Magazine style - all inclusive

[alp]

Sounds like you'd a very constructive day, Perki!

I planted out the 3 irises I bought and I know there's no chance of them flowering this year. By the way, I need to sow iris seeds, some of which I hand pollinated with the bearded and non-bearded varieties. Don't know if they work, but I had fun trying.

Also chopped all the hellebores I bought on Sunday and

Going to be a dry day and hope all the flooded areas are going to have the same. Terrifying to see houses submerged only to reveal the roofline gutter and solar panels.

Bought on Sunday - a RED DOUBLE hellebore! Need to compare notes with Zenj!

Got about 4 plants from this one

Margery Fish Snowdrop

I wish I had bought Selina Cord as well! Ah, always next year!

My heart missed a bit when I read Avon Bulbs has a sale! 30% off and yet those bulbs are very pricy!

I bought this one because it has a ruffled nectary! Oh, dear! Now I know why Mrs Wilmott went bankrupt and I don't even have a deep pocket. Waited at 5pm to earn £7 for a newish compost bin given to us and yet the guy didn't turn up. He called me yesterday at the ungodly hour of 8am and I thought someone died.

Bought 2 versions of these - one with darker edges!

The above is the darker one!

Bought this I AM RED CAT £6.99

planted I am red cat Salix gracilistyla 'Mount Aso'! When I set my eyes on the first one, it was £15 with a penny change and I am very glad that I now have this one for £7 (Hopefully, paid for by the compost bin!) But now, I'm not so sure as it is quite short! Like a stunned salix!

 

[Perki]

Morning been snow again last night and now the rain is melting it , don't think i'll be doing much today.

I like the dark edge hellebore more but both are nice, the very bottom hellebore ( attachment ) is weird , I didn't think the anemone center who be speckled as well.

 

[alp]

Received the plants from Taylor, but the Princess Kate was pathetic. Taylor said it was herbaceous and hence growing still. The Angel is also small. Shame I can't buy them anywhere else.

untangled one of the stems of Angel and marked 3 nodes for layering. Hopefully, I can have new plants from this. Saw one smothered with flowers in Wisley and just couldn't shake it off my head.

Avon is reducing galanthus and I'm having monetary diarrhoea again. NO KFC tonight. Now we have a tiny branch 3 minutes' walk up the road. It's all very handy. Shame it's so tiny and unpleasantly decorated. Cheap and nasty is the word. When I remember the news that 35 days from chick to chicken, I really feel sick!

Planted out 3 tubers of Red Duke of York potatoes. I think I need 6 to 10 tubs for all my potatoes to sprout.

I know the ruffled nectary with specks one looks confused. But I really like ruffled nectary and so far I have a red, pink, this one and a Tutu! And there is one called Anemone white - that's so perfect

I have chopped them into 3 to 4. I really shouldn't have bought the lighter colour edged one. At this rate, I will be broke. Well, I'm broke! LOL!

Have to pot up some veg seeds. March is a time of sowing, sowing and sowing .

 

[alp]

Not going to be good for outside pottering! Yesterday was most frustrating - sunny, rainy, sunny, raining; but I managed to go out AGAIN at 4 and stayed until 5 to 6pm. Did a lot of weeding and tidying up. Sowed cauliflower, Tom Pink Brandywine, Black Beauty courgette seeds. Repotted Camellia Kick-off. Taking cuttings from Dahlia Art Deco, Colour Spectacle.

5 buckets of potatoes Red Duke of York. I don't want to have potatoes growing up everywhere in the future, so they are now in tubs. I put them all in the warmest place.

Asclepias Tuberosa, Incarnata are coming up faster in the polystyrene cups and take up less space. Agapanthus seedlings are promising; so is a tray of thalictrum seedlings!

All kicking off! Hope and expectation!

 

[MargaretEvans]

Wonderful information for photo lovers, I am grateful to you and I am going to use it!

 

[alp]

Gee! What a frustrating day! Rained non-stopped since 2pm. Then, there was no internet access. Did quite a lot of stuff though. Only found out that RHS has been having seed exchange since November. Well, too late. We cancelled our membership and son said that as soon as Bridgewater is open, we will visit that new flagship garden and join on the spot.

Going to have dinner in 10 minutes' time.

 

[alp]

Hope it's a better day than yesterday

Having said that, I did a lot - poured too many seeds and now I have

3 trays of Tuscan lettuce seeds out in the cold frame near the warmest part of the front lawn;
2 pots of Clematis Tibetana
2 pots of Clematis Akebioides
1 pot of 2 Echinacea Twister seeds
6 pots of Nachtvlinder cuttings
3 pots of Salvia Patens Patio Deep Blue.
3 pots of melon seeds
2 pots of courgette seeds
2 pots of Salvia Forsskaolei
1 big pot of Erythronium Grandiflorum seed x 20 which had been in the fridge for 2 years!

