Hi again,

Well after months of getting to grips with gardening I've discovered two
things:

1) ... I still don't know anything, but ...
2) ... I seem to have a natural talent

With the exception of Coleus, which seems to *hate* me (keeps dying) and
the sad case of the potted Pin Oak (un-watered for 3 years), I seem to
have the Midas touch with plants.

Aloe's (which I initially referred to as Cacti) that were at deaths door
at the beginning of the year, have been re-potted, spawned offspring,
flowered, and returned to their all-time best condition.

The annuals exploded with life and colour, indeed the Nasturtiums turned
into rampaging thugs that threatened the rest of the Garden, despite being
eaten by those abseiling caterpillar thingies.

The newly planted perennials, many of which seemed to be duds, suddenly
shot outwards and upwards during the recent hot spell. This same heatwave
nearly killed my lawn, however, since I've been oversees for 4 weeks and
don't have an irrigation system.

I split up a Spider Plant, and due to a temporary shortage of pots, stuck
the bits into a long planter filled with compost, that was outdoors. This
was a few months ago (when we had a lot of cold, wet weather), and I
thought I'd killed the poor things. Now, however, (suitable re-potted and
situated indoors), they are in beautiful condition, and stray roots left
in the planter keeps spawning more plants - I've got hundreds of the
things !!! Spider plant, anyone? Oh and someone told me that spider plants
are good for sitting next to TV's and Computers, since they absorb,
neutralise and thrive on electromagnetic energy, which is harmful to us
humans. Cool

I'm getting brave now, and playing around with harvested seeds, but I am
mainly ignorant of such things. So far I think I've figured out that you
can't propagate F1's since they are sterile, but anything else should
work, right? I'd like to grow Laburnums from seed (they seed naturally at
the base of the tree in my garden anyway) but I'm not sure how to handle
the process. I've split the (now dry) pods, and planted them in seed
trays, but what now? Do I keep it hot or cold, wet or dry, indoors or
outdoors?

The arable area (an embankment) that I cleared to make into a kind of
hillside meadow, is now completely free of couch grass and other weeds,
and I've been improving the soil (a bit) with garden compost. Should I be
planting wildflower seeds now or in the early spring? I never did get
around to buying a soil-test kit, so I suppose I should do that first
before committing to any particular species. Reminder - it is exposed, NE
facing, coastal, dry/silty (improved), high nitrogen, unknown Ph, in
Cruden Bay (NE Scotland).

Oh, and I finally bought that greenhouse (from Access). It's a 5ft
long lean-to, perfect for my small garden. My first greenhouse!!!

And I've erected 3 bird boxes, with different size openings. I feed the
little buggers, so I might as well give them full board too

-
[H]omer