I'm Here!!! With Garden Update Pix!

Hey all,

First of all, sorry for not having blogged for so long!!! It's just been a mad few months. The computer decided to pack up on us and we feared that all 13000 photos from the hard drive were lost!!! However, HUGE thanks to a cousin who is very knowledgable in computers, we managed to get them all retrieved after a few weeks of anxious waiting. In the mean time, we finally got a laptop and wireless internet, half out of need and half as my birthday pressie!!! So during that hot weather we had for a couple of weeks it was lovely to sit outside with the laptop instead of having to sit in a tiny room all day long watching the clouds go by out the window...

Add to all that kafuffle a mountain of exams at school, as well as the intensive watering the plants needed until a couple of weeks when we finally got rain, and you've got an instant recipe for being over half way through the year without even knowing it's started!!! Because of having exams, I've had basically an extra 6 weeks of Summer holiday as well, which have already passed!!! I should've really got myself motivated to get posting with all that spare time, but they've just flown by, and now we're into the main Summer hols. I have no doubt the back to school madness will seem to commence within minutes of me typing this...

Anyway, with all that warm weather, tropical plants have been growing like mad (when given sufficient water!?!), so I've got a few pix to share with you of stuff that's been going on in the garden since my last blog...so here goes!!!

I'll start with the Dahlias, which I'm am, put simply, becoming addicted to. There are still loads to come out, but I'll probably have to wait a bit to see them because we're not going to be around for two weeks soon, and most of them look set to bloom while we're away. Typical! But hey...there's some grown from seed, some from new tubers this year, and some from last years tubers...

Here's some of the Dahlia's I've grown from seed this year, I think they were from a mix called 'Dandy';

A couple from tubers, one from last year, the other from this year...not sure of name though, sorry...if anyone really wants to know leave me a comment and I'll have a mooch around to see if I can find the packet;

Here's one we bought from a local GC the other week, same applies to the name as the last ^^^;

And finally, here's one we bought from a local nursery. There was no name in this one so I've no idea what it is, but it's a very 'photogenic' flower (if there's such a thing!), so I could only wittle it down to my favourite three (so far this year!);

Here's a picture of the Dicksonia Antarctica, bought last year, with it's fronds fully unfurled. I'm really pleased with this, it had 9 fronds in this Spring's flush, each at least 5ft long. Keeping it well watered with a mister this year (hence the hose thingy around the trunk) so hoping for even more next year. Have also noticed there's a few extra fronds being up thrown up in the last week, although they don't look as big or vigorous as the original ones...and there's also a pic of the Arisaema Consanguineum that has been in the ground for a year now. The leaf on it is pretty spectacular as well (well, was, they're so flimsy they get easily battered by wind and rain...);

We usually only bother getting some orange lilies to fill in gaps and to add some bright colour when there's not much going on;

But this year I bought a variety of bulbs from garden centres to try out...and I'm very pleased so far!!! Like the Dahlia, most look to flowe while we're away which I'm a bit dissapointed about because the two I've had so far have been lovely!!! Here's one of the asiatic ones;

And here's one called 'African Queen'...she's absolutely gorgeous, and has a scent to rival my Brugmansia (which, as many people will know, I can't stop talking about!)...so I had to cut one stem off and bring them inside!!! Hope they come back next year, and I'll deffo be getting more of this type as well for next Summer;

A quick snap of a couple of mystery snapdragon's that we've no idea where they came from;

A fern I bought....ummmm.....Dryopteris Erythrosora I think......it had loads of lovely pink new fronds when I bought it, and they've now gone a loevly lime green, but it's just sent out a few more fronds which are also starting off that lovely pink colour;

A purchase of which I am very proud, Cyperus Papyrus (more on that in a few weeks :D), along with some Crocosmia 'Lucifer';

Bee on a Buddleja that took my fancy;

An Aloe Aristata in flower, this has absolutely masses of offsets and is bursting out of it's pot. Deffo needs separating in a few weeks. Echeveria Glauca (I think) and Aeonium Decorum 'Variegatum' in the background;

And finally, a pic of my Brugmansia 'Grand Marnier' along with that giant Colocasia bulbs I bought a few months back (remember that?) which is doing REALLY well, I'll try and do some proper update pix on that shortly...and then a pic of the Bruggie on it's own, because she deserves it for her fabulous performance so far this year!!!

Hope you enjoyed!!! Check back in for more in the next few days!

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!

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!!!