Lyn and Malcolm

[ideasguy]

I'd like to welcome our new Plant Loving members, Lyn and Malcolm to our exclusive community.
Malcolm made contact a few days ago asking me to update my link to their web site.
Heres the new URL
http://www.lynandmalc.co.uk/index.htm

I replied to say I'd updated my site as requested.
I paid their new web site a visit (hadnt done so for a while) and was so impressed with the presentation and content - photos, information and slide shows.
Their garden is delightful, and an inspiration to visitors.
What a fantastic collection of plants 

I invited them to join us on the forum, and I'm delighted they have accepted.
You can reply to this message to extend your own welcome. Be sure to pay their web site a visit!
Look for the Garden Open dates. 
As I write, Lyn and Malcolm are preparing for a Garden Open day THIS weekend.
I'd recomend you plan a visit.

[NightHawk]

We would also like to give a warm welcome to Lynn and Malcolm.

Your gardens are truly inspirational.  It's obvious from viewing the photographs of your garden on the web site, that a lot of hard work has gone into it. 

Your success in opening the gardens for the National Garden Scheme has been tremendous over the years, and we wish you both well for the opening again this year.  A lot of money being raised for charity.  Well done to both of you!   

We hope that you will be happy in your new home here on our Forum.

Kathy & Laurie.

[Lyn and Malcolm]

Thank you both for the welcome, sorry for being slow in our reply, but have been a bit busy with our first opening of the year last Sunday. It takes a couple of days to get our heads back together after the preparations before hand, and answering questions from our 218 visitors, for the six hours we were open.

So having refreshed ourselves, it gives me (Malcolm) time to delve into ideasguy's Flower Genie software. Have started to input the plants in the garden, but it will take a while to get all 900+ plants into it. I see you can also enter Dead or removed plants we have had in the garden, a very comprehensive set of software ideasguy. Thank you.

Lyn and Malc

[ideasguy]

I can well understand the need for a breather after that hectic time you've had, Lyn and Malcolm. Its easy for the folk who just turn up on the day. I hope they appreciated all the preparations to the garden and the refreshments and all your planning. Thats a lot of people to show around a garden in a few hours! Well done 

I knew you were especially busy in the week leading up to the open say, and I was so surprised that you managed to find the energy in the evenings to "play" with your new toy (FG). I'm very impressed with your progress in such a short time, and I'm delighted you are enjoying it. The "Duplicate" button may help a little when adding plants. Since you have quite a lot of the plants on your web site already, that will be very useful with copy and paste. Have fun with your 900 entries. I'd love to see the finished article on CD 

The Dead or removed plants feature was a request from David, Higher Knowle.
http://www.ideasforgardens.net/higher-knowle/
I added the barrage of options in the reports to allow the user more flexibility, based around that and other features.

When is your next open day?

[Lyn and Malcolm]

Sorry for taking a while to answer George.

Not had much of a breather, we had a group of 21 people to the garden on Wendesday afternoon, of this week, it was their third annual visit to us
When do we open again?, next Wendesday for the afternoon, usually get just under the 100 visitors for that, so another 7 cakes to make early next week.

Just one more NGS open day after that on Aug 10th 11-00 till 5.00

We have put the different cakes we make onto a spreadsheet, with all the quantities of ingredients listed for each cake.
So when I am told which cakes and how many, I just enter the number into the speadsheet, and it totals everything up and produces a shopping list, much easier.

I have gone over to entering our plants and garden into IG pro instead of FG. I am still not sure how to produce a CD with the database and embedded pictures, perhaps you could point me to a link to somewhere you have documented this.

It's my birthday on Sunday, the big 60, and we are heading up country to a nursery to buy some more plants! Yes I know it's sad 

Best wishes to all

Malcolm

Lyn and Malcolms Garden       www.lynandmalc.co.uk

[ideasguy]

Theres certainly no need to apologise Malcolm! I'm delighted you can find the time to look in and post a message with your busy schedule. You and Lyn certainly are very well organised - you've got the cake making process like a mass production line 

I'd be very excited at the prospect of a trip to see your garden - mind you, I might be distracted by a slice of cake! Those lucky visitors!!!
I'm sure you are relieved the weather has picked up. Hows the garden looking?

