Wordless Wednesday

Do you remember rain?

I am still loving the weather yet, am I the only one that wants it to rain?

Here is my little bit of paradise.

I’m loving how the caladiums are growing.

I have got my first flower on my sweet pea – Lathyrus sativus azureus.

Also excited that my black iris has a bud on it.

Until tomorrow.

Beauty in the garden

Another scorching non stop day.

I have amazing friends, my friend Jamie has loaned me this mechanical riddle to make lighter work of emptying the compost bin.

Look at the quality of this!! It’s so light yet full of life and healthy!! Can’t wait to use this with my plants!

Another friend, Helen, gave me these sweet peas, they are growing really well and I can’t wait to see the flowers and more scent in our yarden.

I had forgotten how beautiful some iris are and these are no exception. I will need to move these to a place that they are appreciated much more!

I am so happy with my caladium collection. I now need to move them to make best of their display!

I have more to do tomorrow and no doubt I’ll keep you updated.

Scorcher of a day!

I’ve really enjoyed the scorching day! All my plants appear to be growing so well. I did have to water many this afternoon.

Yes – apologies for the caladium update. You’ll be pleased to know that these are two of sixteen varieties!!

A friend gave me a water lily last week. Here it is potted up and moved to it’s forever home. I hope it’s going to be happy.

I was pleased to see that the oxalis are all popping through the ground now. I grow four varieties in total, I’d love to grow more.

Please remember our little friends that visit our green spaces. A simple drinking ‘bar’ for bees and other visitors can me made from very little. Here is an old container and some pebbles topped up with water.

I CANNOT wait until May ends.

Don’t cast a clout until May is out.

This is an ‘old wives tale’ but is one us gardeners live by. With the risk of frost still possible it’s always best to check the weather and be able to protect those babies.

Here are all the plants I am growing from seed in our flat! This is our spare room and bed.

And the lounge. Let’s face it – all the window sills are filled!!

A friend and I often order plants together. These beauties arrived today from Jurassic plants.

Here we have two types of fig, a medlar, a Szechuan pepper, an aronia bush and two edible fruiting elaeagnus. Hoping to enjoy the fruit in the future.

I am also very lucky and grateful that David gave me this little intrigue – an Arisaema, ciliatum var. Liubaense. Can’t wait for this to flower!

Whilst visiting David and of course social distancing, I saw this extraordinary flower on his Passion flower.

I am also extremely happy with the growth and progress of this recent purchase from AJ Plants. This is the tropaeolum tuberosum, a lovely leaved nasturtium.

Another friend, also called David, gave me this plant. It is a climbing abuliton. You may be able to see the bud.

It is called Abuliton megapotamicum. It is slow to start but if this warm weather continues I’m sure it’ll be right at home.

I haven’t mentioned hostas for some time, here is an amazing plant. Hosta halcyon. It is one of the many blue forms and a popular favourite.

Hosta la vista

Colourful potting on day.

A quick check of all the seedlings and the caladiums. This beauty is Caladium Carolyn Whorton.

A friend recently gave me a water lily. I have now potted it up in an aquatic pot, lined with hessian and topped with small stones.

I potted on a fair few plants. I also potted on this Persicaria ‘Silver Dragon’ hoping that it grows a little faster. It has been a slow grower so far.

Pleased to see lots more plants are growing well around the yarden.

Until tomorrow.

Plants, more plants? YES!

Always exciting when your morning starts off with this!

So my order from AJ Plants arrived and I am pleased to see everything arrived in good condition.

https://ajplants.co.uk/

Here are two types of Zantedeschia – Flamingo and Green Goddess. Tropaelum tuberosa, globba bulbifera, lysichiton camstcharcensis and Aechmea cylindrata (the latter two are for my friend, David – he is so knowledgable!).

Also appearing in our yarden is this sole iris.

This is one of the … solanum I have grown from seed. Sadly it has no label. But pleased to see it in bud.

Clearly they are also delicious to slugs and snails.

Happy to see that I have a mountain papaya growing nicely. Vasconcellea pubescens.

Another Solanum, this is S. betaceum orange.

I love the foliage on these ipomoea quamoclit. I can’t wait to see them flower!