Pots are polystyrene drinking cups. They save such a lot of space and are warmer for the seeds.

 

[alp]

Now I know how it feels like living at the SW tip of Cornwall or Cumbria - it rained from 8am to 9pm. Just serious rain. The whole lawn was covered with a sheet of water. What worried me most as the gutter leak which spewed waterfall! !

took some Salvia Patens Patio Deep Blue cuttings x 3
2 punnets of Pak Choi
1 punnet of Salad leaves

And then most of the day I just gave up and watched Catherine Cookson's drama instead.

Expecting a lot of seeds today and another round of sowing seeds, including veg .. Going to be a busy day!

 

[Perki]

Heavy frost again this morning same as yesterday but at least the sun been out for the past two days. Weeded all the borders yesterday and my dahlia tubers turned up so I've potted them up today, they weren't to bad in size to be fair , one were quite small Jack Black but art deco were a reasonable size and great silence needed potting in a 3L pot.

Sowed my tomato seeds today I always sow tomato on my birthday, the big three O ( 30 ) by back aching as well and I've pulled my calf muscle playing football tonight so must be getting old, I didn't have these problems a few years ago.

 

[alp]

Happy Birthday, Perki!​

I didn't really feel happy when I was 30. Once I passed the 29 mark, I felt ancient. I think you're still very young and it was just a shame that you pulled the muscle. It will pass and you will be fit as a fiddle again!

Snapped for the Art Deco! No more tubers until they are 50p. My fav gc are still asking for half price for last year's daff and spring bulbs! I got my Honka and a white one in a packet for 50p in another gc. I got flowers for the same year, albeit a bit late. I managed to have about 7 seeds from Honka. I also paid 50p for Myrtle's Folly and that was a sweet. sweet bargain!

2 hours' solid work adding to growing area.
2 more punnets of Salad leaves. Remove tons of dead salvia cuttings.

The future is bleak as I think my Dyson's Joy is dead as dodo!

Norfolk was having sales cheap, but I missed the boat.

Yesterday, the weather was gorgeous, bright, warm and calm. This morning, there was a sheet of ice on one of the tubs for storing water! Me poor cuttings ..

Washing machine is ON - nothing compared with sun kissed clothes!

Apart from the gap in the middle of this pot, these violas are doing very well and they were from Wyevale (most of them reduced to 50p for a tray of 6. By that time, it was already the British Garden Centre. Wish Long Acre had another nursery nearby!

I bought several different types of daffs and so far, this is the one I have seen in my garden. A bit boring, daffs! The centre is pretty enough. Jet fire is even more boring! All the daffs will be up as I'm running out of room. I want to make an asparagus plot!

Leucojum aestivum, commonly called summer snowflake or Loddon lily, is in bloom. Very beautiful plant.

I worked on this strip for 2 hours - all the grass gone and today, I will incorporate sand and wood chips and start chopping up some double hellebores to increase my stock.

Fritillaria Raddeana looks like other F imperialis, but so much earlier. Well, the F imperialis bulb which the fox kept digging up was dug up 2 days ago. The Fox 1 and me 0. Sounds like Liverpool!

Once this is finished, I will scale it to see if I have any luck.

Camellias must be in season now. So far, I have flowers on red, pink, light pink and a white. Got some newly arrived seeds to sow today! Alp expects!

 

[alp]

It was so bright that I thought it was well past 7am. Had a cup of coffee at 7pm and found it difficult to drift into oblivion. Another hang over for birthday boy Perki, perhaps!?

Sowed altogether 6 types of Salvias, but no Dyson's Joy!

• Removed tons of dead Salvia cuttings.
• Sowed Clematis Integrifolia, and Addisonii seeds.
• Was shocked to see only FOUR seeds in a Cucumber AGM Mini Punch seed packet and the RRP was £3.99, which I got for 50p.
• Some yellow melons seeds
• Some small pepper seeds
• Some sweetcorn seeds.
• Split some more Stipa Gigantea plants.
• Split some hellebores and the newly dug border is nearly full. Weeded a bit.
• Verbana, gypsophila and some delphinium seedlings have come up. Very pleased.

Sunshine was at a premium yesterday - it was just grey and calm.

I often wonder what this crocus is called. Such a painted beauty!

A very demure and understated hellebore. Culled some pink and white ones yesterday.