Good to see you've advanced to IG Pro (how do you find the time!)

Heres a tip you might find useful (and other IG Pro members reading this)
Since you have a long list of plants of a specific genus to add (e.g. Clematis) - when you get to the Add screen GA100S01, put a check in the Repeat Add Mode check box.
When you click the Add button, the plant is added, but you stay in the same screen. You can then proceed to add a second, third etc.
You'll be able to hammer in a list of plants very quickly like that.

Add the plants to the holding bed. You can then edit and move then to a garden area later.

Producing a CD:
Heres a link to the information you need
http://www.flowergenie.co.uk/ideas/forum/index.php/topic,697.msg3219.html#msg3219
Its long winded to explain, but just take it one step at a time and its easy enough. If you need help, I can phone you and talk you through it.

Enjoy your birthday treat Malcolm! Sad? Gosh no - what else could a man wish for on his birthday other than a visit to a nursery with temptous plants!

[Lyn and Malcolm]

George

The garden is looking well, have a look at the link below for a few pics taken several days ago.

It took me a while to find my way about IG pro, it must have taken ages (I think you said years) to programme it.
Thanks for the tip on repeat add mode, I will be finding goodies like that for a long time yet.

Looking forward to the CD links

I think it will be Lyn that brings back more plants than me. Can you see anywhere to put the plants, other than dig the lawn up MORE.

http://www.lynandmalc.co.uk/2008%20pictures.htm
Link to pictures   

Malcolm

[ideasguy]

Begorrah, that garden is really packed with plants, Malcolm, and they all look fantastic. What a fantastic garden you have there.
How do you ever get your plants looking so healthy 

Question:
What is the lovely little plant in the foreground of the bottom photo?
Long slender stems, pendulous blooms, white with orange/red tips
I bought Salvia 'Hot Lips' this year and I'm really pleased with it. Is that also a Salvia?

I see more to ask you about - tomorrow (puff)

RE: Making your CD
Ive just posted a Topic under Ideas Genie, with instructions. Ive edited my message above with a link. Here it is again:
http://www.flowergenie.co.uk/ideas/forum/index.php/topic,697.msg3219.html#msg3219

Let me know if you have any questions with IG Pro. Theres a lot of things packed in there as well!
Yes, three years REALLY hard work to get IG to market - lots of midnight oil. Since then its been developed extensively, as I learn new tricks in programming, or have yet another whiz idea to add, or Mr Gates introduces yet another operating system. Is it finished? mmmm - LOL

[Lynda A]

Hi Lyn and Malcolm,  Just had a look at your garden.  It looks great and there doesn't seem any room for a weed to show its face.  Best way to spend a birthday, buying plants.  I'm excited over my husband building me a garden shed.  It was to be my 50th birthday present last January but he's running a bit late.  'Now' I do feel sad being excited over a shed !!    Have a great birthday

[Lyn and Malcolm]

George

Thank you for the link to the info to make a cd, you were burning the midnight oil again to do that. Will give it a go when I get a few more plants on the database, I have just over 200 on at the moment, most with pictures. I find the hard part describing the flower colour and notes about the plant, yes I know I can get info from books or internet but just haven't the time at the moment. So get the plants and pics on first.

How do we get the plants looking healthy?  H2O, some high potash feed for the plants in pots, and I guess some TLC.

When we entered the Ferndown in bloom one year, when the judges came round, they made two remarks to us.

"Never seen turf like that"

and

"The quality of your plants is amazing"

And we have had many people like you in the know, speak of the health of the plants.

The plant in the bottom photo is indeed Salvia hotlips, very well spotted George.

We bought back 12 plants for ourselves, and several to grow on and split next spring for sale on open days, it was 104 miles each way to Cotswold garden plants (Bob Brown), it was very hot and the air con in the car decided not to work, so the journey back was a little sticky with the windows only partly open, because of the draught onto the plants in the back.

