Quick update

Thank you for your patience and hope that you have all been enjoying your plants.

Here is an unknown species of Hedychium which is just starting to flower, let’s hope that all the buds have time to flower before the frost.

I have already put these beautiful succulents in to the greenhouse.

I grew this plant from seed and it had been a really slow grower. But it’s really put some growth of late. It is Solanum betaceum.

Other plants that are growing surprisingly well are the Tetrapanex (which you may remember my friend David gave to me), Begonia luxurians, popping in on the left is a Xanthosoma violaceum, which really has spread this summer.

It’s crazy how well some plants have done this summer! This is another perennial that has grown so well, grown much taller than me and has produced lots of flowers and continues to do so. This is Impatiens tinctoria.

I have been lazy taking some tenders in, partly because they seem to be enjoying the moisture and mild climate (also living next door to a laundrette and their dryer tubes helps). Here the Ensete murelii or Abyssinian Banana seems to be growing strong. The Zantedeschia ‘Hercules’ is slowing down for winter, yet the Gynostemma pentaphyllum is showing no sign of slowing down. I love how the plant grows so fast in a season and covers the ropes to give a real jungle feel.

Soon I will collecting these little bulbils that the Begonia grandis ssp sinensis ‘Red Undies’ produce and sow them in the greenhouse to ensure I have some babies in case they do not make it through the winter.

The Abuliton ‘Variegated Salmon’ is still growing well and producing these beautiful flowers. I will soon need to dig it up and put it somewhere safe over winter.

The Mirabilis Jalapa continue to flower along with the Salvia and Zinnia. You can also see the Arundo donax variegata and various Hedyhiums growing in the background along with a smaller growing Cautleya gracilis which is turning yellow.

I am hoping to give this bed a good mulch like I did last year and leave all the tenders barring the Abuliton in the ground.

Other stars of the show have been these Dahlia ‘Sandra’ which I couldn’t resist buying as they share the same name as my mum.

I have grown Dahlia ‘Bishop of Leicester’ over the past few years and always put on a good show. They tall have dark foliage and bright single flowers that the bees adore in the summer.

I hope to be growing and dividing plants over the winter and will keep you up to date as often as possible.

Wrap up warm, enjoy the milder days and most of all love your plants!

Flower catch up

Apologies for the lapse in our catch ups. Some technical issues.

I’m going to keep it brief by just showing some pictures of flowers that I’ve grown, mainly in my parents garden.

Dahlia Bishop of Leicester. A great one for flying insects, especially bees.

Zinnia which I grew from seed.

Mirabilis Jalapa also grown from seed this year. I love the variation you can get, this marble effect yellow and pink then the next is pink. I also have a white one! They are heavenly scented in the evening.

This is the Salvia that flowers grew from a rather strange bud.

This is Dahlia Sandra continuing time flower and standing out of the crowd!

This picture shows how tall this Impatiens tinctoria has grown. You can only see a small part of it. The white flowers are large and scented.

I hope you’re all still enjoying your green space, will update you soon!

Flower time

Such lovely weather today.

This stunning Agapanthus has white flowers with delicate blue nearer the base.

This is a Hedychium and this is the first time it’s got buds so I’m looking forward to this opening.

My dad bought this climbing / rambling rose. I have no idea what species it is but the scent is heavenly and the bees adore it!

I’m so happy to see the Hedychium densiflorum ‘Stephen’ flowering, with many more buds due to open.

This is Abuliton ‘Varigated Salmon’ is slow to start but once it starts… it blooms well throughout the summer.

This year I managed to get hold of these Mirabilis longiflora after trying to grow from seed and failing. Here is it flowering, I’m yet to see these open, my mum sent me this picture. I also want to see if the scent lives up to its reputation

This summer I bought a surprise collection and I received this Salvia, I was excited to see its unusual flower and can’t wait to see how it ends up.

I hope you enjoy these flowers as much as we do.

Enjoy your green space!

Wordless Wednesday

Plant parcels

I am always excited to receive plants, here is an order from Turn it Tropical.

Here I have Aloe ‘Cleopatra’, Cordyline fruticosa ‘Mambo’, Impatiens arguta ‘Blue Dream’ and auricoma x bicaudata, finally Rhipsalis ramulosa.

I couldn’t help getting this little badge too!

Do you have a plant on your wish list? I have been searching for these for a while now. I have even tried to grow them from seed.

These are Mirabilis longiflora, they are not as commonly grown as their relatives Mirabilis Jalapa. These have white long highly scented flowers.

How beautiful are these white lilies?! I bought these in autumn 2008 from Peter Nyssen and they are great performers! These are Lilium martagon ‘Snowy morning’.

Here is the first ever flower on my Iris Chrysographes ‘Just around midnight’.

Truthfully I was hoping that they would have been blacker, still they are a very beautiful flower.

A much blacker flower are these Petunias I bought last year. They didn’t wither this winter, they did get a little straggly but I tidied them up and here they about to open up.

I have hung my new rhipsalis in a pot that I had made a homemade ‘macrame’ for. Here’s to hoping it is happy here.

I am pleased to see we have had more rain, hoping to fill the water butts and giving the plants a good drink!

Gardening in the sun!

Today I have been busy in my parents garden. It’s great to see all the cannas and hedychium over wintered well and showing.

I have planted a multitude of dahlias (even one that’s got my mums name!), some more cannas and hedychiums. I also planted Cautleya lutea and Mirabilis Jalapa.

My mum loves her lilies and we have a friendly compeition along with our friend and neighbour to see how many blooms and buds we have.

As you can see she’d love it if this wall was full of them! More planted with dahlias in between.

Here are some pictures of plants I grow in my tiny tropical yarden.