Stuff I Grow

Cardiocrinum Giganteum

2013-05-14T16:49:00.002+02:00

Cardiocrinum Giganteum, or ginormous mega lily is a plant I have had an eye on for a while. I even bought some seed a couple of years ago but that did not work out. So I was quite delighted to get my hands on this one. Cardiocrinum Giganteum is a monocarpic bulb and I don't expect it to bloom this year even though the bulb seems like a good size it is more probably that it will flower next year. I planted it in a fairly shady site with very nutrient rich soil and will keep it properly watered throughout the summer. These are actually pretty hardy but don't love inter wet.

With a bit of luck the flower spike can reach higher than a tall basketball player so it should be quite a sight.

Flower Portrait: Tulip

2013-05-13T17:41:00.001+02:00

I went to a photo exebition by Eric Breed featuring lost tulips photographed against a black background. They were really gorgeous so I thought I would give it a shot myself.

Calceolaria Uniflora

2013-05-06T20:49:00.000+02:00

The Calceolaria Uniflora that I bought at the Alpine Society sale is now very much in flower. I really love these weird little things, they really do look like concerned aliens with their mouths wide open. I know the chances are that the plant will die after flowering (like last year) but it is still quite a good deal. It costs about the same as a bunch of tulips and it is infinitely more interesting.

I'm just keeping it in its pot and if it survives the summer I'll do some more research on how to keep it alive. I also noticed just how different it is from the plant I had last year. That was Calceolaria Uniflora Darwinii, with a slightly bigger and wider flower kept much lower on the plant. Picture below.

Things Finally Start Going

2013-04-28T14:39:00.000+02:00

Things are finally starting to happen on the allotment. It is exciting but also a lot of work. Especially because the grass is going completely rampant.

Here we reclaimed some ground from the encroaching grass next to the garlic patch. I planted some left over onion sets I had since the ground is way to rough for sowing.

Speaking of my beloved Alliums we finally laid our hands on some wild garlic plants. It's not easy to find a shady spot for them so I build a little shade guard with some sticks. This way I can finally pick wild garlic without making some funny mistakes.

The maincrop potatoes are in even though they will probably be eaten by the mole crickets. Which is why I planted some earlies back home in a container.

Perhaps a bit prematurely but we put in a couple of artichoke seedlings.

I've expanded the berry collection with some black currant.

Horseradish is still looking good. I guess I'll have to wait a while before they have harvestable root systems and quite frankly I can't hardly wait.

In a bid to beat the weeds we are planting a lot of the plugs into strawberry plastic. This disintegrates in a year or two and should help keep the ground moist, warm and weed free.

The soil beneath last years manure/pumpkin heap is absolutely brilliant. This is probably the best chance at success for crops that needs fine soil so here I sowed Scorzanera (is this the same as Salsify?) and red carrots.

The anemones in the perennial/fruit bed are adding a nice splash of colour.

Finally I dug up last years Dahlia thinking it would have thoroughly rotted after a harsh winter. But no, there were only a couple of mushy bits with the majority of the bulbs nice and firm. I replanted it towards the front of the allotment to make room for the onion sets.

Alpine Show+Spring Event= New Plants!

2013-04-22T20:57:00.000+02:00

This has been quite the busy weekend plant wise. Since I'm working on a concrete alpine planter (it curing at the moment) I thought it would be a good idea to visit the renowned alpine show and market at the botanical gardens in Utrecht. A hardened professional remarked to me that the selection was a bit thin this year but I did not notice and picked up as much as I could carry. First the alpines that may or may not go in my planter. My selection criteria were whether I thought they looked pretty/cool unhampered by any real expertise. These were all quite cheap 1.50 / 2.00 per tiny adorable plant.

First up Sedum reflexum cristatum, it is only about 2 cm high but it is seriously cute. I usually think sedum is a bit meh but I adore anything crested so this was an easy buy. If you google image search it you will see a lot of brainlike growth showing only the succulent leaves. I rather like how you see the stem here, a bit like my aeonium sunburst crest.

Talking about Aeoniums I picked up this little Aeonium Tabuliforme. Eventually this will form an immense saucer clinging tightly to the ground.

For my alpine planter I'm looking for cushion shaped alpines. This is Edraianthus pumilio which pleasingly blooms brilliant blue.

A Saxifraga would also go nicely in the planter and this cuty was already in bloom. Saxifraga Pubescens can form a brilliant cushion covered in white flowers.

