The return of the Hostas

I hope that you have been enjoying the lovely weather over the past few days. It’s amazing how quickly plants respond to the heat.

I haven’t posted so much about hostas of late, I’m soon to make up for this I’m sure!

Hostas have started popping up all over, whilst some are still waiting to wake up.

I love how varied the colours, shapes, sizes and growth of the emerging buds.

H. Dancing Queen

H. Blue Mouse Ears

H. Medusa

H. Cherry Berry

H. Bedford Rise and Shine

H. Liberty

H. Raspberry Sundae

H. Dixie Chick

H. Abiqua Drinking Gourd

H. Queen of the Seas

H. Frances Williams

H. Blue Ivory

H. Halcyon

H. El Niño

H. Tot Tot

H. Dilithium Crystal

H. Big Daddy

H. Teaspoon

H. Dragons Tails

H. Irish Luck??

H. Praying Hands

H. Dancing in the Rain

H. Tears of Joy

Not sure which hosta this one is. Need to find the label and update my spreadsheet!

Planted in the same pot above. Think it’s H. Krossa Regal, soon to see.

Another I need to work out … possibly H. Proud Sentry.

I’ll try and update you when they are in leaf and also when flowering.

Enjoy your plants and your green space along with a little sunshine!

A tidy garden …

I found myself gardening at my parents today. Not sure if I had subconsciously decided this or not.

Pottered about and tidied up.

The Canna brasiliensis has flowered well and has set seed. Lots of swollen buds!

I have also potted on the Japanese Bitter Orange (Citrus trifoliata).

I bought this Begonia a few years ago as a present for my dad. I haven’t really done much with it over the winters other than kept it frost free. I’m surprised at how well it still grows!

I also moved the second half of the flower stand and displayed more hostas. This has made the whole are so much tidier.

My parents are happy how their garden is changing and feeling more like they can sit and relax.

It is important that we sit and relax (or even sit and contemplate) in your green space.

Enjoy your green space!

All seasons in one day*

So I’ve managed to do a few bits outside today in the sun, rain and wind*.

I’ve finally put the stand together and placed some hostas on it. There needs to be some rearrangement but it’s a good start.

A lovely Dahlia flower. I had to buy these for my parents when I saw them! These are Dahlia Sandra. My mum’s name.

These are Amaranthus.

I love how big these ornamental gingers are growing! I am not sure of the variety of these Hedychium, I believe it could be ‘Stephen’.

These are the planters I prepared for my parents earlier this year.

I’ve spotted a few things of interest, hoping to catch you up on these soon.

Pot’ing about

Sometimes a simple plant can be so pleasing. I really like this lady’s mantle aka Alchemilla mollis.

I’m also really happy to see that the hardy aloe given to me by my friend David, has a flower bud on it. Aloe striatula. They are an impressive plant. Grow big and give a really exotic look.

I had an out of the blue call, my friends Chris and Helen were going to a place that sells outdoor plant pots.

He bought me some lovely pots at really cheap prices. And when they dropped them off I was also given a hosta. A lovely surprise as it’s not one that I have in my collection. It’s an unusual one as it bears yellow flowers.

It’s called H. Miracle Lemony.

I forgot to mention yesterday. Whilst I was looking on to our yarden from our kitchen window I counted approximately fifteen sparrows eating from the feeders. The family seems to be growing. I love hearing them and seeing them visit the yarden to feee and drink from my pond.

Plant day.

Had a busy day shopping but also had time to visit this amazing place!! Aqualife in Poynton.

Bought Cyperus longus which was listed in James Wong’s book – native Sweet Galangal.

I also couldn’t resist a dark flowered Hemerocaulis aka Day lily.

A friend told me about this flower stand being sold on facebook. At first someone else had got their dibs but it wasn’t meant to be … so yay! Here it is. After a drive to Salford I bought this plant stand to display hostas in my parents garden.

I got it home and then potted on a few plants.

The weather wasn’t as bad as it has been of late.

An all weather gardener!

I was determined to get out in the yarden today, rain or shine. Rain it was.

First job was to get the comfrey (given to me by my friend Shaun) and get it prepared to make comfrey tea.

Here it is chopped up and in a bucket.

I filled the bucket up with water. I’ll wait for it to steep and smell before decanting into bottles and use it to feed my plants.

Here is Hosta ‘Tot tot’ a miniature hosta just potted in to its new pot.

I’ve finally potted up little one up too.

This one is Hosta ‘Dilithium Crystal’ as you can tell I like the blue varieties.

I also potted on two Colocasias, an Akebia, some Tradescantia cuttings, a Persicaria campanulata and a few other bits.

A friend gave me this cutting and I’m super excited. I hope it will grow big and strong. It’s a Ficus lyrata aka Fiddle Fig.

It rained, I got wet, I got wetter in the shower but I’m glad I did it!

Enjoy your green space!

Downpour

For a day where I thought I’d be spending lots of time in the yarden, I spent little time at all doing anything really.

Let’s hope I spend more time in my green space tomorrow.

Gardening frenzy

Today I have been fairly busy with gardening things.

I found that the wood is used to make a frame for my climbers had rotted in a section and fell off landing on hostas and veg. Thankfully the climbers seem to have had little harm.

I went to a fire salvage company and was surprised to see they had named hostas, healthy and cheap! Needless to say I bought a few.

I also managed to get some gold dust – aka Compost.

My friend and I headed to a garden centre that I haven’t been to in years. I can happily say it will be many years until I return … if ever.

I popped to my parents and drilled a hole to add the newly bought tap to convert a bin into a water butt.

I’m happy to see my yucca flowering so well.

Back home I took a look at my indoor plant nursery. Here are some pilea that I am growing. Roots are coming in nicely. I want to see if any additional grow. Last time I did this nothing happened.

Here is my Alocasia macrorrhiza ‘Borneo Giant’, it’s growing slowly and as with many of my plants this year has an attack of aphids! Let’s hope it grows stronger.

Here is my luffa. I grew this from seed but doesn’t seem to be doing much.

I also potted on the grape and bomarea that arrived recently as they both had roots growing out of their pots.

A quick water of some plants and then time for a shower!

Green, boring? NEVER!

The jasmine is not only looking amazing it smells better than you can imagine!

I pruned the fig tree, I decided to take many cuttings of varying types. We will soon see it they grow!

Look at the yucca about to flower.

This is my aloe shelf. Aloe vera, variegata and aristata.

This is a cool plant! Oxalis triangularis, they open and close. So cool!!

I have some borage in the yarden, love the colour of the flowers. However the bees love them!!!

This beauty is Aoenium zwartkop.

This is a montage of the various greens and foliage in our yarden. Hostas, ferns, grasses, bamboo, Zantedeschia, monkey puzzle, solanum.

Enjoy your green space and see you tomorrow.

Wind, wind, wind…

It was actually a sunny day and fairly warm when the wind slowed but when it sped up … breezy and not really a great conditions to work in.

Some more blue hostas I grow. This one I’m not quite sure as the label has disappeared. It’s possibly Blue Cadet.

This is a lovely bigger variety. Hosta Krossa Regal.

This water lily is already at the surface along with frog bit.

Another lovely plant I grow, this is Oxalis triangularis.

I bought this cacti from a NGS, I have no idea what it is. I think it needed more light, so I am hoping this spot suits it more.

Let’s hope I am able to get out and do more tomorrow.