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.

Canna do any more …

Had a busy day in the sun working in my parents garden.

Pruned lots more ivy and sadly broke two panels in the greenhouse. Well they were already cracked but now they definitely replacing. Glad that the weather is warm enough that it won’t cause any problems.

There were bees and other insects flying in and out of the greenhouse all day.

Here is one of my seed sown canna from last year. Canna brasiliensis.

I also connected a water butt to the down pipe and connected it with an overflow pipe to a second water butt.

My parents are on a water metre so this will help them and the planet at the same time. Also the water butt was from freecycle and the second is a recycled container. Win win!

Houseplants and a gift!

Had a day off from ‘gardening’ as such. Placed a few orders …

This is a gynura.

This is my dieffenbachia ‘Reflector’.

My syngonium, begonia and monstera in the background.

Handing small spider plants and aloe in hangers I have made.

My neighbour knocked this up for me literally an hour or so after me telling him what I wanted to make.

Until tomorrow.

Seeds, cuttings and putting on!

With the weather being a little chillier and very windy. I wasn’t outside so much today.

I wanted to list the plants I had split and find out which needed labelling.

Made some more labels out of plastic bottles that people have given me.

With the forecast of frost I’ve brought in my tender plants. Seems strange to think how hot it was just yesterday!

I have finally had time to pot on various seedlings. I have tomatoes, courgettes, naranjilla and tamarillo. Thats over a hundred seedlings pricked and potted on.

I have also potted up some persicaria and tinantia cuttings up.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

Colourful day

A simple gardening day today.

Went for a lovely walk (exercise time) around Didsbury. Some stunning plants.

The wisteria is stunning on this house!

A mixtures of pinks and reds …

Subtler shades …

Back in our yarden, I have hung these small glass bottles. I intend to use them for cuttings and any accidental flower chops – like this marsh marigold.

I’m excited to see my Cautleya is poking out of soil amongst the black mondo grass.

Tonight I have been pricking out these seedlings. They are an interesting tropical plant. Lobelia fistulosa – I have never grown these before and am hoping that I can get them to grow big!

Made some more plant labels out of the milk bottles my parents are saving for me.

Night night!

Fenced off!

Here is a simple drawing of a water feature I’d like to attempt to make for our yarden.

Looks at the lovely leaves on this ipomoea quamoclit, looking forward to this being planted out and towering over me with its beautiful leaves and red flowers.

I have never grown this before, it is related to the more familiar Morning Glory (blue flowering climber) plant. Both being poisonous, however they are also related to the sweet potato!

I have nearly finished painted the fences and basically just chilling out before heading to bed.

Wondering what to do this year for World Naked Gardening Day tomorrow (2nd May 2020). What will you be doing?!

Started the morning my labelling all the dahlias I’d split, using the recycled bottles I mentioned in a previous post. As you can see there are a lot of them!

I’ve been potting on cannas and hedychiums that I grew from seed in 2018.

Do you ever remember piggy back plants growing up? Everyone had them as houseplants and I was mesmerised by how they grew from a leaf. Well I grow these as a hardy garden plants at my parents, decided to make some more plants from cuttings.

Sorry for the bad picture, I am so pleased that my setaria palmifolia has finally got some growth!! It took me three years to find this plant and thought I’d lost it.

Some people think these are weeds, I love these plants and have been trying to sow the orange ones for a while! To no success. Look how beautiful they are!

During lockdown I have been gardening lots, both in my Tiny Tropical Yarden and my parents. Today I got my dad helping me sow some seeds.

I am not really a bedding plant type of guy but I am growing lots so that my parents can have a colourful garden that they like. Dad is sowing some tagetes.

People think that ferns are all the same, they’re all just green and meh. Well I can tell you they are not. This is a harts tongue fern uncurling.

Back in our yarden, this is our hanging shelf. Added Mediterranean themes plants. Pelargoniums and some cacti and succulents.

This plant has also been on my wish list for some time. This is Begonia Luxurians, with its palm like leaves and great upright growth along with scented flowers it is a must for our yarden!!

Thanks to Dibleys for finally allowing it to be at home in our Tiny Tropical Yarden.

To believe when we moved in, it was just concrete and lifeless. Now there are all sorts of life …

These are hardy aloe, they have been outside for two and a half years and still looking good.

This is going to be my aloe shelf. A mix of aloes – aristata, variegata and vera. Only the first being hardy but I may give them all a go once may is out.

Bit of a long one today. Hope you got some fresh air and your plants are all keeping you happy. Until tomorrow.

Another Bank Holiday gone …

I hope this weekend finds you ready to enjoy your outdoor space and with a little luck be able to sit, relax and enjoy the sun.

The last bank holiday for me was all about gardening and plants.

On Saturday my friend and I visited Jefferies Plant Nursery in Gatley. This is family ran and they are extremely good value. It’s not a posh garden centre with a coffee shop, it sells plants. The majority of their plants are annuals or tender plants for the summer season. Needless to say we always come away with a car boot full!

Then we headed over to Bud Garden Centre for yet more compost and a quick nosey round. I really like Sylva Grow Compost that they sell. They also sell Dalefoot Compost this is slightly dearer and slightly different, I save this for my hostas.

All spent up, we got stuck in by doing some much needed gardening at my parents whilst they were in holiday. We did it to surprise them.

