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Thanks for the advice rb, low maintenance hardy perennials certainly seem to be the way forward for me.

 

I finish work in a couple of hours and I'll get to the planting and take another couple of photos.

 

A bit of colour, a nice smell and the sound of a few bees buzzing around certainly appeals. I'm starting to see the appeal in this gardening thing for sure mate.

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Maybe it sounds a bit naff but Gardeners World is a good resource even if for helping you work out what you don’t like.

 

And rb’s right, as far as growing stuff is concerned, it’s fairly simple really, right plant in the right place and keep stuff well watered and if something doesn’t work out it’s an opportunity to try something different 

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Today in the garden, I was deciding whether to remove a weed from the cistus. It's tricky because the weed is in purple flower and looks fab. I'll probably leave it until it starts to fade. Aaaaanyway...

...I saw what looked like a bee with a ball of white on its head. Closer inspection revealed what I can only describe as a crab-like thing. The bee wasn't moving and the crab thing was clearly aware of my proximity, moving to the further side of the flower, each time I moved. 

 

A bit of googling gave me the answer. The white thing is a crab spider. It's a female and rather than spinning webs to catch prey, they simply ambush unsuspecting insects, some far larger than themselves. They inject venom to incapacitate their dinner, the venom also serving to slowly dissolve the insect's internal organs to make an easily digestible meal. 

 

It was very tricky to capture with me moby, but here's a couple that give you an idea. 

 

 

PXL_20210620_140341160.jpg

PXL_20210620_135934978.jpg

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On 18/06/2021 at 12:00, Jennings said:

I am at the same place as you, CD. I am finding most of gardening is experimentation.

There's a lot of trial and error in my wee garden.  I followed the instructions about spacing when I planted a load of bulbs, but they looked really sparse. I then planted out some nasturtiums, thinking I'd left plenty of room, but they've gone massive and taken over the world. Still, the bees love it, so that's fine by me.

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Finished the fucker, had to move half a ton of stones back out of the pond to allow me to plant without fear of avalanche, then move them all back in when I'd finished.

 

Taking your advice too rb, watering them every few hours. Fingers crossed they bed in and grow.

 

IMG_20210621_123323.jpg

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CD - all that brick and stone is likely going to cause some of those delicate plants to cook in the heat. Even watering during the day when the rocks are warm will hurt the plants.

 

If I'm right, go with my earlier suggestion of more hardy, drought-tolerant plants (lavender) - maybe some succulents ?

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More time to think about this.

 

If you're stuck on flowers, maybe go for some hardy perennials like echinacea (cone flowers). They come in all sorts of colours, great for attracting bees and butterflies and low maintenance.

 

Or more grasses ? Just go big / masculine. It all just looks a bit wimpy (sorry)

 

edit: quick google search to get you going.... https://gardenerspath.com/plants/flowers/best-flowering-perennials/

 

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1 minute ago, neko said:

More time to think about this.

 

If you're stuck on flowers, maybe go for some hardy perennials like echinacea (cone flowers). They come in all sorts of colours, great for attracting bees and butterflies and low maintenance.

 

Or more grasses ? Just go big / masculine. It all just looks a bit wimpy (sorry)

 

 

Ha, no probs mate but for now at least the buying and planting are done. I'll keep them watered and see how they go.

 

Just wanted something hardy, with a bit of colour, simple to maintain. If they do go tits up then I'll defi get some lavender and echinaceas in there next spring.

 

After the swamp before them, anything would be a vast improvement tbh.

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Hardy perennials in our garden (Irises/Coneflower/Alliums,Crocosmia). 

 

I used to have masses of just irises (siberian/japanese), but I really wanted to attract more bees and add a bit more colour throughout the summer. 

 

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4 hours ago, Carvalho Diablo said:

Finished the fucker, had to move half a ton of stones back out of the pond to allow me to plant without fear of avalanche, then move them all back in when I'd finished.

 

Taking your advice too rb, watering them every few hours. Fingers crossed they bed in and grow.

 

IMG_20210621_123323.jpg

Yeah looking good. And I of course agree with Neko. 

 

Every few hours watering is perhaps a little over-enthusiastic. After the first couple or three days, reduce it to once in the evening when the sun has set. After a couple of weeks, one evening every other day should be fine.

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