5 Gardening Dairy: Happy gardening and happy snapping ..

[alp]

Double spotted anything looks pretty ugly in my opinion. Have you got a pic, Perki ? Hellebores are so similar and yet so different that I have been almightily confused.

I think I bought a weaker edged one like that x 3, but these never flower the following year. So now, if I see a big one with flowers, I just buy them. You know what hellebores are like. They get bushier very quickly if you buy a proper flowering one. I bought one with a double black label from Hill****t the owner of which is ever so patronising. I felt some of the labels were dodgy, and it is true. The black double turned out to be white again! Best is to buy the bushiest of FLOWERING HELLEBORES and that's the lesson that I have learned. I bought 3 x lily from Unwin last year and now, NO flowers .. Sad!

I got my best hellebores from Farm**** from Wales. The roots were terribly pot bound and I wasn't exactly a careful owner. The following year I saw the same ring of roots! Ooops! Very embarrassing, but hey, he sent me the best flowers

I really love these two which is the opposite of each other!

Wait till this fall and try your luck, but his postage is £10! I was trying to order but was too late to have the smaller size option. It's very difficult to pin a name to any hellebores, best is to go to the best gcs and see what they have delivered. If they have stock from Harvington, you could be in for a treat. Don't worry about £12.99. As long as you have a healthy plant, it will pay for itself. Or take your beloved dad with you to get a certain day discount. Wednesday for B&Q plants of which I bought some single ruffled collared mauve one. The others I am not sure.

By the way, Perki, what is Ws? Washbabies?? I used to have one and I posted it on T&M and they were trending it. It flowered on my birthday 3 years ago. I put them to the back and now, nowhere to be found. I am such a useless non-entity. But Ws is what exactly? Pray elaborate!

 

[alp]

That house looks beautiful! So relaxing and tranquil .

I used to watch Grand Designs all the time, but I've not seen it for years now. Might have to catch up with it online .

You won't miss much as all the TV programmes are repeats. Even this update is a repeat! But there is a child in this greying man and it is manifested in his woodwork. Very innocent and unique!

 

[alp]

Have been to the park. Such a warm day and very sunny after the initial grey morning.

Spring is here ... See its harbingers

This simple white hellebore actually has a very delicately shaped petals.

Ipheion uniflorum 'Pink Form' I believe

Inge Blond

This could be Rosemary Warburg or Spindlestone Surprise????

 

[alp]

Park scenes

White single camellia

Hellebores and snowdrops - good companion as they both flower now.

Anybody knows the name of this plant please? @Perki ?

And what is this please? @Perki? Verbascum or echium? ???

Is this Chamon???? @ Perki ?

What a fabulous perfume, quite unlike that of sarcoccoca

Nandina ??? But I could be so wrong? Never have room for it.

 

[alp]

3 drones practices in the park

Monkey puzzle tree on the left and a very old tree on the right.

Council is really nice, buying up ferns to decorate the stream.. and there is an enormous pond. So nice - an oasis in the busy town centre!

One of the drones.

 

[Perki]

Some nice Pictures alp
Regarding the Hellebore no pictures I looking at beeches nursery because they have most of the plants i am after. I did fancy the Harvington double apricot but some pictures it looks like muddy pinky orangery colour, I do like the look of Double Picotee it will look nice with my near by snowdrops, I google it and the first picture I saw was the one you've put on which I would be more than happy to have but would I get one like that . I am impatient you should know that by now I can't wait to autumn and they should be flowering now so I should get what it say on the label . Beeches nursery might not have the plants I want so my order might be off anyway. I don't know what WS is I just copy and paste.


Your plant ID's the first picture with the pink flower I believe is a Grevillea ? the second one looks like a Vabascum to me don't come across echiniums up here but I am going to grow some from seed this year. 3rd id I thought at first glance was a Chimonanthus but the flowers / leaves are wrong so on a close look it looks like a Winter honeysuckle ( Lonicera Fragrantissima ).

Looks like a Nandina , there is plenty of smaller varieties like firepower and many similar size to firepower

 

[alp]

Thank you. That's so helpful. I so wanted to grow echiums and bought all the wrong seeds - speedwheel! I was such an idiot! Collected some seeds in West Hampstead National Trust property, but nothing happened and the things were so prickly to collect the seeds! LOL!

Thank you for the IDs.

I sold one pale red and darker edge hellebore to a guy from Gidea Park and he's going up to Scotland with this, Wendy's Gold and a Viridiapace snowdrop on Tuesday. I am worried that I have sold the duck which lays the egg! Ooops!

Yes, don't worry about the money, best is to buy them in a shop WITH FLOWERS as even those in my favorite nursery were not in bloom yesterday. Bike around to see if you can find more nurseries.

That's the problem with nurseries - most of them stock very boring ones - Madame Lemonier, some mauve ones and they are so boring. I might go to Wyevale to have a look. But their plants are never bushy. One stem and one flowering one if you're lucky.

