Magazine style - all inclusive

[alp]

Cold again? Oh, dear! You're a bit run down. Lemon juice + honey and eat well, son!

Wonder if Zenji is plotting another holiday! Can't blame him! What lousy weather! I nearly slipped weeding the border. Clay literally turned silky and silty! Off to have a hot cup of water! Take some paracetamol x 2, Perki! It does help!

I'm not sowing anything until February! I hate the idea of having pots, trays everywhere.

 

[alp]

Raining and it's mild - 18.1c and the central heating hasn't come on.

Yes, it's getting colder. Can't wait for the high pressure to reign over us! Prefer cold and sunny to dark and gloomy. Life's too short to be dank, dull and dreary!

This could be Desdemona

Godfrey Owen

I have quite a few of these, but this one seems to be perfect!

 

[Zenj]

Morning all alp mild you are very lucky it was freezing here yesterday, high of 4 c today real feel -2c ,very cold winds .Have been browsing all the seed catalogues and plants on line might order some dahlia cuttings for delivery later in year huge choice though hard to pick from the site I came across

 

[Perki]

Bit chilly this morning but it been a nice day sun been out and warmed me up. To many dahlia to pick from that why it difficult to ID them unless they are like honka or very well known ones.

Been doing the neighbour conifer hedge today which backs onto my back garden , it quite tall 12ft/ 7ft wide at least requires scaffold tower / ladders and I have to stand on his shed roof, I hate doing it and one of his other hedges but it money so needs must.

 

[alp]

Whoa! Zenj: That sounds cold. Wind chill can really lower the temperature. Have you two had a lovely day? It was sunny until 2pm and the sky was darkened by clouds which threatened rain, so I picked up Blackie and put him back. It's so sad as he is the only one left. The hen had been ill for the past few days and didn't want to come out. Now I know why.

About 4pm, it was gloriously sunny again. Can't complain. Wish I hadn't retired Blackie so early.

1. Dug up some very beautiful galanthus and was wondering if they were Dionysus or Desdemona.
   
   
   
   This is Dionysus online
   
   
   
   
   Desdemona online
   
   The following are mine!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Someone is having a laugh! They look the same???????
   
   
2. Took some more Amistad cuttings
3. Took another pot of Solomon Dance
4. Potted up some Yew seeds.

Why am I so worried? I think I am worried that if I don't sow any seeds, I will have nothing to show for summer and then I will realise that I have been useless in January and I'm older by another year.

I'm so tempted to buy 2 more hellebores - the white one double with red edges! I kept thinking that I might have bought it last year!

I have buried a lot of horse manure and covered the patch with heavy duty bags such as 20kg children feed bag. On top of that, I had a pellet to make sure the bags and papers stay in place. Well, because of the call of nature, some snowdrops have poked holes via the papers and I have millions of seedlings!

 

[alp]

Perki I hope you charge him properly. It's very dangerous. Make sure you don't do that when it's windy. Make sure you have a plank across the shed.

 

[alp]

Good morning to all: Another dark day! Going to rain later

It was so bright yesterday. Now I realise that having children is so expensive. I wish I had transferred the insurance policy to son earlier as it's just ghastly that he had to start from scratch with no claim bonus.

That's why I don't look at gardening catalogue any more! They go straight to the bin.

 

[alp]

Oh, crumbs! It's going to be COLD!

I really must dig up all my salvias. Can't bear the idea that they are going to die. A lot to do after the rain has stopped this morning.

Blackie is now very attention seeking. When I called his name, he would come running and as soon as he's very near me, he would turn and walk away, but always nearby! I would pick him up and hold him like a baby and face his tummy towards the sun. Heart-breaking that he's the only one left.

I have only got one Wasp and it's has been snapped off! Either by my foot or Blackie. Picked up the bud from the ground and it's a beauty! Long and elongated petals and strong and impressive and distinctive marking.

See how close my admirer is! Blackie literally stood next to me when I took the photo!

What a beauty!

I will be grumpy if this is NOT Mr Grumpy! It has all the hallmark!

One yellow one!? Could be Madelaine, Wendy's Gold, Primrose Warburgh

Yet to be identified.

A beautiful double green hellebore

 

[alp]

Going to be GLORIOUS DAY for all of us Sunday. Very little rain! What a nice prospect to look forward to!

It was terribly windy yesterday. The wind chill factor lowered the temperature dramatically. At about 1pm, a dark cloud came over, I retired Blackie as I thought it was going to rain. Blackie was cheated a few hours of freedom as the sun was still out 4pm.

A new stained Glass bloom

This is now more or less fully open! A new pinkie with exaggerated ruffled collar!

Dug up Salvia Amante, Black and Blue and Amistad and all the names are confused. Now they all look the same as one another! Only one can be labelled Paten and it's nearly totally dead, apart from one tiny shoot. Hope is encapsulated in this tiny bit of green!

Very first daff

Finally, she is fully open! A long teasing game!

Have a nice day, everybody! Wrap up well!

Forgot to mention: bought a packet of dahlia pompons from Wilko yesterday. They had some dahlias, gypso, astilbe out yesterday. Not a lot .. but something to look forward to.

 

[alp]

Poor Newcastle fan got hit in the worst area and his face has gone viral! Social media can be so cruel! Can't blame them for celebrating. Big match today in Anfield! Couldn't believe my eyes when Ben Stokes dropped the ball 3 times. Thank heavens that we have Dom Bess, an accidental sub!

Now, I really realise how expensive it is to have children. Car insurance £1k, and then on top of that £70 breakdown. £150 for road tax. I wish I had transferred the car title to him and he could have accumulated 5 years of no claim bonus. To reduce my credit card bill, I transferred £3 to the credit card bill account. The money was not in that account, phoned up the credit card company, only to find that I transferred it to 2005 instead of 6005 account! . The credit card bill won't be due for that amount until mid March. That was only to absorb the shock. The optics of not seeing the money just shocked me beyond belief!

