Hill House Nursery Purchase Updates

You may remember some time ago I posted about some plants I'd purchased via mail order, from a company in Devon (Hill House Nurseries).Well these plants have been growing so well for me that I thought it was about time I did a quick update :D

The Begonia is really taking off now, especially now that we're getting some warmer, sunnier weather (which makes a change). Upon arrival it already had several nice leaves, which are now starting to die off, but the new ones are starting to be produced pretty fast to replace them! It also had a baby shoot at the base waiting to come up, which is now putting out a couple of leaves, AND I discovered another one emerging the other day, so am hoping for a nice lush plant this Summer. Here's a pic of the overall plant;
And the new leaf as well, can't wait for more of these to appear over Summer! Will looks so nice in amongst the other jungle plants.

That pic was taken a couple of weeks ago still, and it's been coming along nicely since then. Well worth the money paid for it!

The other plant I bought, a Brugmansia 'Grand Marnier' is coming along even better! The white/yellow leaves have almost all gone now and been replaced by healthy, bigger green ones. I think they might have just been down to getting kick started into growth, as all my other Brugmansias that are just starting into growth have also got white/slightly deformed leaves, but the subsequent leaves revert back to normal. BUT, most important of all, we have forking!!!
Before a Brugmansia starts to flower, it needs to have 'forked' naturally at some point, although a cutting taken above a 'fork' can flower without forking. Basically, any part of a plant taken from above a fork can flower. Anywho, I found a teensy fork on the 'Grand Marnier' the other week, which is when I took this picture - the two leaves at the same stage indicate that two shoots are forming, plus I could see a microscopic bud on the other side. It's been progressing agonisingly slowly, but hopefully in a few weeks time I'll have my first Bruggie flower of the season, and I can't wait for it! Here's a picture of the whole plant, taken a week or two ago (just as I'd watered it, hence why it's a little wilted), looking nice and healthy now that green leaves are regrowing :D Will keep you posted on these great plants!

Sowing & Potting Up

Just thought I'd let you know what I've managed to get done so far in the garden!

Have been busy potting up bulbs recently - I potted up the three Lily 'Marrakech', 8 Lilium Oriental Mixed Colour and 6 Nerine Bowdenii which are all now potted up in the greenhouse just to get them going. Hopefully once the garden gets organised I can then plant them out for flowering; I do the same thing every year but they never get planted as the garden never gets organised, but really hoping they make it into the ground this year! Also emptied out a couple of pots of Zantedeschia 'Elliotiana' that I bought last year and cleaned up and repotted the tubers in those. The Sprekelia Formosissima also got potted up; I'm not sure whether it'll flower this year or not as it's quite a small bulb, but hopefully with some TLC it'll oblige next year. That's all I can remember for now!

I also emptied out, cleaned up and repotted several of the Hedychium I bought last year that were simply bursting out of their pots! The only problem is, the rhizomes of these grow horizontally, with the growth point carrying on growing horizontally one end, so by the end of this season the ones that need over Wintering will have filled their pots once again. I guess I'll just have to find the will power to chop the end of the rhizome off that nothing's growing from, but they all seem healthy at the moment, even if nothing's growing from them. Anywho, my Hedychium Densiflorum is showing signs of growing already which I'm pleased about, and several others are still green in the greenhouse and are still growing, so I'll be interested to see if these stems continue to grow this year, and there's a good chance they'll flower quite early if they do, which should be quite exciting.

Also, with regard to the Brugmansia seeds and other bits and bobs I sowed the other week - quite a few of the Brugmansia have come up, and they've now been potted on and are coming on nicely in the greenhouse. The remaining seeds are still on the propagator, and hopefully they'll come up over the next few weeks. Also, I've had a seedling emerge in a bag of 5 Ensete 'Kluay Pa' seeds, which I'm quite excited about. These seeds are usually quite difficult to germinate, so getting one out of just five seeds would be quite an acheivement! However, as it's been emerging, it does look similar to a Canna seedling (which I guess one can expect, being related to them), but as it's now progressing I'm almost certain it's a Kluay Pa, so am looking forward to seeing this baby grow over the Summer, and she'll be getting lots of TLC!

