Author Topic: Gardening  (Read 336674 times)

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Offline stephenprudence

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #240 on: November 20, 2011, 04:40:08 pm »
Blodyn, the softer the better, it's actually one of those fruits best eaten when into the 'very ripe' or past ripe stage!

That's the ones I think SC - although I'd wonder how many it would take to make a cuppa  ;D


Other garden shrub fruit thats good to eat at this time of year;

Barberry (Berberis vulgaris/Berberis darwinii)

Fuchsia (some berries are nicer than any other fruit in the world, some are quite plain - all edible though)

Mahonia japonica/Mahonia aquifolium.. an ok fruit, not amazing, but not bad if you hungry and you have no money with you.

Yew berries - apparently an amazing berry in terms of flavour, if you know what you're doing... ingestion of the seed can cause death though, if you are brave enough, make sure the seed is discarded.

In fact if you're not sure don't bother with the Yew, or if you are going to eat the berry, make sure and absolutely sure that the seed is removed before putting anywhere near your mouth and wash hands afterwards if you scratch the seed accidently.



Offline Nemesis

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #241 on: November 20, 2011, 05:36:37 pm »
OMG it all sounds dodgy to me ! :o
Same with mushrooms-- I can never be sure !
Mad, Bad and Dangerous to know.


Offline hollins

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #242 on: November 20, 2011, 06:00:33 pm »
Anything with berries seems to have looked good this autumn. This was our cotoneaster this morning.

Offline Blodyn

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #243 on: November 21, 2011, 04:57:31 pm »
Stephen, I agree with Nemesis!  You obviously like to live dangerously - eating yew berries sounds much too exciting to me.  :o

I think I'll stick to blackberries. 

Hollins, that's a very colourful cotoneaster - plenty of berries there for Stephen to have a go at! 

Here are a couple of (fairly) recent photos from my garden.  I love the bright colour of the marigolds at this time of year.  Last year they survived the November snow but December finished them off. 

Offline Blodyn

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #244 on: November 21, 2011, 05:03:13 pm »
Here are some teasels in my garden. 

You wouldn't think that a teasel would be a comfy roosting place for a snail (and the snail evidently agreed as it had gone by the next morning) but you can see how it got there, gliding across the prickles on its slime trail, which shows why some of the so-called "barrier" materials have so little effect. 

Offline stephenprudence

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #245 on: November 23, 2011, 11:25:03 am »
There two trains of thought on the Yew Berry, people won't eat it because it has the consistency of snot, but on the other hand, if you have a sweet tooth, it's sweeter than anything you'll find in the sweet shop.

To be honest though it's not worth the risk, though the de-seeding is a simple process, you can never be sure if the seed is undeveloped, and may leak toxins into the fruit. It's worth leaving therefore.

As for today it's 12C lovely a mild for a late October day, no frost last night, and the flowers are still going strong.

I have some Begonia semperflorens (aka wax Begonias), that just keep on flowering, but this is not unusual, they are very tough indeed, and will go through a winter in flower if it is mild enough - I saw many go through the winter of 2006 completely in flower, but the lowest temperature that entire winter was 0.2C!

Zonal Geraniums (Pelargoniums) are still going strong, despite some yellowing to the leaves due to the cooler weather, and some tuberous Begonias still going well.

It's all looking rosy (excuse the pun), with no frost due for the remainder of November into December as far as I can tell.

Offline Hugo

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #246 on: November 29, 2011, 03:37:29 pm »
The recent gales have left my garden in a right mess.  The Pampas Grass has been hammered and the plumes that didn't come down are looking in a sorry state.      :(
Plant pots have blown over and so have some of the garden furniture    The wind seems to have died down for now thank goodness.

Offline hollins

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #247 on: November 29, 2011, 04:44:06 pm »
So sorry about your garden Hugo. It must have been bad because I had a text from my husband to say even he wasn't out gardening in it. Must have been terrible!

Offline TheMedz

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #248 on: November 29, 2011, 05:31:00 pm »
Following of the some strong winds last year I decided to give up on the pampas grass in the front garden and remove it altogether. Good plan but an absolute nightmare executing the removal. I tried digging it out, cutting it down and digging it out and even tried to burn it out. Had there been some dynamite available I was so frustrated after about three weeks I might even have resorted to that.  It was very similar to having a really deep rooted tooth extracted at the dentist. I ruined two good garden forks in the process. In the end I went onto E-bay and bought the toughest, sharpest bow saw I could find and cut it out a small piece at a time.   

Offline Yorkie

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #249 on: November 29, 2011, 06:25:36 pm »
Would have been easier to hire a mini digger for a few hours!
Wise men have something to say.
Fools have to say something.
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Offline Hugo

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #250 on: November 29, 2011, 08:00:49 pm »
I grew a Pampas Grass in my previous house and someone told me that you should burn them when the leaves are dying off as it encourages them to grow the next year.
I did this and as it wasn't burning too well I added some newspaper to get the fire going and also added some petrol.   It worked but I never saw that plant again!         _))*

Offline Blodyn

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #251 on: November 30, 2011, 10:25:56 am »
When I was a child I was fascinated by pampas grass and kept trying to persuade my parents to put one in the middle of the front lawn.  It sounds as if they were right not to do so, however disappointed I was! 

Sorry to hear about all the wind damage in your garden, Hugo. 

Offline Nemesis

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #252 on: November 30, 2011, 11:51:25 am »
I brought one with me when we moved here and now spend too much time shoring it up and clipping it back-- it always gets it's own back as well. I'm usually cut to ribbons. Nasty thing ! :o
Mad, Bad and Dangerous to know.

Offline Blodyn

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #253 on: December 01, 2011, 02:04:48 pm »
Nemesis, is your pampas grass in the front garden? 

If so, it might be sending out messages about you.   :o  Listen to this interview on the BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15974553

Offline Pendragon

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #254 on: December 02, 2011, 10:59:56 am »
 :laugh: Ah Nem you best dig/burn it.  That's so funny.  Swingers ay  L0L
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Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley