Stormy Weather

[Serial_Apologist]

Ah! - the Laura Ashley of bloomers!

[marthe]

saly: If I could send virtual rain, I'd send some of ours. My Lady's Mantle are like little reservoirs they're so full of water! Your rhodos are way ahead of ours which won't be in bloom for another couple of weeks.

S_A: Laura Ashley bloomers! That must be a pretty sight.

[amateur51]

Yay!, overnight rain here in NW2!

I doubt that it was much but it has brought the snails & slugs out and I don't have to top up the bird bath today. However we need several weeks of overnight rain, rather than just one night.

Onwards & upwards!

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

no such luck here in the red soiled land ... i will have to hose the yard this morning [which means getting very wet as the connectors all leak ho hum what fun] but we still have low dark clouds and a stillness in the air ... we might get a drop or two yet ... the hollyhocks, planted from seeds from plants blocking the road in a small Suffolk town are now huge but not yet flowering ... this is their second year, no flowers last year, but now they are established i am hoping for an explosion of rampant wild colours

[amateur51]

no such luck here in the red soiled land ... i will have to hose the yard this morning [which means getting very wet as the connectors all leak ho hum what fun] but we still have low dark clouds and a stillness in the air ... we might get a drop or two yet ... the hollyhocks, planted from seeds from plants blocking the road in a small Suffolk town are now huge but not yet flowering ... this is their second year, no flowers last year, but now they are established i am hoping for an explosion of rampant wild colours

I love hollyhocks - remind me of my childhood when I grew some from a packet of seeds I was given by my Dad. I was sooo proud that they grew so tall

[Chris Newman]

We too had a welcome splash in the night. Not much sign of more today though there is a nip in the air in the shades.

[BBMmk2]

It's been trying to rain down my neck of the woods today!

[marthe]

Raindrops have stopped for a few minutes...might just get the mower out before the grass gets too wild and wooly (never mind the dandelion clocks seeding themselves everywhere.) My English gardening friend declares this to be "British weather"! I'm actually glad for the rain because it's bringing the water table up to a good level. Sometimes after a rainy spring, the "tap" is turned off and we don't see a drop until autumn.

[salymap]

This weather has brought on a terrible depression in my case. It hasn't rained, the long light days are murky and lights are on by 7.30pm. A wonderful cousin has been here twice and cut back a lot of briars and trimmed bushes, I'm a spoilt brat, well; old girl. Tell your friend 'British weather' is drought at the moment marthe.

[Flosshilde]

self seed like Billy-O. Who was Billy-O? William of Orange, perhaps?

But I don't think he & Mary had any offspring (that survived, anyway), so not a very good role-model (if that's the term I'm looking for) for something that seeds & spreads prolifically.

Amongst some sections of the Scottish (& probably N. Irish) population the flower I know as 'Sweet William' is known as 'Stinking Billy'

A discussion of the origin of Billy-O can be found here - http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/like-billy-o.html
The first printed appearance is in a USA newspaper, where it appears as 'billy-hoo' - I wonder if there's a connection with 'Bally-hoo'?

[Serial_Apologist]

S_A: Laura Ashley bloomers! That must be a pretty sight.

Those bloomers referred to Calum's photo, marthe! Somehow several messages have intervened in the meantime, making it hard to work out what I was alluding to. I always think of Laura Ashley whenever I see buddleia.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

blame it on the remembering music thread [i can not recall anything but recognise and know it when it starts ]

[marthe]

S_A and aka CDaJ, if we could do bloomers with a Laura Ashley print featuring Buddleia, we would be in business! Imagine all the teenagers and twentysomethings wearing these as outerwear. We could start a new fashion trend.

[marthe]

This weather has brought on a terrible depression in my case. It hasn't rained, the long light days are murky and lights are on by 7.30pm. A wonderful cousin has been here twice and cut back a lot of briars and trimmed bushes, I'm a spoilt brat, well; old girl. Tell your friend 'British weather' is drought at the moment marthe.

Oh saly, I hope the sun shines for you soon! I know how depression-making this gloomy weather can be. We've had a whole week of dull weather with no end in sight. When the sun does comes out, we'll all keel over from the mere brightnesss of it! At least I could get my lawn mowed before the next band of showers pushed through! I'm glad your cousin came to whack back the briars and trim the bushes. My privet hedge needs trimming but I've no cousins nearby, nor my son who lives in California now. Next sunny day, I'll get out my ladder and hedge shears and shape up the privet!

[salymap]

marthe sorry I moaned, it's seeing others do things I could do a few years ago I guess. Icould do with two council garden bins this week Main one is full of gardener's work, hedge etc and coz has left a pile of pieces for the week after. Still no rain to speak of, six or seven drops at most.