Why not another little Primula? Primula Marginata is from the auricula group and I've been able to grow those quite well. As you can see I have more than enough plants to fill my new planter (which actually only has three biggish spots.

There were also a lot of hardy orchids on sale so I went for it and almost doubled my collection.

Cypripedium Formosana, which has brilliant fan shaped leaves and a weird dented cushion like flower.

A new Pleione Piton. The picture suggested it would bloom white. It was not very deeply rooted so I lifted it up and found a spot for it among my other Pleiones.

The last three are going to be interesting. They actually grow int the Netherlands even though they are rare. This is Neotinea ustulata or the burnt tip orchid and it might just flower this year (see the spike forming). For now I'm keeping them in their pots and I'll ask around for tips growing these at the next orchid society meeting.

This spotted number is a Orchis mascula.

And finally an Epipactis palustris which is apparently more common here. It should grow in the dunes so maybe I can spot them in the wild this year.

The final additions from the alpine market belong in the 'Lets Try Again' category. Plants I loved but died that deserve a second shot.

Meconopsis Lingholm, the blue poppy. These fell victim to the chickens. I have a white variety that is looking good this year but I really want the blue form as well.

While the earth is still bare I'll keep this little chicken protection system on top.

One stall was a lady selling fabulous succulents. I bought a Crassula Buddha's Temple. I have wanted this one for some time because of its brilliant symmetry.

A new Tylecodon wallichii, since my version died due to not observing it strict winter growing schedule. I also bought a little succulent Pelargonium but I forgot to photograph it.

There was also a renowned Hosta nursery represented.

Mum chose this Hosta Fragrant Surprise which should have naturally fragrant flowers.

Horseradish Galore

2013-04-21T21:09:00.000+02:00

The horseradish that I waterrooted is looking pretty good, and I am going to remove the little plantlets and finally plant them out.

I already removed 2 plants a couple of weeks earlier so in total this little piece of root gave me 5 separate plants. I could probably get more if I kept the root in water but 5 should be plenty.

Five little rooted horseradishes

I planted them in the permanent fruit and veg bed on the allotment. I am not too worried about it becoming invasive. One, I don't mind a good fat clump of this stuff. 2 I enjoy eating it a lot so it will need to suffer a lot of digging up some roots.

Agapanthus Blues

2013-04-18T00:20:00.001+02:00

I have not been a good girl protecting my Agapanthus 'Black Buddha this year. I just left it out shoved against the wall (very dry) and hoped it would be a mild winter. Well, it wasn't a mild winter and I was sure it had completely died. But no! I cleared up allot of the old dead foliage and saw that about a third of the plant was still alive.

Since a large part of the Agapanthus had rotted I bought a new one to fill out the pot for a proper display this year. I had the choice of two different Aggies, One was a named on with some lovely colour but it was a tiny tiny plant. So I decided to go with the unnamed ('blue') big healthy looking plant.

I ripped out as much mushy rhizome as I could. Next winter I will take better care of my Agapanthus, they are a stunning sight in high summer.

ps. I put a little new Pulsatilla in the front for the simple reason that I really really like Pulsatilla but they never come back for me.

New Aloe Polyphylla

2013-04-15T21:23:00.000+02:00

The horrible death by rot this winter of my large (i still have a tiny one) Aloe Polyphylla was one of my hardest losses. I has ordered both of them from http://succulent-tissue-culture.com/EN and they had grown nicely during the summer. However one tiny (really significantly very small) drop of water in the crown during dormancy proved quickly fatal. Imagine my surprise when I found this beauty at the garden centre. It was not named but by now I feel comfortable recognizing them. They are from www.ourchoiceplant.nl but the polyphylla is not listed on their website. Anyhow this one is about 50 percent cheaper than similar sized plants at a dutch nursery I spotted online so I am delighted with this find and immediately bought a nice shallow dish for it.

Here it is in its new home, in 50/50 cactus soil perlite. I guess I'll have to figure out a way to water it in winter without touching the leaves, maybe a funnel or something like that. The roots were not perfect I thought they were coming out of the pot but that was an illusion. Three quarters of the soil was filled with dead roots but there were still a couple of nice bright yellow roots and I don't think root growth should be a problem since my previous Polyphylla purchases came with almost no roots and rooted without a problem.

I can't decide whether it is bigger or smaller than my previous one. So I am using this hightly scientific method of counting the leaves. Here is the new one.

Give or take 20 fully developed leaves.