Malc

[Lyn and Malcolm]

Lynda

Our first Canna and Bougainvillea for our garden were bought back from Southern Spain about eight years ago when we stayed in the area around San Pedro, we also had many holidays at Salobrena on the coast south of Granada. Some of the Canna we no longer have as they recently got Canna Virus, but the Bougy is still going strong in our conservatory along with several other Bougies.

Why grow weeds when you can grow a plant, yes the plants are closer than normal in our garden, just so we can get all the ones we like into our small area. Even what shrubs we have, need to be grown as a standard so we have room to plant underneath!!

Best wishes

Malcolm

[ideasguy]

Thanks for the tips in your postings, Malcolm. I ran out of fertiliser, and when I went to buy a new bag, the place I usually buy (1 cwt at a time) had closed. My son is getting me a bag from his golfing colleague (live old horse...). In the meantime    Ive been throwing a handful of powdered Potash into the planting hole, and a handful into my compost mix when I'm potting my plants into the final pot of container for summer display. If it gives results anything remotely like yours, I'll be happy!

I have to confess, I thought you'd another variety in the Salvia range. I just love that Hot Lips plant!
Ive been thinking today, what plants do you buy a man who has everything! I'm curious to know what plants you bought today!
Ive done a quick surf and found the Nursery you've mentioned:
http://www.cgf.net/
Bob has some range of plants!!

Love the feature wall in your garden. I showed your garden to my wife over morning coffee. She was well impressed! We were looking after our grandson this morning while daddy played golf. We had fun asking him the colours of the flowers!
I love how you use blue paintwork. We've been discussing that here, so I was able to show my wife how good it looked. I think it makes the plants and lawn look even better.
Next question, same set of photos (July 2008) :
The patio in the back garden
What is the plant with the red pendand flowers, dead centre of photo, to left of seat, and just above the little fence.

On IG Pro - have you actually linked the plants to photos already?
Heres a tip for info (flower colour etc)
Edit the plant
Click the BBC button
If you get a hit, you'll get very good info.
If not, click the Google button.
Use copy and paste to fill the data fields associated with the plant.
Mind you, if you grow the plant, its much better to just go ahead and key in the colours, dimensions and flowering period it makes in your garden!

[Lyn and Malcolm]

George

What plants did we buy ?

Malcolm

Dahlia "Fashion Monger
Sauromatum Venosum  for its stem pattern
Dicliptera sericea
Echinacea purpurea Rubinglow
Roscoe purpurea Vincent
Echinacea Summer Sky

Lyn

Geranium Tanya Rendall
Crocosmia Okavango
Helenium Golden Youth
Helenium Red Jewel
Echinacea Sunrise
Phlox paniculata Becky Towe
Dierama Merlin
Thalictrum Hewitts Double  to replacea poorly one

The nursery show/stock beds need a good tidy up at CGF but a great collection of plants to chose from.

Had a bit of a problem with my 206 on the way back, the air con didn't work, and on a very hot day 27c. Couldn't have the windows to far open as blowing the plants in the back of the car, so we roasted for 2 3/4 hours.

The blue paint is getting harder to get hold of, as you can see it is not one of those translucent fence paints, which you can get easily.

The plant on the patio is Fuschia boliviana, now 2 years old.

You asked if I have linked the plants to photos, yes most have photos linked to them. Have just finished entering the 110 clematis, now have to link there pictures, I have a folder with all the pictures in, or will have by the time it is finished.

I havent tried making a cd yet, will enter a few more before I do a test try.

I have a couple of questions re IGpro, which I can't seem to find the answer for, will email you direct in a few days time.

Thank you for the tip on the bottom of your last posting George.

Made 4 of the 7 cakes for the afternoon opening on Wednesday, hope the rain threat subsides for that, we have missed the storms tonight, just a light shower for 20mins here.

Best wishes

Malcolm

[ideasguy]

That?s an interesting list of plants, Lyn and Malcolm. I'm glad I asked!
I'll do a bit of surfin' on them later.
You mentioned that they were blowing about in the back of the car on your way home, so I assume they were "substantial". Were they in flower? (well, at least with one flower per plant)
It?s a good way to make sure they are what they say on the label, and theres nothing to beat seeing them in bloom when you buy.

