Magazine style - all inclusive

[alp]

Boiler is playing up again. A few days ago, it was F28. Today, the electric button has been flipped down and the screen was totally blank. I moved the button up and it was like burning for 10 minutes and now the darn electric button in the switch board is down again. Wait for son to come home. For that blast of heat, it is not so cold for the time being.

Kentucky tonight.

Sowed lobelia, aubretia, more thalictrum, achillea Gold plate. Petunia Pirouette. Whenever I saw the name Perki, I was very nervous as I still hadn't sown lobelia. Ah! I feel so much better than I have sown Rainbow cascade mix. I have to resort to pots as I just don't have room.

Saw Gray Parrot's Amaryllis Papillon! They are still alive despite a constant drought. Left somewhere and had totally forgotten about it and I was amazed that they are still alive - 2 in a pot.

 

[alp]

Trip to zoo cancelled due to rain! Will try again on Sunday!

Very dark this morning! Yesterday's spoil

The old camera worked magic: such a distance and the bird is still quite well captured here!

Look at the pollen. Should have done some cross pollination.

Trumps

Midas

 

[Perki]

Raining here till at least tomorrow dinner time. My hellebores arrived yesterday the double picotee is very nice just and the other apricot one has a faded flower so I'll have to wait for a nice new one. Went to wilko yesterday looking for a scoop and dahlia tubers it didn't go well had no scoop or any dahlias I wanted, fortunately my mum turned up later with a scoop from a another wilko .

 

[alp]

Need a photo to see what it's like Perki!

Wilko is selling the same old stuff. Incidentally, I wish I hadn't bought from Peter Nyssen. The prices looked nice until you added the VAT and the tubers are terribly small. There is only one decent big one. 5 out of 7 or 8 bags could be fitted inside a 9cm pot!!

I would never buy tubers of these sizes in Wilko.

Did 2 hours of fencing to stop the fox coming in at the back. No wonder Blackie always stayed at the other end of the garden.

Emailed the seller of the lens and asked if I could cancel the order. He was a nice man and said yes. I think I'm selling this camera as I could use my son to photo small snowdrops. He's very good and uses the ISO to take close ups.

Here, we are spoilt for choice. Several gcs around and half a wall of tubers for you to choose from.

The snowdrop saga hasn't finished. I complained to the nursery and of course I was livid. A Rosemary Burnham turned up in dry petals and I had no idea if that was the real McCoy. I mean 2 dry petals on each bulb? Could be anything. The Windlebury Ring was very spectacularly long, but the tepals were crushed by these

For goodness sake, most of the bulbs were over £30! My blood and bread all in there. The nursery daughter then sent me a cheque of the total amount (which included 2 outstanding items). I sent the cheque back straight away, phoned and left a message, emailed her and have heard nothing so far. Just now I sent her another email to ask her what is happening to the other 2 outstanding items. This woman actually appeared on TV with her mum, so a well established nursery.

I was so pleased with orders from Edrom and Avon Bulbs. Very well packaged and handled with love and due care.

 

[alp]

Just got email back and she said she would send them first thing next week. Hurrah!

 

[Perki]

I'll take a picture of the double picotee tomorrow and of the faded apricot .

I stopped buying from peter nyssen a couple of years ago because of poor dahlia tubers, I am falling back into the trap though , they have a good selection better than most and with the GC round here barely stocking as many as they used to ( they did have loads left in May in previous years probably why ) it difficult to get ones you want or come across new variety's. Peter N just ran out of stock of waltzing matlida the one I really wanted so I think I buy from Anglia bulbs instead , I've always had excellent bulbs / tubers from them , last year I bought syliva which need planting in a 5L pot . Yours don't look so bad I've had worse but they are small .

Wilko - lidl - B&M etc always stock the same bulbs every year its rather boring / pointless looking at them anymore. Even some of the GC are doing the same.

