Failures

[Paul Narramore]

Failures. With the best will in the World, not everything in the garden is a success although each year my failures are fewer.

Seed germination. This year I sowed coriander and flat leaf parsley in a raised bed and in spite of regular watering, not a damned seed germinated. I also bought through the post some Echium wildpretii seeds which have failed to show. Miranda, have you had any success?

Rocket. I sowed a 4ft row and did they grow? In fact we couldn't eat them fast enough, they finally bolted so I've pulled them up.

The Echium pininana plant I bought at the Chelsea Physic Garden a few months ago has 'whithered on the vine' and looks sicker and sicker each day. As they grow on volvanos in the Canary Islands I wonder if all the rain we've been getting - there is another cloud burst as I write this - is too much for the plant.

[digger]

I have had many failures the cutting i was forced to take of clematis bees jubilee have not all rooted but there is still hope for some of them, parsnips i sowed this year have not been too good some i sowed in the ground totally failed but maybe the seed was older than i thought, i sowed a trial variety of lettuce from the nvs total failure not one germinated! i also failed to buy a new greenhouse OH has agreed to us getting a 10 foot by 6 foot i think for £300, but i need to save up more money for it. and my latest failure was on wednesday when i foolishly failed to stay sat on the horses back and i fell off. My life is riddled with failures but we gardeners are optimistic and think we will do better next time which is what i always tell myself

[Miranda]

I haven't started them yet, Paul, as we are hoping to move and the house is on the market. I was saving them for when we're sorted out. Do they need a period of cold to stimulate germination, do you think?

Failures - only one of three cuttings of Citrus hystrix has succeeded. Four out of six bean plants have been slugged to death. Two Sweet William plants that I thought would be dark pink turned out to be pale pink and so clash nastily with nearby plants. I failed to prune an Escallonia when it really needed it and now it's all over the place and needs hard pruning.

For digger (;)) - I broke four Chinese bowls in one go by knocking them off a shelf. They were my favourites, too. I broke two very nice wine glasses by banging them into the tap whilst washing up - I blame the birds for that, mind you. I tripped on the way upstairs and a pot of fresh coffee fell off the tray I was carrying and went all down the stair carpet. Think that's it, just for now.

[sue1002]

Is it because you were watching the birds Miranda that you broke the wine glasses?

My failures, tried last year and the year before with parsnips, not a single seed germinated so will not bother with them again. Swedes and cabbages last year got totalled from cabbage white caterpillars - this year the brassicas are netted. No matter how many times I try to grow spring onions they germinate quite well and once the first 'leaves' appear they die off, have tried them in the ground and in pots to no avail but I do keep on trying.

Also sowed half a packet of candelabra Primulas and not one germinated, I think it was because the greenhouse was too hot and the seeds just cooked. Sowed the rest of the packet and kept them indoors - about six came up then transferred them to the greenhouse and there is now only one left.

[Miranda]

Is it because you were watching the birds Miranda that you broke the wine glasses?

Yes, Sue, it was either a robin or a blackbird - can't remember now, but the culprit was having a lively and entertaining bath.

[digger]

So it's not just me with the parsnips then/ one year i had a good crop of spring onions and failed the two years after but i tried different varieties so now i just grow white lisbon and so far things have been okay with them both in the ground and in pots. parsnips are my nemesis only once have i grown really worthwhile specimens this year i sowed some in the ground they failed so i sowed the martock broad beans in their place (they are doing well) but the only parsnips that germinated are in a 5 foot tube in a really gritty well drained compost maybe they need really specific conditions to germinate, i know carrots need 7 degrees c but to be honest i have no trouble with carrots indoors or out oh and celery is another tough one for me

[Maire]

I have regular failures, but strangely the rhododendron that the builders tried to kill gave the best floral display this year. Sometimes I think a bit of neglect does a plant good....it's the ones I lovingly nurture that kick the bucket.

[Paul Narramore]

Well you've made me feel very happy. It so easy to think that one's a nincompoop. Miranda, I really don't know about the Echium seeds. All I know is that I sowed them into a tray of compost as the instructions directed and.......... As they come from a hot place, perhaps they need a bit of bottom heat in an incubator? If you try and chill them for a month, and they work, I'll get some more and try again. The plants are so stunning they deserve a second try.
I break wine glasses when I get a bit tired and I miss the edge of the table ;-(

[Miranda]

I'll try starting some of the Echium seeds now and tell what happens, Paul.

I broke several glass cafetierres, always by knocking them against the taps while washing up. We have a metal one now and it's got a couple of dents in it ;-)

[Paul Narramore]

Incubator? Propagator.

Miranda, We're posh. We have a dishwasher.

Went out to buy a plant for a friend whose husband is seriously ill (Cotinus corrygria 'Royal Purple') and bought a £6000 Citroen C3!

[Miranda]

Re Incubator - I knew what you meant :-)

Never fancied having a dishwasher as I don't mind washing up. I always gaze out of the window while I'm doing it, though, and that's how things get broken.

Ha, that's funny about you ending up buying a car when you went out for a plant. These things do tend to happen. A year or so ago, a friend wrote to me to say that she and her husband had 'inadvertently bought a house in France'...

[Neil Bromhall]

I ended up buying a sheep trough which I've buried in my garden and use it as a small pond. It's about 3ft deep and 5ft long by 1 ft. Brilliant for what I need. I have a water lily, a fish, frogs and the birds love it.

I was really at an auction to buy a video camera which a friend of mine used on his rented farm. I was filming for The Secret Garden for the BBC and he kindly let me film on his farm. We watched barn owls on the remote video camera in the house. Sadly he died and his wife had to sell up and asked if I wanted to buy the video gear which was basically a traffic camera.
The video gear was lot 350 and by the time lot 18 came up which was a sheep trough I was getting bored and bought it for £18.00.

I've since given the video gear to another farmer to watch their barn owls

[Miranda]

Good story, Neil.

This is what distracts me when I'm washing up: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y295/miranda_uk/blog1/from_the_kitchen.jpg - there are three seed feeders in the apple tree and there are often birds at the pond or sitting grooming themselves on the fence. And then sparrows gather in the Choisya or a blackbird or robin will jump into the plastic saucer for a bath. I do love to watch them all flitting about :)

[Paul Narramore]

Miranda
I love your jungley garden, my style of garden too. How nice not to have a rectangle of grass with a thin border up the side, or, dare I say it, an infernally small island bed with a dried up bird bath for some poor sucker to mow around. ;-)

[blackfingers]

Miranda
No wonder why you're getting distracted.Lovely view:)