2026 - Picked my First
Posted by: Veggie - 17-03-2026, 12:24 PM - Replies (3)

Share your pleasure at picking your first tomato, strawberry or whatever of the year with us. Are they earlier or later than last year? 


Last year (2025) https://gardenandgossip.org/showthread.php?tid=2329
Previous year's threads at https://gardenandgossip.org/showthread.p...d+my+first

Continue reading..

  Cut and Come Again Flowers
Posted by: Veggie - 11-03-2026, 11:43 PM - Replies (2)

In my search for Cut and Come Again (CACA) plants, I found this article about CACA flowers. https://celticrootsfarm.com/14-best-cut-...er-garden/

To save you reading it, the 14 best CACA flowers are:-
Zinnias
Cosmos
Dahlias
Sweet Peas
Strawflowers
Statice
Gomphrena
Amaranth
Phlox
Marigold (Tagetes)
Celosia
Scabiosa
Nasturtium
Cornflower

I rarely cut flowers from the garden as I prefer to see them growing outdoors. Cutting flower heads off seems so ungrateful !! I might cut flowers from a shrub that wouldn't miss a few flowers but otherwise I only pick damaged flowers, like the daffodils that have snapped off in the wind. 
Maybe, if I grow CACA flowers, I could convince myself that I'm not being ungrateful!!

Continue reading..

  Random flower seedling ID
Posted by: doublyjonah - 11-03-2026, 12:42 PM - Replies (12)

I thought I would try to figure out the identity of some of my random flower seedlings. Join me if you like and win fabulous prizes!*§^

*Prizes not that fabulous. Mostly kudos and seeds saved from seedlings.
§Prizes not at all contingent on winning and quite definitely contingent on actually growing any of these seedlings into successfully flowering plants.
^Prizes also contingent on you wanting to give me your address and grow my no-longer random varieties.

I'll start with the seedlings that I think I have identified.

Lupin
   

Marigold
   

Zinnia
   

Continue reading..

  Large Tortoiseshell Butterfly
Posted by: Veggie - 09-03-2026, 08:24 PM - Replies (7)

The good news - they were believed to be extinct - but they're back. Big Grin
https://butterfly-conservation.org/news-...ss-england

Continue reading..

  2026 tomato selection
Posted by: Small chilli - 09-03-2026, 07:45 PM - Replies (9)

Has everyone decided what varieties and how many they’re growing this year? 
Do tell. Don’t be shy, we know how the tomato addicts are already  Big Grin 

I have a short list. I have to reduce it to 11 varieties. One plant of each.

If anyone has advice on which 11 I should go with , I’d be grateful. 

Tomato Black Russian  ( not optional. Definitely growing)
Tomato rosella   ( not optional. Definitely growing)
Tomato matts hornet 
Tomato EM champion 
Tomato  northern lights 
tomato oleron yellow 
tomato orange banana
tomato orange jazz 
tomato Oregon spring 
tomato indigo pear drop
tomato sweet casaday 
tomato santiam sunrise 
tomato mountain princess 
tomato gourmet bite size 
tomato girl girl weird thing 
tomato juaune flamme 
tomato piglet Willie 
tomato red zebra 
tomato buffalo horn 

Continue reading..

  Bumblebee identification
Posted by: Veggie - 05-03-2026, 03:58 PM - Replies (2)

https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/le...ies-guide/

https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/le...umblebees/

Continue reading..

  Endurance Tomato
Posted by: toomanytommytoes - 02-03-2026, 12:42 PM - Replies (3)

Has anyone heard of this before? It's a relatively new open pollinated, blight resistant tomato bred by Simon Crawford (breeder of Red Alert, the Crimson line, Honeycomb etc.) It's a semi-determinate which produces medium red fruit. Apparently it was released last year but this is the first I've heard of it. 

https://www.plantsofdistinction.co.uk/ne...ance-0518f
https://www.simplyseed.co.uk/tomato-seed...rance.html
https://www.seedhub.wales/seed/endurance...or-tomato/

Continue reading..

  Who will deliver to Northern Ireland
Posted by: Small chilli - 28-02-2026, 01:25 PM - Replies (2)

The outlaws ( Bob’s brother ) is having his first polytunnel arrive and constructed on Monday. We’ve been discussing seeds. I’m always happy to help someone else become addicted    Big Grin . Oh gods , does that make me a pusher  Big Grin Big Grin Big Grin . 
So which companies will send seed to Northern Ireland? He’s buying from eBay! He could be growing anything! But probably not what he thinks!

Continue reading..

  I-SPY Wildlife - A 6 a Day Challenge
Posted by: Veggie - 27-02-2026, 01:14 PM - Replies (69)

A Daily Challenge to SPY wildlife in your garden/outdoors. 

The aim is to SPY and identify each of the following:-
A Bird
A Butterfly or Moth (incuding caterpillar, chrysalis and imago)
A Bee or Wasp
A Mollusc
An insect or spider
Another living creature (you can only use a "named human" or a "pet" once Wink)

Every day must be different - for example, once you're seen a Robin, you can't SPY him again.

Continue reading..

  Do they all taste the same?
Posted by: Veggie - 23-02-2026, 05:30 PM - Replies (16)

The point has been made on a thread about Kales that they all taste the same - so why grow several varieties when one will do? 
We know that a mix of varieties will extend the cropping season but, if we ignore that,.............my question is.......in your opinion which other vegetables or fruit "taste the same"? 

For me, its Leeks. There may be blue ones, yellow ones and green ones, some are early, some late, some overwinter, some crop in summer - but when it comes to eating them, they all taste the same. Big Grin

Continue reading..

Online Users
There are currently 230 online users. 0 Member(s) | 225 Guest(s)
Applebot, Baidu, Bing, Google, Yandex

Forum Statistics
Members: 86,   Forum threads: 2,357,   Forum posts: 75,301,   Latest member: KevinM67,   Full Statistics

Welcome, Guest
You have to register before you can post on our site.

Username
  

Password
  





Latest Threads
I-SPY Wildlife - A 6 a Da...
Last Post: Veggie
8 hours ago 69

2026 - What I sowed today...
Last Post: Veggie
10 hours ago 46

2026 - What I harvested t...
Last Post: Veggie
10 hours ago 33

2026 - Today's Recipe
Last Post: Small chilli
11 hours ago 362

2026 - What I did today.
Last Post: Veggie
11 hours ago 179

What's flying near you?
Last Post: Small chilli
Yesterday, 06:44 PM 325

2026 - How's your weather...
Last Post: JJB
Yesterday, 11:46 AM 307

Special Offers
Last Post: Veggie
18-03-2026, 05:52 PM 1,022

2026 - Picked my First
Last Post: JJB
18-03-2026, 11:49 AM 3

The build
Last Post: Bren
18-03-2026, 10:35 AM 1,747


Search Forums

Advanced Search



Theme © iAndrew 2018 - Forum software by © MyBB .