Magazine style - all inclusive

[alp]

Good morning! Couldn't believe I could get up so early. I was so hot last night that I couldn't fall asleep. It took probably 2 hours before I could fall asleep.

Went to Enfield and felt like a kid let loose in a sweet shop: Springtime was already fully loaded with the stuff they would be selling for the next 3 months. I got 2 Crinums (but I suspect white as one tray said album and the other Crinum Powellii TOP?

They were huge and of course potting them up took me 40 minutes.

Spent £80 with 3 bags of Jack's Magic as well. Clockhouse was still close. Amazing how fast Springtime worked. The whole place for alike a fun fair area, but they were up selling 3 for £5 dahlias, lilies, gladioli, and indeed everything yesterday.

Bought 2 bunches of asparagus and need to go to the allotment to plant them out. I had a bright and lovely warm day yesterday in the journey and hope you guys had the same.

 

[alp]

Bought some big bags of compost and had to come home asap as I had already 250L in the car. Then went out to buy a pot and snowdrop, some osmocote and then drove around to see all gcs shut and 8 minutes too late to buy feed.

For the last few days, I have tried to find out ways to encourage flowering - sulking hoyas with angry air roots gnarling at me like some unhappy dogs, forlorn orchids which have never raised a smile in me or them (except the moment when I bought them for 10p) and also where to site what.

So I followed one video to pot my zygopetalum with moist sphagnum moss with perlite and only to find another vlogger who said the plants were terrestrial and hence 50/50 perlite and mpc. I wanted to wring something!

Buy zygopetalum orchid Zygopetalum 'Trozy Blue'

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Caring for Zygopetalum Orchids - Garden Tips - Beetham Nurseries

Visit Beetham Nurseries in Beetham. Check the opening hours, promotions and product range.

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Whilst taking stuff out from fridge, I saw something growing in my stratification tray. I took it out and lo and behold:

I felt blood draining from my body, heart stopping and a panic rising within me! What the heck are these? I asked myself. I gently teased one root out and I think these could be apricot, and / or peach seedlings. Those inside a bag were totally rotting. It took me half an hour to figure out what these were. Moral of the day: LABEL YOUR BAGS. Now I have to wait 3 or 4 years for it to fruit. I might not be here! Poor things!

And they said it would be grey and miserable and it turned out to be a half decent day. No wonder businesses moaned that Met Office got their predictions all wrong and they bought tons of B&Q stuff, only to have events rained off! Every year, they get £1m BONUS! Don't think our doctors, nurses or school teachers get those.

Rant over!

I have bought 4 different types of tall lilies and have scaled all of them. Hopefully, in one or two years, I will see 2m tower lilies smiling at me! I will plant some near the road so young girls will take selfies with my flowers, again! Just the thought has flavoured the day! I have seen quite a few people taking pics of my flowers. Some even asked me to propagate some Salvia Hotlips for them. 4 people expressed their preference for this boring flower! Ah, what do I know!

 

[Perki]

Afternoon cold dreary day , snowing the other day for the entire afternoon so the snow not going anywhere soon unfortunately .

My mum decking planks are more a less knackerd I may be able to get one raised planter out of them but most are soft and brittle, I am going to have to burn them I think or dry them out and give them to next door to burn .

I've got a Crinium Powellii and the bulbs are surprisingly massive, I had it in a pot cause I wasn't sure on the hardiness plus my wet conditions . It took 3 years to flower and didn't flower this year , nice flower but not as large as a lily . When I find space I am going to plonk it in the garden so it can fend for its self. The top one is more likely to be Powellii because its larger and easier to come by.

You've spent a lot already at the GC alp I haven't even considered going yet. You've got much more patience than me I couldn't wait 2-3 years for lilys to flower, I have grown regale bulblets but I can't bare removing the flower so the bulbs bulks up so I let them flower. I do have some giant lilies I dug them up last year and the bulbs really are giant as well.

never heard of zygopetalum very nice striking plant. I am the same with salvia hot lips I don't dislike them but they are common as muck, i think the name draws people in .

