

I just keep tying wayward bits to the trellis and crossing my fingers.

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Any stems that are crossing you can cut back as it can cause them to rub together and can cause infection, this goes for all shrubs/trees to be fair.

Oh! So this is ripe for infection then

The RHS site has a good guide for ramblers

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/roses/rambler/pruning-guide

So this winter would be a good time to take it down and cut back to maybe 3/4 main branch’s and re tie it into the trellis

I’ve got zero signs of life in my compost bins

I’ve got zero signs of life in my compost bins

Have you got them on earth ?

No. That’s a very good point. Because it’s food waste I wanted to stop mice and other vermin getting involved.

I don't put any meat , dairy , bread and cooked food (oils/fats) waste in my bins.

I all our food waste in. But that’s generally just vegetables and fruit. Everything else gets eaten.

All paper food and cardboard goes in too

I emptied one of the bins and it smelt of sileage.

Put some garden soil in there. You’ll soon get life in there

Sounds like there is a lack of oxygen causing the pile to decompose anaerobically.