I'll let you know how I get on with the blue paint. Its now definitely on the agenda.

Sunday was a glorious day here as well (so was yesterday)
I was awakened very early this morning by thunder, and heard the heavy rain. Now, it must have been bad to waken me up! I can sleep real good. It was raining when I left home for my day job, so the cobwebs were shook off the brolly. There was some localized flooding on my way from Dromore to Belfast. Rain has stopped now ? bright, light cloud -  a good day for taking photos!

Fuschia boliviana
Interesting plant!
Ive found a source (and some info) for two varieties
http://plants.thompson-morgan.com/product/3278/1
3 each of Fuchsia boliviana and F. boliviana alba

Try this, IG Pro users:
Add the plant Fuchsia boliviana to your database
Edit the plant (get to screen GA100S36)
Click RHS button
You get a list of all plants in the species, on the RHS Plant Finder website.
As you see there's a few more varieties.
Always use the RHS names when adding plants to your database.
It was put there so I could verify the plant names in the Master Database, and to resolve "dispute" in the event of duplicate names.
Users can use it to verify the plant names in their own database, and of course, to find suppliers for the plant (that?s the beauty of RHS Plant Finder)

Do you grow your specimen in a pot, Malcolm?
If you have time to do a write-up for me, I'll add it as a Review in the Master Database.
Flowering period, Height, colour, characteristics (dieback in winter etc) how you over-winter it, etc.
This is YOUR growing experience, and the height and spread is the height you maintain the plant, not what it says in books. Very informal. You do NOT need to go on line for info ? its your info.
I've already added your garden in the Gardeners list. When users use the Master Database and click the name of that plant, then click "Who has this", they will now see your entry. That?s how "Who has this" works.

To see Reviews, get to the edit screen GA100S36 (above) and click the Reviews button.
That?s where you put comments made by magazines, gardeners, Nurseries etc.
There's so much conflicting info on the net, for many valid reasons. The Reviews feature allows you to keep such info, for comparison, without cluttering up your Plant Info data field.

You are making great progress with IG Pro, Malcolm, with so many plants added and photos linked already.
I'm looking out for your email with your queries. I can give you a phone call if you wish. I now have free phone calls UK, and Ive taken the BT option which gives me 3p per minute charges for International Calls. If you're reading this, Lynda in Spain, I can help you with any queries you may have.
 
Hope the weather is favourable for you tomorrow (Wed).

[ideasguy]

How did your open day go today, Malcolm?

I was thinking about you, as we visited a local garden which was open for raising funds for this charity:
http://www.nihospicecare.com/
We spotted an article in our local newspaper, and decided to have a look (and give our support).
I had a chat with the lady who owned the house and garden. It was her first Garden Open event, and judging by the crowds, it was a success.
I took photos, and will make up a WPG web set. I asked the lady for approval. She plans to open her garden to the elderly, who have had a garden in the past, but have moved to a smaller home, or care. They will be able to enjoy her garden, and in the process, raise some more funds for the Hospice. The web site will hopefully advertise the garden, so if it generates visitors, I will feel that I have helped in some way.

Weather here was very showery. It was raining as we set off, but it was quite nice during the time we spent at the garden. I feel sorry for anyone who has to make their garden look exceptionally good during this period of rain, rain and more rain.

[Lyn and Malcolm]

Hi George

Well on Saturday we had 11 hours of rain here, and to go with it, strong winds.
At 9pm we managed to get out to put our signs up around the villiage, in the dark! The rain had eased.

Today Sunday, dawned clear and bright, up at 7.00am, and by 7.30am we were out in the garden rescuing some of the plants which had blown down in the wind and rain, despite more than usual the amount of supports we normally use.
The lawns and paths were plastered with leaves and petals, the Phlox had there heads drooping with the weight of water retained on them.
We were pleased there was a breeze to help dry things out.
Then it was back indoors to fill the cakes etc. By 10.45 our 5 helpers arrived, 2 to man the gate, 1 to help Lyn on the plant stall, and 2 for the kitchen.