Quite a lot of sowing and growing going on now, and more seeds to be sorted soon so will keep you all up to date!

Bulb Shopping Downtown!

The past few weekends have seen me once again visiting the local garden centre's, and while I've bought quite a few bulbs from there, there are also some good places to buy cheap bulbs in town! During the past couple of weeks, trips to town have seen me arriving home with bulbs from Wilkinsons and Poundland, all for great prices in my opinion. Last year I also bought some nice bulbs from Woolworths, but they are now no more. Bulbs I've bought from Wilkinsons include;

20 Dutch Iris - I grew these a couple of years ago. I planted them around this time of year, and then were all up and budding up just before we went on our 2 week holiday to Florida. Upon arriving home, there were 50+ gorgeous Dutch Iris in flower, and they were truly amazing!!! I think I bought them from poundland that year, and might buy some more from there this year as well, but here's a couple of pics of them from that year. Sorry they're not great, they were taken with the old camera;





I've also come home with 6 Lilium Oriental Mixed Colours (am on a lily addiction this year!), 10 Sparaxis Harlequin Flower Mixed (haven't tried these before, they look quite pretty), 10 Babiana Stricta Mixed Colours (again, haven't tried these before, but look pretty as well), 20 Tigridia Mixed (tried these last year without much success, but they were kept rolling around in pots all season so what should I expect!!!), 15 Anenome De Caen Mixed (have grow these before, they very pretty and easy to grow) and 30 Freesia Double Mixed, which I bought as they look quite pretty, plus they're supposed to be fragrant, so should provide some nice scent around the patio.

And there's more!!! Now we move onto the poundland buys - a 100 bulb collection, consisting of 25 Anenome De Caen, 50 Liatris Spicata and 25 Oxalis Iron Cross, which should all give some interesting plants, and should at least flower next, if not this year, 4 Incarvillea (Hardy Gloxinia), I grew these the year before last and they were absolutely gorgeous, but couldn't find bulbs anywhere last year and seed was expensive! Am glad they're back this year, hoping they'll grow as well again, 8 Scented Lilies Oriental Mixture, again bought for the colour, lily addiction and scent! And finally, a pack of 4 Lily 'Black Out' and 4 Commelina, both of which look pretty and make a nice combo.

Phew!!! So all in all that's around 231 bulbs for £16, not bad at all in my opinion! Will keep you all updated as to how they grow.

Here are some pics of Lilies I've grown in previous years. If anyone knows of any varieties similar to those in my last three picture, or where I can buy some, please let me know as they were gorgeous lilies with the markings, but despite there being a good range in GC's this year, I can't find any that look like those.








Enjoy!

Seed Sorting Once More

OK, this will probably be the last seed sorting post for a week or two, once all of these current seeds are well on their way to become beautiful plants!!!

• Begonia Boliviensis 'Bonfire' - the seeds of these are teeny, so they will be surface sown and then put somewhere humid to endure that the top of the compost doesn't dry out.
  