 

[alp]

I wonder what good news our PM will have for us in 45 minutes' time! Oh, dear! Another total lockdown. Who unleashed such a nasty virus? Some even suggested a pariah country might be weaponising ebola!

It rained more or less the WHOLE day and the central heating was making noises. I had my first boiler service since 2017. Any way, the man was helper's ex neighbour and I had it done at a very good price. He said that I needed to have all the radiators on even some at very low setting. As it has been so cold, I left it at 18c and the sysem was working the whole day.

If you can rescue some of your decking boards, you can make planters, like those my son made. They look quite good with a lick of paint. Better than burning all of them.

I do think I am too thick to save money! I already bought a Powellii white last year,so I should have taken the Powellii top as they might, just might, be different. Next time I go, they will all be mixed up. Then I thought I had got a dark blue Norma Barlow; somehow, I ended up with two mixed ones and I won't be happy if they don't have a dark purple or blue one! Something's wrong with me. Also, I thought I had a variegated leaf canna. Somehow I came home with a plain boring one. I must have tried to get the biggest tuber and in confusion, picked up another one by mistake. Same happened last year when I thought I bought a green gladioli, but came home with a boring pink - all in the desire of getting bigger corms.

I have no idea it took so long for crinum to flower. All I know is that I saw someone growing them outside her house and I really liked them. It had been on my mind ever since. So at £2.99, I just couldn't refuse.

Perki, when you're my age and in time of crisis like this, I don't think I'm worried about spending on plants. The thought of seeing them in flower nourishes my soul. I have to say: I might have a nervous breakdown when I felt overwhelmed by the amount of pots I had all over the place.

 

[Perki]

I reckon he may shut the GC I should of gone now . I only really spend on plants during Spring to summer , it waiting the amount of time for flowers I'd rather buy a large plant and have a good display.

 

[alp]

Probably not as gcs are good for mental health! Actually, everything might be shut, apart from food stores.

I have also come round to the idea of buying plants. I really love my purchases of Ascelpias Incarnata Ballerina and the Rudbeckia Herbstonne. However, it's the journey! One gets very excited when seeds metamorph quickly into stunning flowering plants, such as tithonia, thalictrum, dahlia and even clematis.

 

[alp]

Watched The Great on All 4 last night. Quite enjoyable. I also watched Forest Gump in late December. Never watched it before. Quite good as well. Just show up if you are good at something, you will be offered a place by some prestigious college.. Shame his mum had to stoop so low to get him into a posh school.

Glad that we went to Enfield on Saturday even though 3 gcs were closed. How sad is this?

Did a lot of potting up yesterday. All 5 or 6 crinum bulblets were potted up and all the Norma Barlows. Received my seeds from Premier Seeds - very pleased; and also a thick catalogue from Mr F. I am not sure I will buy from them. Prices are more important to me.

Hens gave me 4 eggs yesterday. The trouble with them is not when I give mixed pellets (non GM, mixed with corns, flaxseeds, oysters shells), they will leave quite a lot and then stare at me dolefully, begging for ??? When I feed them cooked potatoes, mushroom, stirfry mixed, sprouts and carrots, they will look at me forlornly again. Only time they are happy is to be given mealworms, but of course, they can't be given too much and they give me the doleful eyes again treatnebt and I feel like a useless mother! I often ask them if they want cavier! But now I just turn and try not to go there too often. I will treat them like the weeds in my garden: Sorry, I don't see them and I am off!

It's going to rain today and tomorrow! Grrrrrrrrrrr!

The lighting isn't very good as it was grey and raining. But first throe of my happiness, or 2nd?

Double green hellebores - it's nice to see green flowers, so different!

Zeny Washbabies

The black spots on them worry me. But my garden has always been hot and a hot-bed for nasty aphids.

They will be planted out. I can't bear confining them to pots. My garden clay soil will give them far more interesting nutrients. I'm still waiting for my epsom salt.