We normally get about 100 visitors between 11.00 and 1.00, but today was very slow at only 50, and for the first time in 8 years of opening, Lyn and I were able to actually sit down for a quick lunch.

Back out to the garden, and by 2.00pm it was starting to get busy again, and by 3.15pm there was a call to the kitchen because they were running out of cake and the water boiler needed filling up. Nine cakes with say an average of 11 slices per cake meant 99 slices had gone.
So in desperation, we had to get 2 further cakes from the freezer and defrost them, something we do not usually like to do. By 4.30pm they had gone too.

At close of play we had 189 paying visitors (Adults) which was pretty good. The weather had stayed dry and cool with some sun, and no rain, but very blustery winds, so much so that another 8 foot leaf had been snapped off a Musa Basjoo, poor things have had a rough time of it this summer.

No more openings sheduled this year, so can relax a bit, and enjoy the rest of the summer?.

Malcolm

[ideasguy]

I have to say, you really are a very energetic man, Malcolm!
After that busy day, you found the time and made the effort to post a very good account of the day's proceedings. Much appreciated, I have to say.

I'm pleased to read that it was dry on the day (I'm sure that was a huge relief) albeit not a perfect day for the occasion.
My heart goes out to you with having to cope with the horrid weather leading up to the open day.

You deserve a well earned rest after all that! Well done, all concerned. I hope the charities acknowledge the hard work you folk have put into earning that donation.

[Lyn and Malcolm]

Still no summer down here on the south coast. The wind which reached 45mph gusts today, at the airport about one mile away, is calming down a bit, and we now have rain.

On Monday we had a call from a researcher for BBC Gardeners World. They had seen the pictures of ourgarden, on our website or the NGS site, not sure which. They are coming down to see the garden on the 21st of this month. The researcher and a handy cam operator.

The first visit is to see the garden, take some video of the garden and us 

They then show the producer back at the office, and she/he decides if they can use us/garden within GW. If they do decide to go ahead, then a film crew etc would return.

We have been down this sort of road before, with no joy really. Just 3, yes THREE seconds, of a program with shots of our garden.
If you garden in the nude, or similar, then that would better, more air time 

So not expecting too much. It is not only the garden, but how you react/talk in front of a camera. The winds have tried to destroy the garden, but we haven't come off too bad. We tied down the 3 to 4 metre high brugmansias, and set up some wind net across part of the garden, to shelter the bananas, and other tall plants.

So what was that I said about relaxing a bit and enjoying the rest of the summer

Malcolm

[ideasguy]

Thats a day of excitement for you, Lyn and Malcolm. I hope they do the filming. If so, be sure to keep us informed of when its going to be broadcast. I don't want to miss that!

3 seconds is absolutely ridiculous. I'd still be focusing on the first plant  ?
I used to complain about Eastenders on the telly on Sunday - it was always aggro and grief. I'm unfortunate enough to catch the beginning of that awful Farm program before I escape to the garden each evening. I see it's taking on the same format.
So, heres a suggestion. Stage a family "domestic". You might get your garden program serialised.

As for the weather - well, its the same here. Ive never seen my garden so wet in "summer". It was actually waterlogged last night. I heard there were high winds coming, so I spent the evening staking my Dahlias and a few other plants.
When I stepped though one area that I'd worked in at the weekend, my feet were sinking 3 ins into the soil. Now, I don't think Ive put on THAT much weight since Saturday!
And - its raining again this evening.

[NightHawk]

The interest that is being shown in your gardens, Lyn and Malcolm, speaks volumes for the amount of effort you've put into them, which has generated this success. 

You can take strength from that and put it to good use to get you through whatever else comes at you.

Eventually you'll get some time to just sit back and 'smell the roses'. 

Good luck with the interest from Gardeners World.

Still no summer up here in the north-east of England either.    Lots of rain, colder temperatures, wind, etcetera, etcetera........

Our gardens desperately need our attention but the weather is so horrible, that everything's wet for most of the time and is getting difficult to give the care and attention our beloved plants deserve.  Ho hum. 

Laurie.