Strangely the new one feels larger, but the old one obviously had more leaves. I'll count the leaves again at the end of summer.

My other favorite Aloe, Aloe Plicatilis was still looking good in its old pot but I was not happy with how long it took for the soil to dry after watering. I still had some mix left from the Polyphylla so I decided to swap the mix. To my surprise the Plicatilis was actually rather pot bound so I gave it a larger pot to encourage more growth. Here in the picture you can see it is looking rather good and replumbed after being a bit dehydrated in winter. Left is the only surviving seedling which is struggling a bit but I think it might just get a bit of a growth spurt now it is back into the light.

Hardy Orchids: Disappointment and Delight

2013-04-14T16:26:00.001+02:00

The Cypripedium cryptically named 'White' ended up flowering much faster than I thought it would. I was hoping for either Cypripedium Reginae or Formosana (dude said it was probably Reginae grrrrrr) but alas it turned out to be something else. I'm not even sure what, maybe a particularly pale Kentucky? So yeah I was pretty disappointed, I really wanted one of the other two. It has been in flower for a week or so and I have mellowed a bit, it might not be the resplendent white Reginae or the deliciously weird Formosana but all in all it is still a pretty cool flower.

Walking past a florist I spotted this little beauty. I had never seen Calanthe, especially for sale at a florist for 10 euros. First of all it is a big big plant, with really cool flowers. The florist also had a darker more pinky purplish one, and said that colour is relatively rare. But I really love this colour, there is pink in there and a hint of blue tempered by some pale yellow. I'll have to do some research on how much protection (if any) it needs in winter but I'm glad to introduce it to my outside orchid selection.

See? This is one sophisticated colour palette.

I intended to buy some more terra cotta dishes to plant the new Cypripedium in. However the garden centre did not have any so as a sort of experiment I'm going to try these ArtStone dishes. These are lightweight recycled plastic planters with a little reservoir at the bottom. This should make watering quite a breeze, extra water will collect in the reservoir and if it gets too much it will overflow into the plug. I think this will be a good fit for many plants ensuring drainage while still having water available. Plus a good layer of water on the bottom might even help cooling the roots.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to find the little plug. If you want to keep the planters inside you just plug it back up again.

I bought two planters to start with (fairly cheap, certainly cheaper than terra cotta). I made up some somewhat improvised mix (orchid soil, garden soil, some moss and a good amount of perlite) and planted the 'White' Cypripedium and the Kentucky maxi. I can't wait till my other Cypripedium start flowering, shouldn't take long since spring seems to have finally sprung.

Epiphyllum Tower

2013-04-06T17:43:00.000+02:00

I got these Epiphyllum (and a another species) at the market late in May last year and all rooted really well and put on some growth. I thought it would be a good idea to use my little hangable pot tower for these since they have pendulant growth and don't mind being in quite small pots.

As you can see they have made good little root systems.

I am using a mix with about a third orchid mix (they are epiphytes after all) a third cactus soil and a third perlite. I can be quite an avid waterer so I don't worry about them drying out too much with such a well draining mix.

Here they are, the bottom two pots have two plants in them so I guess they might crowd up soon.

I will probably hang them underneath the rose when the weather permits. This way they get a good amount of sun.

I had some mix left so I decided to do some more repotting. Some because I expect them to grow a lot this year, others because I want them in terra cotta, and finally both my star Pachypodium Rosulatum and his idiot brother who refuses to thrive.

So, that looks better doesn't it?

Orchid Post

2013-04-04T15:21:00.000+02:00

I fell in love with Cypripediums last year and this month someone from Anthura ( which owns Garden Orchids) came by our Orchid circle to do a talk on tissue culture I was quite excited. The talk unfortunately was mostly on the company and how they clone Anthurium but he did bring a couple of trays of Cypripedium which we could buy with a nice discount. I have the Kentucky and Pueblo from their collection so I was looking to see which other variety he would bring.

I was hoping for Reginae and Parville, unfortunatly there was no Parville (which has adorable small multiple flowers) but there was Reginae. Though I should say... probably. For some reason they market Reginae, Reginae Alba and Formosana simply as Cypripedium White. By looking at it, Maurice (who did the talk) said, it was probably Reginae Alba though I would be just as happy with the other options. As you can see (it is the one on the right) it is already budding with two strong shoots. The only other Cypripedium they were selling that is not yet in my collection is Kentucky Maxi. I asked whether this was significantly different from normal Kentucky and the answer was that it is not only a bigger flower but also significantly stronger stems to prevent flopping over. What gets me really excited about this one is the amount of noses on this particular specimen. You can spot 6 on the photo but during transportation some of the medium fell out of the pot and I spotted at least 2 more noses hiding underneath. That is at least 8 noses on one plant which is just awesome. They come from a greenhouse and since it is still arctic winter here I'm keeping them inside until the weather mellows out a bit. I hope to find some more nice terracotta bowls for them soon.