 

[alp]

I quote:


Will garden centres be open?

Yes.

Lovely! But son said that the new strain can cost a person an eye or a leg and it's in the air! Crumbs!

 

[alp]

Good morning to another cold day! Cold, and grey and damp! So cold that Met Office loading circle is unable to warm up to action.

Actually, it's not that bad. But it was pouring down earlier!

I'm praying for my dahlias outside to hang in there!

I sowed tons yesterday:

Radish
Basil
Spring onion Lisbon
Costoluto fiorentino
Parsley
Coriander
Comfrey
Pansy Black Moon
Pansy sweet Giant
Onion Sturon AGM
Onion Red Herald
Priouette Petunia

Need to take cuttings of my Calibrachoa - only the purple one left.

Repotted my layered new plants from my various hoyas. Today, the list will contiinue ..

 

[alp]

We had no snow.

There were riots and chaos in the US! The blind clairvoyante might be right. Mr O could have been the last US president. Son said that Simpson had predicted civil war over presidential election.

Watched 24 hours in police custody - Black Widow. It was hilarious watching the black widow's antics and you have to say the police behaved with extreme professionalism. The woman detective made the docu so much more enjoyable. The case was built on filmsy ground - a recording of a conversation soliciting murder. I would have thought both parties would go free as they didn't even talk about exactly HOW MUCH! But black widow had had previous forms! Interesting TV on All 4!

***************************

Did a lot of sowing:

Rudbeckia to be stratified outside.

Sowed Cosmos sulphureus which is supposed to improve soil structure. I'm going to sow a lot of them and cut, chop and drop to improve my soil structure.

Spring Promise Anja Oudolf - I have divided a lot of this and this clump has done exceptionally well, with 4 or more flowers and buds!

volcanic series penstemon is still going strong, even throwing up new buds.

This is a petunia

Rhapsody in Purple ? or Blue

Spring Promise Lily

Shade of Night

Lady Beatrix Stanley - hybrid double

Same

Could be Wendy's Gold, Primrose Warburg, or Spindlestone Surprise!

Lady Beatrix Stanley, agaiin!

Sorry for the blurred photos. Apparently, this little camera is capable of taking close up, as shown in the last photo.

It was a lovely day yesterday, most of it dry and warm when the sun was out. I weeded all my blueberries and camellias and removed leaves from hellebores. A lot to do today!

 

[Perki]

Morning its rather cold out there with snow flurries , very cold last night and maybe down to -7 or lower on Friday. Lots of birds are in the garden today keeping an eye on that wood pigeon so it doesn't scoff everything.

Shameful what's happened in the US, he has in a way cost 4 people their life . The simpsons have had that many episodes they a good chance they get a few things right . They did have trump as president in one episode years ago and some other more specific things happen.

I've been stripping wallpaper the last couple of day painfully boring , the ceiling were a nightmare two layers of wallpaper don't know what the bottom layer were made of but it were like chiselling concrete steamer wouldn't touch it. Get it plastered now one of my best friends is a plaster.

 

[alp]

Hahaha! Wall papers! Did you remember my record 4 or 5 layers!? People thought about Turkey in Christmas. I thought about removing wallpapers! The previous owner had been very generous with glue and it was impossible to remove them. You're lucky to have a plasterer as friend. But still, he won't plaster the walls unless they are cleared of wall papers.

Shameful, too, that Trump thought he had a trump card:

The new dirty dozen: Donald Trump has told aides he wants to pardon himself, his children, his aides and 'rappers' before leaving office - but self-pardon could force Biden's DOJ to prosecute him to avert constitutional crisis

He might even ask for life-long immunity .. There's no knowing what this person is capable of.. He will have creditors on his heels after he's left office.

If they didn't impeach him, there would be no way to telling what he would do next! Inciting mob behaviour and calling for calm at the same time or a bit after is oxymoronic and moronic. Johnson sent a congratulatory letter to Biden with Trump's name badly tippexed. LOL! Now, we need Biden's help, he's suddenly very vocal as Biden is sympathetic to Ireland.

