merledogs Posted April 25, 2012 Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 (edited) I bought a Lavatera when I was at Hever Castle last year. It's not grown very much at all and just looks thoroughly miserable where it is in the back garden. It's very shady where it is so I think I'm going to have to move it elsewhere. Can anybody suggest a shrub that I can put in it's place? It's got a tree and a gigantic bamboo type plant over-shadowing that area and the soil is utter pants. Mahonia is pretty tough, evergreen and very pretty yellow fragrant flowers. Or Sweet Box (sarcococca confusa) is beautifully fragrant in Feb/March and also tough. Elaeagnus ebbingei should also do well. Whatever you plant though, would recommend you improve the soil first by digging in lots of compost to the area, down to a spade's depth and add some slow release feed round the root ball such as Miracle Gro or Blood Fish & Bone I'm very disappointed with my rhodies at the moment, they had nice big fat buds which have all gone browny black and dropped off! Only one, a deep red one, is actually trying to flower. Do you think it was lack of water? Too much rain? Frost on them? or just plain bad luck? I lost my lovely camellia after the snow the winter before this one so I've dug it out...the only things really going well in the garden are dandelions and flame of the forest, they are growing like mad! Could be a number of things - some of mine went brown and dropped off because they got burnt by the frosts we had. Still got tons of flowers though. Pieris like acidic soil as well so if that's growing well then theoretically so should your Rhodos. To encourage lots of flowers next year, pinch out the buds once they are dead, just underneath the flower head, but being careful to leave the shoots just underneath it. I did that last year and have had lots more flowers (even after losing some to frost), which seem more vibrant as well. Edited April 25, 2012 by merledogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 I've got stuff flowering around the garden Azalea which was looking pretty poorly in the front garden (planted by previous owner). I potted it in a planter, deadheaded and pruned it and it's looking rather lovely now ... Dwarf Rhododendron Patty Bee ... Dwarf Lilac ... Couple of Clematis which are waiting to be planted out - montana Rubens and montana Grandiflora ... Dwarf Rhododendron Bow Bells ... Daphne transatlantica Eternal Fragrance ... Broom ... Another Azalea which I planted out front a couple of years ago ... Plus I've just installed a water butt for the first time ever I did manage to slice some skin off with a hacksaw though 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yantan Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 Well done on the installation of the water butt Alex. As always - stunning photos of your addiction plants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houndzrus Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 Looking good Alex Well done on the water butt installation too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebejo Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 I went to Homebase to buy some paint this morning and they had a fantastic offer on all of their garden plants, 1/3 off everything. I headed straight for what in our house is known as 'Paupers Row', the section in every shop where the reduced to clear stuff is I got a Camelia for £2, a lovely already planted up hanging basket for £4, Mollys much longed for Magnolia Susan for £10 and a Mock Orange for about £3. As soon as we left the shop I sent a message to our resident plant addict to let her know about the offer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 You did indeed Bejo - thank you I will pop down tomorrow to see if it's still on (not that I need any more plants) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 I've had three more baby Fuchsias delivered today Am hoping all the ones I've bought will flower nicely this summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
griff Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 i am very jealous of all your pretty flowers..... my front garden has iris' flowering at the moment and i am hoping to get some palms for the back garden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 Bought this little beauty for £3 in Morrisons today ... It's supposedly an indoor plant but I'm going to ask on the gardening forum I frequent if I can plant it outside. It's actually four little plants in the same pot, so I'd like to split them and put them side by side in a trough. I might also have bought a couple more fuchsias 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houndzrus Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 I might also have bought a couple more fuchsias Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yantan Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 What a stunning rose and all for a bargainous £3 Alex! Good ole Morrison's. I love fuschias and used to have loads of them at my last but one house. I only had a patio there so did lots of things in pots and hanging baskets. (I once got a prize for it all in the "secret back garden" section of our towns "in bloom" competition) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 Well done Maz. I'll be coming to you for advice on Fuchsias then cos I have never grown them before and I now have zillions of the things, plus am swapping some with other laydeez on the gardening forum, so will have a few more varieties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yantan Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 Alex you can't go wrong with fuchsias. I am trying to remember the name/variety of the one fuchsia that wasn't a success because I want to warn you against it but will it come to me - will it hell! It was a relatively new variety as I recall. I'll be back if the name comes to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eve Posted May 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 I got a couple of fuschias too and put them in pots on the decking last week. An hour later there was a huge hailstorm and the poor little things got battered and lost most of their leaves. They were quite young plants so I thought I'd lose them - but they seem to have survived their ordeal and there are lots of new leaves appearing. Killed off loads of marigolds that I had just potted up, having grown them from seed though. The hail was so big and came down so hard they were gone in seconds! My garden is a total mess at the moment and it's all a bit dispiriting. It's been so wet and windy that a lot of the spring blossom is off the trees already. Even the magnolia is looking very sorry for itself. And the big flower bed had to be dug up to get to the drains and replace the pipes and I lost a lot of plants. Managed to salvage some of the shrubs and a couple of rosebushes but I'd put in loads of bulbs and perennials last year and I'm guessing I'll have lost those too. I've grown loads of plants from seed this year though so will hopefully be able to plant those out in a few weeks. Planted loads of clematis and other climbers last week plus underplanted loads of sweetpeas that I've grown from seed in amongst the trees. Fingers crossed I'll have lots of pics of colourful plants to show you in a few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 Look forward to it eve I've mown the lawn, potted up some hanging baskets with Fuchsias, plus a large trough. I've also potted up six rose bushes - four were in one pot which I bought in Mozzas. Two others were bought today in B&Q - they were two for a tenner so it would have been rude not to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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