Miraculously I also won pretty early on in the raffle so I got to pick out this huge Cattleya. It is funny because I only bought 4 tickets this time to save my money for the Cypripediums. Usually they have a couple of Catts and then some (pretty boring) oncidium and phalaenopsis so I'm glad I finally got a snag a Catt.

Finally my favourite garden centre Global Gardens had a little Orchid show so naturally I dropped by. The show was not that impressive unfortunately (just a lot of generic hybrids) apart from some cool Paphilopediums. However these were not only tres expensive but I also am not allowed to buy another until I get the bastards to rebloom. I ended up buying this Promenaea 'Sunlight'. I hadn't seen this before and am quite charmed by the way it grows (even if it needs to be put up on a pedestal of sorts).

Ulluco Resurrection

2013-03-31T15:43:00.001+02:00

Last year I attempted to grow Ulluco. The harvest however was dismal. I ended up with the same 5ish tubers that I started with. Now it might be this was because I started them so late (they were on sale at the seed company) so I just bunged said colorful marble like tubers in a plastic baggy and into the fridge. A couple of weeks ago I saw them again while looking for some particularly illusive white whine vinegar and though one or two had started to rot the others were sprouting. I quickly put these in a pot with some soil and put them under my growing table. Now a couple of weeks later they have sprouted and are even looking a little leggy. I guess I will put them somewhere brighter and once it will stop being so incredibly cold (really people? A white Easter ) I'll try them again and see whether a longer growing season might end up giving me a better return.

Straw Bale Experiment

2013-03-28T16:01:00.000+01:00

I had heard of planting in straw bales from around the web but after reading this article in the New York Times I decided to give it a go this year. The rhubarb patch which we inherited from the previous owner of the allotment proved to be too damaged to be rescued so it can be used for the bales this year. It is located very close to the water to make watering as easy as possible. I arranged the bales so that the straws are aligned vertically.

First I thoroughly wetted the straw with icy icy water. Then I sprinkled a fair amount (about 2 cups I guess) of lawn fertilizer on top and watered again. Now I will leave them alone for a couple of weeks just watering when i'm there.

Meanwhile mum busied herself with putting this cold frame together. You can't see it on the photos but it was not only bitterly cold but there was a ridiculous arctic wind blowing which made construction all the more complicated and quite frankly dangerous.

In the end we had to abandon this particular project to be continued on a less windy day.

Since the rhubarb patch is well... dead, I planted a new one far away from the original patch in case there was any rhubarb rust in the ground.

Finally even though spring has begun bitterly cold, the chive patch is looking rather fabulous.

It Is Still Soooo Cold

2013-03-24T22:34:00.001+01:00

Spring is keeping everybody waiting so there is not that much to do at the allotment at the moment. The soil is still so cold that sowing early veg is out of the question right now. As you can see it does need a proper clean up. The grass truly is the bane of my existence here growing absolutely everywhere.

The good news is that the broad beans and shallots planted in winter are showing and looking good no thanks to the horrendous weather.

The garlic patch too is looking good. All bar one row of 3 different garlic bulbs came up fine and I can't wait till I can start picking the first young bulbs. Last year garlic was one of my favorite crops so this time I decided to grow lots and lots of it.

Last years plum tree was pretty much dead on arrival. When the supermarket had these little fruit trees on sale I grabbed the green plum 'Reine Claude'. Hopefully this little plum tree will thrive here.

Next up I am going to put up a little cold frame and start my own little hay bale growing experiment.

Water Rooting Horseradish

2013-03-21T15:46:00.001+01:00

I'm really fond of eating horseradish so when I saw some fresh roots for sale I knew I was going to try and grow it. The usual method is to just plant the roots, and I did just that with two other bits but the other piece I submerged in water to see if it would root.

In a couple of weeks the submerged part of the root has sprouted several new little plants. The part of the root that was above water simply dried out. Pretty soon I will twist of the bigger start and keep them in water until they have a proper little root system before I plant them into soil.

Salmon with fresh horseradish creme fraiche here I come!