I helped these two little bees out of my house. They were both trying to get out of the window. I noticed they had spiders web caught on them, I helped them rid of this. The first flew off immediately. The second was hoot on my glove for far too long.

It’s so special to see these little bees so close.

I couldn’t find any crocks?!?!!! I added some plastic (old compost bag) to the bottom of the post to stop the compost falling out. Also helps retain some moisture for certain plants.

It is possibly a bit controversial, I add plastic to the bottom of many pots. I don’t have to water as much and the majority of my plants prefer their roots to remain moist.

I am pleased to see my caladiums open more! Here is Carolyn Whorton.

And this beauty is C.White Queen.

Until tomorrow.

A mix of plants

I’ve managed to do a tiny bit more outside today but not as much as I’d have liked.

I woke and looked at my seedlings and indoor nursery to find that the caladiums are finally uncurling. How beautiful is this going to be?!

I have been reading up about moss and the air purifying properties, so I looked up how to grow it or promote the growth.

Here is the yoghurt / moss mix to paste on walls.

I’m loving this Osteospermum ‘Blueberry Shake’ that I bought for my parents.

I don’t normally buy plants with colours other than white, black and blue or very green (or unusual)!!

David has a thing for fuchsias and I thought that this looked more tropical that most. It’s fuchsia ‘Koralle’.

Full day in the sun!

Another great sunny day!

Every morning I check seedlings and water houseplants. I am pleased to see the caladiums are finally growing well!!

A wander round the Tiny Tropical Yarden and look at the flower on this Zantedeschia Hercules along with my Ensete maurelii also known as the Abysinian Banana. Both are very tropical looking, though the ensete needs winter protection.

Here is another lily, same family as Hercules, Zantedeschia aeothiopica. Another hardy tropical looking plant.

I popped to my parents to drop off a few bits. I was pleased to see the Geranium palmatum in flower.

As soon as I returned home David and I had breakfast al fresco.

Then I got to work pottering about in our yarden. The first job was to decant the nettle tea into bottles, it was starting to smell badly as I had no cover for my bucket.

The blue skies and my bamboo!!

I repotted my Tetrapanex and Aspidistra saxoca, even have it some height by mounting on top of some breeze blocks. Fingers crossed it survives the ordeal.

I have recently started watching Beechgrove Garden and they had this great idea for house leeks and similar plants.

David helped me in the garden and we put this little bird house up. We do get lots of birds visiting the yarden and we thought we’d give them to option to stay over.

We also mounted some wine boxes on the walls.

It was great to see that this lovely bee was able to rest on the leaves in my little pond and take a well needed break and drink!

I am pleased to say that today was the first day we picked salad fresh from our yarden. This was a tasty herb salad of mixed salad leaves, dill, mint, oca and oregano.

More tomorrow I am sure …

Rain rain rain …

I’m sure many of you (outdoor gardeners) are with me, and are happy that we have had a decent downpour.

Not really done much in my green space today … just took a few pictures.

This is Persicaria virginiana ‘Lance Corporal’, you can see where it gets its name from. I am becoming increasingly interested in persicarias as they are easy to grow and easy to propagate. They seem to like a lot of water but are very forgiving.

I like them so much that I have three on a wish list. I have four in my collection of plants so far.

This is Hosta ‘Hadspen Blue’, a lovely medium sized hosta, seems to be more slug and snail hardy than others.

Did you know hostas are also edible? Fancy some pan seared hostas?

A word of warning. DO NOT EAT MY HOSTAS!

This is Hosta ‘Abiqua Drinking Gourd’ it has cupped shaped leaves with corrugated foliage. It collects the rainwater, hostas always look great with rain droplets resting on their leaves. So photogenic.

I’m excited, this is a caladium peeking out of the soil. These are some of the most amazing foliage plants known!! They are not hardy and be quite difficult to start as they are a little fussy.

Caladiums originate from South America, they need heat, they can be grown as house plants or outside in the summer. They range from white, pinks, greens… superb!!!

As with many plants they can be poisonous to humans and / or pets. Always make sure to check before planting.

I’m wondering what everyone thinks about my blog. Anything you’d like to know? Any questions?

I love to swap plants and seeds … let me know if there’s a plant I grow and you’d like a cutting.

Enjoy your green space