A new double

Some precious yellow snowdrop

Diggory - First one and a very dirty one.

Diggory should really look like this

Enjoy your glorious Sunday! Might go to the allotment to see what jewels there might be!

 

[Perki]

Hi feeling better now self inflicted , went out last night for another 30th birthday I am see a lot of these at the moment with more to come. My cold more a less gone must of burnt it off with the alcohol.

That the biggest reason I don't really want to learn how to drive with the price of insurance, its about £2000 to drive my dad van . it sounds a lot for your Son alp it normally cheaper when you get over 25 unless he younger .

I got an email back today regarding the Hellebore , I asked if he had a list of other types but unfortunately he doesn't but if I want a certain colour / pattern / shape he can pick them out for me instead, I dont know what I fancy yet so is they anything special I should look out for alp ?

 

[alp]

I was going to ask after you, Perki! When your brain is addled with alcohol, you wouldn't remember your cold, Perki! 30 years old! So young! Enjoy your life!

Yes, insurance after an accident, your fault or not, is just astronomical. Neighbour is now driving a Dodger old banger which cost him £850, he told me that his car insurance went up a lot. Coming from a Merc to a Dodger must be painful!

Insurance 450 excess! Ouch! Nearly £1000 for premium. He's 24! Ouch! He's been driving since 2013 September. Every year, it's £600 plus!

Unfortunately, I haven't seen mine in flower! It's all my fault. I kept digging my hellebores and snowdrops up. Some in pots and they haven't flower! I might buy it from ebay. That's a nice man selling the exact thing you want. I do believe I have bought it from Wales, but no flower in sight. Having said that it's still too early. Ask Zenj. Don't think his other hellebores are in flowers. I hope I can see it flower this year and might be able to cut a bit for you. I was toying with the idea of buying another one, but after all this outgoing, I need to tighten my belt.

Spring must be here, Johnny and DrCase are both out. Glad to hear from you both. Hope you're both keeping well.

Glorious day yesterday! It was soooooo cold and frosty and one nursery removed all the plants inside their polytunnels. Literally, 4/5 of the tables were empty, such was the severity of the frost. Another one had condensation dripping from its tall, lovely domed cover. Just drip, drop, drip drop!

GCs are so sensitive to calendar! All the Christmas stuff was reduced and outdoor pricy furniture, with cushions and tables, is all the rage again!

Bought some dahlias, and hoping for some sideshoots. Saw Crazy Love and Hazy Day, Boogie Woogie! Oh, dear! Where are mine?????

Son took a pic of Ceres Anemone hellebore x 2 from T&M. I really still have the label this time and I think it is the right on the top right hand corner.

For once, they sent me what the labels said! Confidence is partially restored. This looks like a nice collection.

Before I go, would like to share this joke:

World No 229 Elliot Benchetrit asks ball-girl to PEEL HIS BANANA during Australian Open qualifier before umpire tells the Frenchman off!

He must be his parents' little emperor!

 

[johnny canoe]

Hello alp, well no, spring is quite far off yet. Two days ago our temp was -32C but the Pacific air made it over the mountains and today it is +6C. Getting things organized for germinating seed. Begonia seeds are germinated, but now I wait until the end of Feb to start other seed.
Do you still have your chickens?

 

[alp]

We're -1 now and I have lit up 4 candles in the lean-to just to keep my plants a bit warmer. It's cold here as the radiator has not kicked in.

I have taken a lot of cuttings, but not a lot of sowing, apart from putting some almond, pecan, walnut and hazelnut nuts into various pots. Today, I will try papaya seeds. Yesterday, whilst digging up my Desdemona snowdrop, I suddenly saw a label - Sour Grapes penstemon! I couldn't believe myself - I knew I had planted it in a prominent position. I then had had no idea where the whole plant went. I took cuttings of the same clump and thought it was Arabesque Red F1. It turned out that I planted them next to each other in a sunny area and they had grown happily and merged into one big clump. I had labelled all the cuttings from that clump as Arabesque Red F1.

All my chickens have met horrific deaths bar Blackie who is a very dithering bird. I tried him to fly from a height and he was secretly enjoying it. Whenever I called his name, he would come running; but when he's a bit near me, he changed route..I feel like I have a loyal dog following me.

So after all the confusion, this snowdrop is a Greatorex - a cross between double Flore pleno and a nivalis and this is called Desdemona with green stripes at the tips.

A lemonade / yellow hellebore anemone - quite dainty. I'm going to duster some pollen from some maroon hellebore on the stigma to see what I can end up with! Rather pretty!

Perhaps Wendy's Gold

Hepatica acutiloba - how boring! I wish I had parted with £1 more to get a strong powdery blue!
But hey, this IS my first Hepatica!

Whilst I surfed through another old thread to try to look for some names for my hellebores, I've found out that a lot of my favorites are missing!

I have actually located my white double hellebore with red edges. Unfortunately, no flower or bud!

 

[alp]

Just when I was thinking of replacing my Samsung camera, I have found out that it allows for after shoot zoom in and trimming! Amazing!

As the camera has been a bit temperamental, I clicked on the display to check if I had snapped the bird. Saw the bird as in the first 2 pics which was the maximum zoom out. Somehow I fiddled with the zoom in lever and got the last photo i.e a right close up on the bird and it asked me the dummy if I wanted to TRIM it! Of course! What a wonderful close up this has been. What a dummy I have been!

Same for this Wendy's Gold!

So cold this morning. Only good thing was that I could walk safely in the garden without fear of slipping!