http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0201/rose_pruning.asp

I'm so confused about pruning lavender - and roses.
I usually prune my roses after the flowers die and then they reappear in late August. Then I prune again in late October. However, I'm being told by the RHS to prune in the winter...

We've been through the lavender. Roses - depends on which ones you've got. In general, I tend to deadhead, wait until the first frost before pruning back, then prune hard in Feb. But winters have become so unreliable these days... Aim for Nov and Feb. Most are hardy so you won't go too wrong. Obviously, rambling and climbers are different!

Your so right about 'unreliable winters' Tizzy. Both of my apple trees blossomed early triggered by the unusual warmth in March, only to have the blossoms blown away by high winds in April. Even the flowers are confused!! Is this man-made global warming or because our planet's orbit is now nearer the Sun?

Can Lizabeth can answer this?

I planted Jacobs Ladder/Polemonium and Euphorbia today. Does anyone have these plants? Should I cut them back in the autumn??

During the lifetime of both Dickens and Shakespeare the Thames would regularly freeze so extensively people would not only skate on it but hold markets. It's not surprising to see massive changes in the average weather for a year nor are strong winds in April necessarily unusual. Most places don't have accurate records (despite what the scaremongers will tell you).

That doesn't mean we have free license to pollute as we wish but 'unseasonal' weather shouldn't have us running for the hills.

Canvas, here is a useful site for Euphorbia: http://www.euphorbia-international.org/ and for polemoniums: http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Polemonium+reptans - hope you like cats!

oh my god ! They are freaky plants!

and I HATE cats!

thanks tiz!

Roses;- Dead head when flowers die in summer, prune back slightly (soft prune) when the rose has stoped growing. hard prune them after they have started growing again. I can't give you times and seasons when these events occur because climate change has caused the seasons to be totally random.

Lavender;- Prune back after flowering.

Hope this helps. I'm a horticulturalist and this climate change makes life fun or irratable. At last, it's stoped raining.

thanks, Kevin. My plants have gone mental at the moment from all the rain!

My daisies are doing really well this year.

My honeysuckle sucks - it was fine until the rain. Beech hedging is nigh on beech trees, and I'm considering rooting out some to allow others to fulfill their destiny. Lavender and double-headed poppies are great at the mo.

welcome back Tizzy! :)

I love poppies!

Coiarguk
In one word ,No! I am not sure who can.
Happy pruning.

14'6" - one sprout of convolvulus. Any contenders?

Perhaps the woofers should come and collect such fine specimens and close-knit them into yurts.

the rain is just killing my plants. The shrubs are growing out of control - and the plants are drowning...

bummer

Personally I go for Gardening by Ready Mix! ;-)

My Jacobs Ladder = dead, gone, finito
gggrrrrr

Dug out one that looked dead last year, replanted in a more shaded, and more well-drained spot (a bit sloping), and it's come back. Won't flower now but will do next year. Depends on what condition the roots are. Worth a try.

HUGE mushrooms (some 6" diameter, 4" high) have appeared in a patch of our garden. First time - any ideas why?

the wind?

:)