I loathe weeding !

Yes, OGM, I was wondering where all the butterflies had gone. The buddleias are in full flower at the moment but not a butterfly in sight. Even last year, after a cold winter, I had quite a lot in the garden, though I'd prefer it if they weren't cabbage whites which completely destroyed a trough of rocket.

OGM & ANNOBEL The butterfly's are holidaying by the sea in Devon. My buddleia attracts hundreds and they're queueing up to get at the brassicas on my allotment.

Presumably the frosts weren't so severe in Devon. Tell them it's safe to pack their bags for Cheshire at the moment!

We are definitely low on bumble bees and butterflies in the s. midlands. As well as the cold it was a weird spring - a drought from Feb-may. Warm april. Thing coming out at the wrong time. We had blackberries in July...
Weird weather affects the insect life cycles I think.

Can they come to this part of Cheshire too. I've seen one painted lady, loads of cabbage whites, one gatekeeper and one speckled wood - never seen the last two before - oh and holly blues (but we're surrounded by holly (Ugh). My buddleias are almost over though - everything seems to be going over way too early this year. But the fish in my pond are multiplying like billyoh.

Annobel, sorry unavailable to weed in Cheshire, suggest you ask Beyonce. Watched her performance at Glasto ( on tele, sadly).Now there's a gal who'd be up to the task....spent much of the time singing in 'weeding pose' (down on one knee). Do you think she's a closet weeder?
Grannyactivist, just spent a wonderful w/end in Devon, attending a wedding, and discovered where all the butterflies are!

Great idea, OGM, but not sure I could afford the young lady. I may have to resort to paying my senior GD if I can get her to soil her delicate hands!

It is easy to get rid of with any weedkiller containing glyphosate. Better to wait till the spring now though as it is better to spray when it is growing strongly.

When I have a large flat patch of weeds, the kind that are hard to dig up, I get my riddler out. This is an old square polystyrene box, with a round fan guard on top, which is now the riddler. If you can't get a fan guard, any rigid tough mesh will do - about quarter or half inch squares.

Just shovel the soil, complete with weeds onto the riddler, give it a shake, the soil drops through to the box and the weeds are separated and ready to chuck away, or put in the compost or feed to the chickens. The soil is now lovely and friable and ready to sow something nice into it.

PS
To get a square polystyrene box, I cut and bound together two oblong ones.

Help please! I have a lovely canna lily growing in a pot and the flowers are just about dead now so I understand it's time to cut it down and store the bulb until next spring. My question, and forgive me if I sound incredibly stupid, is whereabouts do I cut it, how far from the actual bulb? And how do I store it? Any advice very gratefully received.

That's a good idea Joan. Never thought of using a riddler like that!

nannym,try www.gardenguides.com/video-store-canna-bulbs.html.I dont know if it will suit but you could have a look at the video

Ronald thank you for taking the time to answer my plea. I will look at the link later on.

I call weeds wild plants and that solves the problem.

Without having identified all the grasses, ferns, rushes, mosses and lichens in my garden (not to mention the fungi), which would add to the numbers I'm about to give you, I've found names for/of 123 plants in my garden. Of these, 79 are wild, native plants, 5 are cultivated versions of native plants, 9 are wild not native plants, and 30 are 'cultivated'/'notsure' or naturalised. If MOG and I between us manage to keep the hedges and the grassed areas under some kind of control, we're doing well. But we bought the house because of the challenging and fairly wild garden.

In my much smaller suburban Oxfordshire garden, I had 80 wildflowers/plants and 45 cultivated.

Love 'weeds'

bagitha - that sounds absolutely wonderful! Slightly

Why have the little tree scrub's gone up to £2.99 each this week from £1.99 last week,they must have been planted at the same time for goodness sake,or does this market gardener think just because I am blonde I am stupid.

Obvious question Glamma....???

I have googled it. Nothing.

OH, did you mean "shrubs"?

Sorry. Bit slow this time of night.

So sorry meant shrub's it's me who is a bit slow not you'finger must have slipped.