I planted some 15 plus Fritillaria Imperialis last year and this is the only one bracing the wind and wet so far. A lady that her rain gauge recorded 15" of rain since the beginning of October and there is more to come.

The last pink camellia I paid £2 or £2.50 for and it is almost a plant. It was tiny when I bought it. Going to grind the egg shells before 7.30am.

 

[alp]

Good morning - hopefully a bright and sunny day!

Looks promising!

Went to Enfield yesterday and there were about 7 gcs around that area. In Sprngtime, I struck gold. They had tons of stuff 4 for £5 Dahlia, 3 for £5 dahlias, 3 for £5 for stuff like Astibes, freesias, oriental poppies...

Here a crinum powellii album for £2.99. In another place, we saw £7.99. It's a shame we went too late as the pink ones had all sold out!

Erythronium pagoda I think!

I have Manhattan Island, Special X Factor and I wish I had got another Myrtle's Folly!

All that left of the crinum bulbs!

This other one is called Wolton! Most beautifully presented!

Harlow Blue Diamond!

This yellow one was so perfect that I thought it was plastic!

Came home and spent an hour potting up all £27.99 worth's of stuff.

When we came home, a freegler mentioned Clockhouse to us and we hadn't visited it due to lack of time. Next year, I will do my gardening shopping in Springtime! This lady also mentioned Scruffy plants for £1 each in that area. I must check from time to time.

 

[Perki]

Raining again and is forecast to continue until tomorrow dinner time.

Got my bike out yesterday and give it a check over and it started fine so I want out to blow the cob webs out . Went to the 3 usual GC just mainly for a nosy, Didn't get anything from the first two but got a few bits and bobs from the last one, Dahlia Bishop of Dover - Lily salmon star - begonia / busy lizzie seedling. The last GC was packed all in the cafe.

That GC has a good haul of dahlia tubers etc alp cheap as well . The prins dahlia Bof Dover cost me £2.50 but most are £2 . I've got a crinum it took three years to flower and didn't flower last year so I removed it from its nice yorkshire pot, I am just going to stick it in the garden somewhere and let it fend for its self , if the frost gets it i am not bothered .

Didn't go out for my Bday , I don't celebrate my own birthday.

Been offered another garden / job to do , big / very big garden looking after the beds and pruning , I am quite keen but don't know if I'll have time to do it he were showing me one of his acers he said it was an Australian Acer which I've not seen before or heard of unless he got mixed up, cost him £1900 its only about 7ft tall.

 

[alp]

I was like you, Perki! Don't bother about cards or Valentine! But seeing my son is emotionally stunted, I actually cooked a meal, bought some cakes to make it an occasion. One or 2 treats are fine! Even to yourself. After all, it's a big 30! But I wouldn't feel hurt if my ex or others didn't send me a card.

£1900 for an Australian Acer! You should have taken a photo for us to have an appreciation moment! LOL! Never heard of Australian acer. £190 is OK, another 0 seems to be a mistake.

Nice to be mobile, Perki! Especially now that you can gallivant far and wide! Be careful of potholes! Nice and easy, son!

I wanted to have a pink Crinum. Or perhaps this is it! Only one box left. The tubers and roots there are dirt cheap. but I made a mistake of not reading the details. The echinaceas only flower in August to September. So annoyed with myself. Those in Wilko July to September. The Manhattan Island dahlia looks like a different flower altogether. Have to say 3 for a fiver or 4 for a fiver is a steal. I know where to do my shopping next year, if I need to that is! I paid £5 for a reduced Tanz echinacea in Blue Diamond! Gutted! Should not have gone there! But it's such a pretty place.

Yes, I like the look of Bishop of Dover as well! But the photo seems to show an imperfect flower and 4 times I thought about it and gave it a miss!

Perki, take the job for one day only. You're still young! My son loves his job, but apparently, some staff including the boss had a fight! A FIGHT???? They like him very much as he can do all the videos, and is meticulous. Can't believe a charitable place was staffed by people like this! I have always told him to look around. You're lucky that your dad has shown you the rope and you like what you're doing. Job market is a very closed place.

Spring is here!

First lavender flower

At the back is a self seeded yellow wallflower!


Another wallflower! All self seeded. I used to rip them up and chuck them, but seeing how people sow them from seeds, I planted them in the front. Nobody would bother to steal them.

Judging from the weather forecast, the lowest temperatures will be from 5 to 7! I'm going to plant some lettuces and some seeds out!

 

[Zenj]

Morning all happy belated birthday perki frog spawn as arrived so spring but wet and windy ,thought the car would sail through its mot but £548 ouch ,bread and jam for a week ha ha .