Local Garden Centre Tour

Well, as my week off draws to an end, I just thought I'd let you know where we've been off out to!!! I did manage to get some time in the garden, but I didn't manage to get as much done as I'd have liked. There's just so much tidying up that needs to be done out there at the moment, and all that has got to be done first really before anything else happens! Loads of leaves still hanging around from the Autumn, and we have hundreds of pots all over the garden. We usually bag up the leaves to make leaf mould and organise the pots into piles around the side of the house, but that's now become such a mess that that's got to be sorted out too!!!

Plus the shed is really on its way out now. It's had a leak in the roof for absolutely ages, and the panes of glass (it's actually a potting shed, with glass on one side) are beginning to slide out and are supported by pots, so that is in desparate need of replacement. But then this brings about another round of problems - where does the new shed go? Personally I think it should be moved further back around the side of the house, because at the moment you can actually see it when you're sat on the patio, and I'd rather the space be taken up by plants and the shed be hidden from view! However, as always the parents are disagreeing, saying they want it in the same place, so the debate continues! Also, if we're going to put it in the same place, that means taking everything out and finding somewhere dry for it while the old shed is taken (or perhaps it'll just collapse!?!) down, and the new one erected. Either way, a new shed is needed this season.

Anyways, aside from being out tidying in the garden, we've also been doing a round of the local Garden Centre's, and it's nice to see all these exciting brightly coloured Summer bulbs in stock! The bedding plugs are all starting to come in now as well, and the weather is beginning to warm up, so there are signs all around that the seed sowing and Spring mania can begin!!! As always, I couldn't resist making some purchases in the Summer bulbs section, so aside from the giant Aroid bulb I bought mentioned in the previous post, I also came away with (sorry the pics aren't brilliant, just took them and the light's not very good at the moment):

Sprekelia Formosissima - this looks to have a very exotic flower! It's related to the Amaryllis, and can be grown in a similar way, but I'll be potting mine up soon and then keeping it in the greenhouse. Not sure if it will flower this year as the bulb isn't exactly massive, but we'll have to wait and see;
A Dahlia 'Jescot Julia' - absolutely loving the colours on this one, and a lovely flower form too;A mixed bag of 8 bulbs of Oriental Lilies. I've always admired at the colours and patterns on these, and at 8 bulbs for 4 quid, I couldn't really resist!
And finally, without a picture, three bulbs of Lilium Asiaticum 'Marrakech', not only because the name itself is of an exotic origin, but it is a very beautiful deep red. Can't wait to get all of these growing! I'm hoping to plant these lily bulbs up soon, and then I'll buy a few more so I can stagger the planting to acheive flowers over a longer length of time. Summer colour, here I come!!!

More Dahlias!

We decided to take a trip out to another local Garden Centre this afternoon (Notcutt's this time). Just as we were setting out it started to pelt it down with snow, but it only lasted for a few minutes so we continued. To be honest, it wasn't really worth going - I feel that Notcutt's has slowly been deteriorating, and the Cafe in our local branch is absolutely diabolical! Only came away with one thing - yep, you guessed it, another Dahlia tuber! The one I picked up today was called Firebird, a nice fat tuber and it looks similar to a flower I've taken a photo of elsewhere.

Upon arriving home it started snowing again but once again that didn't last long and it's now a tropical -2.9C outside, with a wind chill of -9C. I know I've already said it once, maybe twice, but I can't wait until Spring!!!

So to draw my mind from the weather outside I decided to look through some Dahlia pictures I took on a couple of visits to one of our local National Trust Properties - Baddesley Clinton. They have an absolutely massive collection of Dahlias, and we visited once in Autumn 2008, and then in Autumn 2009. Personally, I'm not very interested in History and the like so the house isn't much interest to me, but their Dahlia border is a sight to behold. They also had a plan of which Dahlias were where, which I did take a photo of, but it's kinda hard to decipher which is which! Anyway, here are some pics of just a small selection of the gorgeous blooms that they had!!!

And it's this final one which looks similar to the Dahlia 'Firebird' I bought today. I can't find a decent picture of 'Firebird' anywhere, but if mine looks anything like the bloom in this picture, I'll be pleased!

I'm hoping to start all my Dahlias off in late March/early April, so that way I can take some cuttings from the sprouting tubers and then let them make a second flush of growth, so I should have some back up plants as well by the end of the year. Hope the pictures have cheered you up on this bleak and cold night!

Garden Centre!!!

Well, I didn't get around to sowing my seeds today.

But we did get to go to the local Garden Centre! Haven't been for several weeks so it was nice to be back in plant land once again. Unbelievably, they still had some Christmas stuff in at 75% off! It felt weird seeing Christmas stuff again, as it seems like ages ago now, but we couldn't resist a few bargain buys, mainly tea light holders for dad!

Anywho, on the more interesting side - THE SUMMER BULBS HAVE ARRIVED!!!

I love seeing stand after stand of gorgeous Gladioli, delectable Dahlias and luxurious Lilys. So now, for me anyway, Spring has begun in earnest, even if the calenday says different. Seeds have been sown, and bulbs have been bought.

I got some gorgeous Dahlias (they're all on the National Dahlia Collection website if you'd like to see a pic, but the website's giving me some problems tonight so I can't get pics to show you what they look like);

• Marlene Joy
• Garden Festival
• Bodacious
• Kaleidoscope

I'm getting to be quite a fan of Dahlias now - I especially love the brightly coloured ones, and the bicolored ones, and the collarettes, and the giant waterlily types, and the ones with the curled up petals, and the...so anyway, I digress! I might buy a few more different types from the NDC as they have an even better selection and some excellent colour combinations. I only bought one variety of Gladioli ('Little Darling') but I'll probably wait until the GC get the rest of their Spring bulbs in and hopefully they'll have some of those big bags of 40 bulbs, and I'll pick up one of those too.

I also discovered another one of my Canna 'Crozy's Hybrids' has emerged today ;) Not sure what's going on next weekend yet, although I'm sure I'll find some more seeds to sow!