• Lobelia 'Sapphire' - pretty much routing sowing for these. I'll be sowing them in large cell trays, a pinch of seed to each cell so that nice bushy clumps are produced. They'll be left to germinate in the greenhouse as it's starting to get pretty warm in there now when a little sun hits it.
• Marigold 'Dwarf Double Mix' - like the Lobelia, not really exotic but some simple plants to grow that provide an easy splash of colour. These will also be left in the greenhouse to germinate.
• Tacca Nivea & Chantrieri - have had these seeds for a while so not sure how good germination rate will be, pretty much routine sowing although they will be kept on the heat mat as high temperatures are needed for germination.
• Dragon Fruit - not actually collected from an actual fruit, but sent to me by a friend, these will be sown in a gritty potting mix, and will be kept in a humid environment. Soaking can be beneficial, although I don't think I'll soak them as they're tiny!!!
• Iochroma 'Plum Beauty' - these seeds were also sent to me by a friend, and are related to the Brugmansia. They are absolutely tiny, but require no special treatment. It has however been suggested that starting them on moist paper towels would give better germination rate.
• Texas Start Hibiscus (Hibiscus Coccineus) - again received these seeds from a friend. They have beautiful big flowers, and are quite easy to grow in warmer climates apparently, so I might try some outside over Summer but I may keep one or two in the greenhouse as well. All they need is a bit of warmth to germinate, so that part shouldn't be oo difficult!!!
• Agapanthus - apparently these seeds don't store well, but I'll plant 'em anyway! Pretty routine sowing method for these again.
• Callistemon Rigidus - although taking a couple of years to get to flowering size from seed, it should be interesting to watch them grow. Routine seed sowing method for these also, although I might soak them a little first as they look very dry and in need of some water to break through the hard coat.
• And finally, I have a bunch of different Echinacea (Coneflower) seeds to be sowing.Some suggest that a cool period may aid germination, so I will sow these and leave them outside for a week or two, and then move them onto the heated propagator in the greenhouse.

As I said, that's it for the seed sorting posts for a week or two, I should have some more interesting stuff to post over the next couple of days, as everything's bursting into growth with this mild weather!

Seed Sorting Again

Been doing some more seed sorting this weekend, so thought I'd just update you with some more seed finds that I'll be sowing in the near future:

• Firstly, the Bambusa Arundinacae I mention in the previous post - having looked them up they'll require a little bit of TLC during germination - a 50:50 mix of perlite:peat/sphagnum moss is ideal, as is soaking for a short time prior to sowing. They'll then be placed somewhere warm, and probably in a freezer bag as they like to be kept humid.
• Also, the Datura Inoxia I mentioned in the previous post will be soaked overnight prior to sowing. Am hoping for some nice plants from these!
• Sonchus Fruticosus - this is basically a giant dandelion but looks very lush and jungly. Can't find any information regarding germination of these around on the net, although being related to the dandelion they can't be that hard? I'll just be giving them the routine seed sowing method, and we'll see what comes up.
• Aloe Thraski & Ferox - was given these kindly by a friend, and they look like they'll turn into nice plants eventually. Will be sowing in a mix of soil/sand/perlite, and placing on the heat mat in the house as they like to be as hot as possible!
• Several different varieties of Echium, which I acquired over the last year. These will be sown on the very surface of the compost as they apparently require light to germinate, although again they can't be that difficuly as they self seed all around Cornwall!!!
• Eucalyptus Globulus - I bought these seeds from Jungle Seeds last year, but I never got around to sowing them, so will get them sown and growing this Spring. Some suggest that a stratification period of three or so weeks would be beneficial for these seeds, although I won't be bothering with this I don't think. Routine seed sowing method for these really, although perhaps kept a little cooler than all my other seeds.
• Acacia Dealbata and Baileyana 'Purpurea' - I bought an A. Dealbata plant last Spring but I think it's been killed off by our -6C, so I'll be trying that one, plus another from seed this year, in an effort to see if growing them right from seed and planting them out at an early stage of development will make them tougher plants. Not much special treatment for these, except the seed will be scratched and then soaked for a day or two prior to sowing.
• Cyphomandra Betacea (Tree Tomato) - saw this in several gardes last year and loved the large furry leaves, and was kindly given some seed last year so hoping to get some nice plants going this season. Routine seed sowing method for these too.
• Cobaea Scandens - tried this last year but it didn't get past the seedlings stage thanks to my lack of care, but hopefully this year it will positively thrive!!! Am hoping to do a few pots with these in, and maybe set one climbing up the wall too.
  
• And finally (for today!!!), Canary Creeper, or Tropaeolum Peregrinum. It has lovely little yellow flowers which add to the interest of the unusual foliage shape. Again, I tried this one last year and it was so determined to grow that it even started flowering in the same pot I sowed them in!!! Hopefully will be able to get more outta these plants this year.

That's it for today, although I'm sure I've got plenty more seed sorting to do!!!!