It was hard work, digging holes to plant my 2 musas (bananas), 4 cannas and 3 hedychiums (ornamental gingers), we also planted some pelargoniums, cosmos, coreopsis, mimulus, eucomis and an abuliton. I threw lots of annual seeds on to the bed too for good measure. I’m hoping that parents are going to like the colourful display once is gets more established.

I’ve actually still got plants on their way and some how are meant to fit in here too. Where there’s a will there’s a way. Or so they say!

On Sunday I drove up to a small village in Yorkshire, just north of York for an NGS Open Garden.

I’m pleased I made it as it is a beautiful garden, lots of lovely plants and many ‘rooms’. John is also a Hostaholic and Heuchera grower. He had lots of both for sale, along with many other plants.

I can highly recommend visiting Rewela Cottage, it’s inspirational! The hard landscaping is softened by the huge variety of plants he grows. I thought the meandering path kept interest and I couldn’t help admire the organisation! John has an amazing work bench, pots all stacked in order and his labels are all catalogued in order by using recycled toilet roll tubes.

Needless to say I made a few purchases.

Here is Hosta ‘Cherry Berry’, Hosta ‘Colour Carnival’, Hosta ‘June’ and French Tarragon.

For more information about John’s lovely garden and when he’s next open take a look here.

Bank Holiday Monday gave me the opportunity to potter in our yarden, I made more progress with the planters I’ve been making out of recycled corrugated metal roofing and some scaffolding planks.

I’ve also been really excited to see that some of my seeds have finally sprouted and are doing really well!

Before I leave you to carry on watching Gardeners World, if you’re local to Stockport you can find three great events this weekend.

Alpine lovers should visit

Burnage and Levenshulme Open Gardens are back! We visited a few years ago and loved the variety and creativity of these hidden green spaces.

If you’re in the centre of Manchester, King Street has been turned in to a flower and plant haven, worth a nosey..

I’m currently on the train to Leicester to help the in-laws with their garden.

What ever you’re up to this weekend enjoy your garden!

The rain is here!

I can’t imagine anyone be happier than a gardener, when it rains after a dry spell.

It has been drizzling all night here in Stockport and I can almost hear the plants saying YAY!!

I don’t know about you, but I think raindrops make flowers and leaves even more beautiful!

These iris really are the star of flowers in our yarden at the moment. Awaiting the blue ones to come out too! Who would have guessed they are even prettier with raindrops?!

…

Hosta Touch ot Class – a stunning variegated compact variety.

Persicaria Red Dragon contrasting against the Shuttlecock Fern.

Hosta Queen of the Seas – a fairly new one to me. Blueish hue with waved edges. Meant to grow to a decent size.

Hosta Frances Williams – a nice larger sized Hosta with good colouration.

Hosta Halcyon – an old time favourite blue variety of compact medium size.

Hosta Tom Schmidt – a great coloured tall variety. A must have!

Hosta Yellow River – always one of the earliest to appear and always gives a great show!

Thought I’d leave you with a quick glance of our yarden, enjoy!

Blazing Bank Holiday happiness

I hope you have had a great bank holiday weekend!!

Enjoying a long weekend in the garden and in the sun competes with holidaying abroad. My highlight this weekend was seeing a blue tit eating from my bird feeders. I love my little family of sparrows but seeing another visitor made me so happy!

The heat and sun has it pros and cons, hostas generally prefer the cool damp shade so I’ve had to move some pots, the hostas and ferns seem to appreciate it. Sadly I didn’t realise my new shrub, a lovely spring scented -Edgeworthia Grandiflora, was sensitive to the hot sun and some of its new leaves burnt to a crisp. Noted and moved! I bought this from Kevin – Village Plants

I was pleased to see the return of my hardy edible ginger, zingiber mioga, only small but safe!

There have been lots of little jobs and some bigger ones that I have managed to get done this weekend too!

Continuously deadheading the spring flower bulbs allows them to save energy and hopefully they’ll flower well again next year.

I’ve planted one of my larger hostas into a nice big pot, here is Hosta ‘Queen of the Seas’ standing tall.

I visited Bud Garden Centre for some organic compost from Sylva Grow and finished off another planter. I was so happy that the hardy ginger – Cautleya spictata, had overwintered so well and had so many rhizomes that I was able to split it to fill the planter. Adding some lily of the valley for earlier interest will give a great scent to this area of our garden. I’m excited to see how well these grow in their new home.

Two other little projects are my ‘vegetable bin’ and washing machine planter. I bought some sweetcorn plants and mini curly kale from Brenda at Bud along with some wild rocket that I bought a few weeks ago and sprinkled some lettuce, radish and pea seeds about for faster yielding crops. Watch this space!

Here is one of the three washing machine planters that I am going to try this year, I have added some acorus, a white Hawkshead Fuchsia, some black pansies and finally a trailing mint.

Another new addition to my yarden was a climber called Gynostemma pentaphylum, which is a herb that is native to China and Korea but I’m hoping it will fill a trellis and be able to make some herbal tea.

With the weather being so hot, I’ve installed my solar powered watering drip system, I bought these at Tatton Flower Show over the last couple of years.

With only getting in at 21:30 I can honestly say I’m lovely the progress of our yarden and hope to show you some pictures of how I am greening grey Britain in my own very great concrete back yard.

On that note I will say adieu for now.