At least your other order going to turn up hopefully theses ones are better wrapped, it took me 20-30 mins to get into the parcel my hellebores come in , it must of took him ages to pack them. I did knock one bud off while unpacking them.

 

[Perki]

I've had to order with peter nyssen Anglia bulbs only had one dahlia I were after unfornately .

 

[alp]

Perki, If you talked to them over the phone, you might have a better lot. I will join the National Dahlia Society in Chelmsford and this will give us a chance to go down to Chelmsford to Long Acre nursery which does 6 for a certain amount of money and their plants are consistently good. NDS sells them £2 a pop! Sounds good. My favorite red/white dahlia could be DUO. The man who bought my propagator said it was Duo and I thought he was pulling my leg. Cathedral of Durham gardener said his was call Edinburgh and Monty said his was Rothesay Reveller. My head is spinning round and round by all these names.

I was so happy that I got my Honeka black and Mrytle for 50p each.

Seeing all the floods is just heartbreaking - pray for drier weather. It's so sad and costly and insurance companies never want to pay!

View attachment 61274

It's OK for me as I live in a higher up area, but flash floods are common. 50 yards down the road is a huge splash point where vehicles spray water at you like a fire hydrant!

 

[alp]

Perki, If you talked to them over the phone, you might have a better lot. I will join the National Dahlia Society in Chelmsford and this will give us a chance to go down to Chelmsford to Long Acre nursery which does 6 for a certain amount of money and their plants are consistently good. NDS sells them £2 a pop! Sounds good. My favorite red/white dahlia could be DUO. The man who bought my propagator said it was Duo and I thought he was pulling my leg. Cathedral of Durham gardener said his was call Edinburgh and Monty said his was Rothesay Reveller. My head is spinning round and round by all these names.

I was so happy that I got my Honeka black and Mrytle for 50p each.

Seeing all the floods is just heartbreaking - pray for drier weather. It's so sad and costly and insurance companies never want to pay!

It's OK for me as I live in a higher up area, but flash floods are common. 50 yards down the road is a huge splash point where vehicles spray water at you like a fire hydrant!

 

[alp]

Really love this

Bears in Finnish Forest!

Awwwwwwwwwww!

 

[Zenj]

Morning all wet grey and breezy Perki have you tried these for dahlias bought my lilies from them years ago were very good quality . https://www.hwhyde.co.uk/catalog/new-dahlias/3?user_sort_by=prName_asc

 

[alp]

Selina is gorgeous! How come we don't see these in gcs? When I saw the word alstroemerias, my heart missed a bit. Thank heavens there isn't any that I want. Need to go out again to level one area. Gee! So messy out there. I'm suffering from depression, just thinking about the mess emanated from me, me plants, pots, labels .. Then I will come in and play on the laptop just to stop myself thinking of the monumental tasks ahead of me!

Been out watering bamboos and I'm willing them to grow 1 meter this year as they are needed to hide my neighbour's wide wild west!

 

[Perki]

Still raining , I've had a quick look zenj and I've seen a couple I were interested in already and they is plenty more to look at , I'll have a look later

 

[Perki]

Some pictures of the new hellebores - iris and some snowdrops . I'll have a look at them dahlias and the rest now thanks Zenj.

 

[alp]

Yes, very nice picotee and I like the veined one as well. Who would have thought there are so many configurations in one genre - hellebores! They must have a wide spectrum in their genome, like apples but more!

I have the same blue iris and I really love the violet one - the colour so heavenly and a true ecclesiastical!

Heavens know no fury - more and more rain and I feel so sorry for those troubled by them! No end of misery! And meanwhile Boris Johnson is having a good time in Chevening! Not even a single visit to these blighted areas!

Ideal day for doing the laundry!

The cream double which I thought was yellow!

A double Apricot

a double dotted green

A most beautiful green double

Sowed more thalictrum seeds, petunias - star shapes, black, super cascade. My whole kitchen is full of trays.