I bought 3 x Lily, 3 x black double. Alas, none came to flowering. Must be my fault. Good luck. Please post photos when you have bought the flower. Only by splitting will you get good flowers as I am sure you know. The seeds can be very wish washy! I have come to know.

 

[alp]

Video Today, in the park - squirrel feast, cutie small dog, an albina chipmunk and drone practice

 

[alp]

Good morning - reading back the posts. I don't have any YELLOW DOUBLE of any sort. I have red, pink, green,white double from Ellen range and I am not keen on white dotted double. Not sure if they are from Ellen. @Perki you could have a feast on your eyes on Ashwood videos and online shop. But I love Farmyard from Wales. Too late again. Snowdrops Avon is very dear. Old Court is cheaper, but you have to hurry up, which I have failed this year for both, so sob stories again.

Shops are so expensive - with flowers £9.99 to £16.99. Might go to Wyevale to nose around.

Weather

Flaming February! Britain will bask in sunshine and be warmer than Rome this week (and there's a chance we'll break the 70F record)

• Temperatures are expected to reach 16C (61F) this week - more than double the average for February
• Friday and Saturday will likely see temperatures reach 16C in many areas - warmer than Rome's 12C
• Forecasters say there’s even an outside chance the February record of 19.7C (67F) may be broken

*
Will save a bit of money on heating! Much needed

Well, yesterday was supposed to b cloudy, but it turned out fine and sunny and balmy. Lovely day!

Planted out all my alstroemerias and hope to see flowers and gather seeds this year.

 

[alp]

A buyer offers the asking price. So happy but it took him 3 hours to convince me that he's serious and I haven't done anything else.

I actually made a coffee out of the used coffee grounds, using an Italian expresso pump! LOL! It was decent. Oh, wait, "Oh, bl**** heck! It's almost decent!" Hehe! This is a repeat of a tea advert.

Just watched Antique Road Trip - quite educational and the history of Norfolk was told. Didn't know that Vancouver was discovered by a Norfolk man called Vancouver. The poor man died 39. But hey, he has been immortalised by the Canadian city, Vancouver. Another man, Cresswell, discovered the North-west passage. Such a heroic endeavour! The way the presenters haggled has made me feel like I am a saint. Corr! Daylight robberies come to mind. £85 gramophone was whittled down to £40. £35 gnome to £10. Hope the publicity draws in customers for them.

It has been drizzly the whole day! Lovely for all my plants. Very pleased with it. By the way, @Esther Knapicius and @johnny canoe , can you watch Grand Designs in your respective country please?

I am very interested in buildings such as churches and historical buildings. Modern architecture with cantilever and box over another box really doesn't interest me. But these programmes do throw up some gems and I really like those built and fashioned by the owners.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

@alp , I will look for grand designs on regular TV. just to repeat, I can only get Escape to the County on Netflix, does not show on ouregular TV. Good you have an offer, but I guess, its more solid when the bank says that he has the funds. At least that is how it works here. The bank has to approve of the cost of the house based on the surrounding cost of other "like" homes.

Nope --no grand designs here on TV.

 

[alp]

Good morning, @Esther Knapicius Programmes like Amazing Space and The house £100K built, a BBC programme, can be very interesting. In George Clarke's Amazing Space, a 17 year old boy built his mum a houseboat. Amazing talent.

Here, houses are quite diverse in structure, so people just get a surveyor to see if the house is sound.

Hope to sow some salad leaf seeds today.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

We have lots of renovation /building shows here that you probably don't get. Recently was looking at one on demand. Called Windy City Rehab. this lady buys and guts/renos houses in Chicago. She buys them for ruffly $700.00 and sells them for over a million. while they sit on tiny lots, on house lined streets, I am amazed the market is that high there. Learn something.

Then we have the nice couple in Texas, Fixer upper, and Home Town in Mississippi. Both unique homes. That is one thing interesting of USA, in various states come various types of houses, various lifestyles. Guess its the variety of the weather --of course that effects those choices.

 

[alp]

Here people in the London area are trying their utmost to upset their neighbours, by having basement installed. One builder told me that in the process of building a basement, the neighbouring house suffered from subsidence and it cost £2m insurance payout.

There's Robbie Williams whose neighbour's house houses lovely irreplaceable artworks built-in features. But R Williams is a millionaire several times over and wanted to have a swimming pool installed. After numerous court cases, they have decided that Robbie Williams has to employ people to use hand-digging and all works have to be stopped if tremor is detected.

The yellow one that I bought

This one has a raised maroon ruffled collar - very pretty.

The one below is a sweet, sweet surprise- could be a green or yellow splattered.

Old friend from last year

I think this is my Washbabies, but it looked like this 2 years ago

Another sweet, sweet, sweet surprise!

 

[Perki]

You wouldn't believe that camera i bought off ebay turned up I am shocked I've been trying to find something wrong with it most of the day. I've been watching another camera the exact same and it sold for twice the price I paid , I am tempted to put it back on.

I had a quick test run on some snowdrops before it rained , put it on automatic I don't have a clue what all these extra thing are I am going to have to up my photography skills.