Onto simpler thing: Two mornings ago, I was trimming and removing dead leaves in my only moist corner. Suddenly, a loud booming noise frightened me - a huge bumblebee! The biggest and loudest I ever witnessed. I'm happy that this giant visited my garden. I remember watching this video in which An American lady talked about the benefit of planting Elwesii Snowdrops in the garden:

It is one of the earliest flowering snowdrops and boasts of big flowers; however, as it is so early, there are no bees around to pollinate them and hence propagation was mainly by bulb division. Well, apart from that one big one with a cross green marking, we now have a bumblebee ready to service the plants. Very, very happy.

Son came home and told me that he had to warm the car for 10 minutes to start the engine and that on the way back, vehicles were covered with hard frost. I saw a sheet of sheen on the road where vehicles had not been able to remove. Yes, bitterly cold. Wonder and worry about my casualties already.

I have at least counted 3 Lady Beatrix Stanley

Love the tubings in the nectary and the markings on this flower!

Hope this attact more bees!

 

[alp]

Obviously, I need to check my grammar more carefully.

Watched BTK, again. Initially, I asked myself: How can you watch this again? I had known about this serial killer. I went ahead; and boy, it was so much better than those previous docus. It exposed this church going person drawing several stacks of cards detailing how he tormented these victims. It revealed that he even dressed up as being tormented, fully attired in female attire. The sentencing judge was brilliant and summed up all the punishments he should receive. However, she noted that he would be given a TV and that would help him rot, enabling him to live out further fantasy, albeit in a cell.

His daughter was crying and said she would let victims know that she suffered, too and that she has reconciled with her dad. She forgot that he KILLED these innocents and they meant a lot of those relatives left behind.

For me, it doesn't sit well. The man killed young kids as young as 6 and sent years later, a barbie toll tiied to a pipe in the post. Even when he spewed his statement, he said he had daughter, wife like these people. He was beyond remorse or help. If I were the daughter, I would quietly change the name and there would be absolutely no contact. Abhorrent non-entity!

*****************

Bitterly cold and windy. Snow not settled though. I could see snowflakes, but not enough to form a layer.

Today's breakfast

Today: to go out or not to go out!?

I have found quite a few of snowdrops. Later this year, I will cover the area with sand to keep the bulbs cool and dedicate an area to them.

 

[Zenj]

We have had a spell of very cold days and nights the pond is looking very sorry for itsself

 

[alp]

Yes, Zenj: bitterly cold, but during the day yesterday, I actually worked all hours outdoors. All the water in various containers had a frozen top. Your pond water seems to be rippling or I need to go to Specsavers. I had to knock the surface hard to get the liquid sliver underneath.

Had a plot for snowdrops, but yesterday, I was trying to get rid of a cistus which was a beautiful one with brown spotted flowers. But considering it had such a short flowering period, I decided to remove it. Geee, the root had the size of my arm and it was hard work. That was the warmest line along the garden where cats and hens sunned themselves. Yesterday, neighbour's cat was sitting on the top of the fence sunning or greying herself. By the time I came out with the camera which was a bit big one, she didn't like it and left. Because it was so warm there, I found various clumps of snowdrop, some 5, 7 or 9.. I don't think they were the precious ones, but it seemed to tell me snowdrop, like other plants, like it warm and sunny. Realising how the sunshine energised some snowdrop to swing open their tepals, I had a change of heart and add this to a snowdrop plot. I put the yellow ones here: Wendy's Gold, Sarah Dumont, Sandersii, Bill Clark, and a green EA Bowls. Hopefully, they naturalise readily.

Things are still very slow

This is the small camera and this magnication is not bad at all!

This could be Green Twister and this bud has been standing here impassively since the end of November.

The thing I do for my plants: Bromeliads? Spiky and sulky! I decided to ask youtube and there it said: Bag them up with some apple slices and the gas given out might help them flower. As I had tons of old apples, I really didn't mind. I will take them off 3 days later and wait and see!