GardenOrganic have a series of weekly Blogs that I've just found. https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/blogs
I especially liked Frugal gardening.
Worth a look, especially on a wet, windy day like today.

Another pretty pest - Geranium Bronze Butterfly/Brun des Pélargoniums! 

This beauty is a South African native and a pest of pelargoniums - the female lays her eggs in the flower buds and the caterpillars eat them, so although the plant is fine we don't get any flowers. No red gernaium flowers in France? c'est une catastrophe !

I'm overwintering and taking cuttings of my own plants rather than buying in any more to try and limit the population.

          

I found this interesting article about their arrival and likely survival in the UK HERE but I thnk we are proabably stuck with them down here.

Garden & Gossip Question Time - very loosely based on GQT

You, the "listeners" are invited to submit your gardening questions to the Panel (all of us) who will share their knowledge and experience and strange sense of humour in their answers. 
The listener will be asked to decide which answer was the most helpful.

Please submit your questions , with photos if helpful, below and the "Panel" will be pleased to help.
Thank you
G&G QTx

I've been having a nosey through some of the garden/allotment images and wondered when you were planning your spaces what was the driving factor when determining your size of beds. There's a huge mix, some with smaller beds and some with massive beds, some raised some just edged, some more free-flowing. 

I remember when I had my allotment, my paths were quite narrow only about 500mm wide, too narrow for a wheelbarrow for example. I had 12 beds, in the cross of St George, with a couple of extra vertical dissections on all 4 white corner squares, the red cross was paths. My beds were long about 14 metres in length and about 1.5 metres wide too wide to reach the centre when casting seeds, for example, so I had to trample the beds, and too long when I needed to fetch water. My plot was bordered by raised planters in an L section which were 500mm high, I did this to minimise weeding the path edges, but it also only gave me three access points as one end of the cross was against a fence. It was like being trapped in a maze!!.

I think I was influenced by my father a bit too much to be honest when I was setting it up as he thought raised beds were a bad idea he preferred open ground to turn over but, as I was set on beds as I wanted to break it down into manageable sections that I could recover bit by bit, he did, however, influence them being very long.

I always thought I didn't have enough pathways but, over the 300sqm plot I had 25.8% given up to paths, which really shocked me when I just worked it out, 1/4 of my growing space grew nothing but weeds. No wonder I seemed to spend some much time trying to tend the edges.

So what were your planning thoughts, and if you worked it out how much of your space is actually growing area? Do your best not to guess try and work it out, it's honestly really quite scary.

In another universe long long ago I started a thread about a possible dream coming true.

A quick recap 
11.10.18 we met with the architect for the first time after being offered some land to build on.
12.02.19 planning permission was refunded. With very little hope of fighting to overturn the decision.
Between 14 and 19.02.19 we viewed, made an offer and offer got rejected on a property 
24.02.19 we were offered another piece of land ! 
10.07.19 we got planning permission!
20. 11.19 wrote rather a large post (in the other universe) Complaining about solicitors.
16.01.20 building warrant went in.

Now to the present day.

17.08.20 we finally got the building warrant back / accepted.....what ever the he11 they do.
So what are we waiting for now? You guessed it the ****ing solicitors ! We still don’t own the land because of them faffing about. We thought we’d be signing papers last week. All the paperwork came back and suddenly out of nowhere another clause had been added. 
But finally actually starting something physical is in touching distance! Not just throwing money at people and beating my head against a wall. 
Yes granted lockdown has slowed the process but building warrant & land perches should of been done & dusted long before any of this COVID crisis.
We’ve still been collecting things for the build while we’re been waiting for idiots! We now have most of the timber for our garage. Someone brought a house kit but never put it up ?! They were going to burn it !! It’s now sat in our field under a very large bright red lorry tarpaulin. Yesterday Bob came home with 5 hard hats and we collected a section of fish farm walkway. That will give us our initial access to our plot over the ditch. 
So in short I’m very excited and ready to kill people all at the same time   .

Happy Birthday JJB 
Hope you have a wonderful day doing all you want to do - especially if its in the garden.

Vine Weevils

Vine Weevils are a common garden pest in the UK attacking both outdoor and indoor plants. Container grown plants are particularly susceptible.

The adult weevils feed on the leaves but the real damage is done by their larvae munching on the roots of your plants.

Adult
   
Larvae
   
Eggs
   

Best treatment - Nematodes

For all you clever flower people

I am planning on turning one of my uncultivated plots into a flower garden for both cutting and enjoying, not just by me, but anyone who cares to use the plot. This is a small plot about 10x20mtrs

I have a number of questions please.

I am planning on setting out paths and creating differing shaped edged beds. The paths will be grass and the beds covered with a weed suppresant with bark on top. 

Q. If i cut heat welded holes in the suppresant will bulbs grow through the  bark?
Q. What bulbs would natrually follow daffs?
Q. Can you buy snowdrops and is it worh underplanting the 3 small apple trees with them?
Q. What flowers have a high scent?
Q. I need something that will grow and cover the fences at either side?
Q. Can all bulbs be left in the ground?
Q. I like lavender, is there a compact variety?

Any advice or suggestions welcome

This is why I never manage to save any sunflower seeds - the marsh tits take them the moment they are ready. Great tits and goldfinches also both try, but don't seem tp be agile enough to get underneath the flowers.

   
   

Marsh tits are really vocal, arriving with a kind of zwweeeee twitter twitter - the cat doesn't even flick an ear anymore!

Do you have a Midas plant, one you really struggle to grow. It might be climate, soil, or simply you cease to believe it’s in your capability. 

For me this is Calabrese, I’ve tried many forms and they all seem to go to seed rather than form heads. They are such a pain, I simply no longer bother. I have no issue with many other brassicas but, even broccoli raab fail me. 

This is a safe place air your woes.