How To Prune Pachypodium Succulentum

2013-03-18T14:45:00.001+01:00

Last year I did a post on pruning Pachypodium Succulentum. However that was just a very mild prune just to see how the plant would react to a bit of a chop. It turned out that Pachypodium and indeed pruning it is quite high on my search term list. This year I am doing a very thorough prune including trying to propagate the plant via root cuttings. As you can see the top growth really has been getting thoroughly out of control. Realistically it is always going to be a bit lanky because there just isn't that much sunshine in the Netherlands.

Snap! With a very sharp and very clean pair of cutters I pruned back every single branch. As you can see I left a couple of centimetres on each branch (at least a couple of thorn pairs). From my previous pruning experiment I learned that it the new branches will sprout from these thorny bits and leaving a couple on means I have a bigger chance of a lot of new branches.

In this pic you can see a cut from last year and a fresh cut. I have dabbed all cuts with cinnamon to prevent any fungus problems.

Next up I took the whole plant out of the pot. The plant is from Ariane Cactus nurseries (their caudiciform plants are marketed as 'South African Pride' just like my Euphorbia Bupleurifolia and comes in the same gravely, pumice mix. The mix had hardened a lot and was quite difficult to get out of the pot. As you can see there was still a substantial bit of caudex underground and surprisingly few roots.

I feel quite confident in the regenerative abilities of this plant so I cut of a substantial piece of the tap root to experiment with some root cutting propagation. Again the cuts were covered in a bit of cinnamon.

This part is quite speculative but I the root in 7 portions. 1 is not pictured and substantially larger than these bits. These bits I dried for about a week (just like the whole plant which I just lay down on my plant table). The other bit I tried to root in water but I was getting worried about rot and I just pushed it into the soil of my plumeria.

I hope the bits of root did not dry out to much but I planted them up again in some barely moist substrate.

I thoroughly washed the substrate to leech out any harmful salts and added a good amount of pumice to lighten the mix up a bit. As you can see I raised the plant up substantially because I liked the look of the bifurcated caudex. At first I as afraid this would make the plant look too tall and skinny but I actually think the balance is a bit better now. Because there are so few roots holding it in place I am using a little pot to add some support until the roots have regrown properly.

Good Old Reliable Euphorbia Bupleurifolia

2013-03-16T16:35:00.000+01:00

I am loving how easy Euphorbia Bupleurifolia is to take care of. In winter I stopped giving any water, and when I was comfortable that it was completely dry I put it away a bit close to a window so there would be some light at least. Last week I finally took a look at it and it was looking a bit deflated. Days are getting steadily longer so I thought it might be time to wake it up. I gave a small amount of water just enough to darken the pumice a bit. And look!

It has plumped up again and is starting to push out some leaves. Really as long as you are happy keeping it completely dry in winter than this really is much easier to look after than some others might suggest.

Cactus Babies

2013-03-13T13:08:00.000+01:00

My cactus seedlings are just shy of a year old. (post on sowing them and germination post) They have been living with some rather harsh circumstances (really letting them dry out and the occasional flooding) but quite a lot of them have survived. This survival of the fittest regime will make sure the surviving seedlings are genetic winners. The seed came from a mixed cactus packet from a botanical garden in Italy. Now I need the propagator to start other seed this spring so I am planting them out in a pot.

They are still quite closely packed but the roots can now run much deeper and I know how slow these will grow so this way the won't take up too much space. The mix drains very easily and the top layer even more so, because of this I will probably have to water them a bit more often until they are properly established.

Lets not forget the lonely Pachypodium Geayi seedling. My older seedlings died last winter from rot so I am happy to have this one. Pachypodium Geayi will be even more happy than the cactus seedlings with a deeper pot for its root system.

It is cool to see how many different cacti there are among the seedlings. I suck at identifying cactus and I suppose it is still too early anyways but here are a couple of close up shots to show how different they all are

Planting Pleione

2013-03-11T21:30:00.000+01:00

Last December I put my three Pleione bulbs in a plastic baggie and straight into to refrigerator. Now should be a good time to get them out and plant them up again. The picture above shows that Pleione Cairngorm is ready to go.

I filled this pot with some fine orchid mix and some extra moss I had laying around. On top of that I filled half this pot with broken shards to provide optimal drainage. This should provide the Pleiones with a moisture retentive soil without ever becoming soggy.

Here they are in their new pot. In the back Pleione Cairngorm, in front the pink tinged bulb is Pleione Formosana and on the left Pleione Hanka. I'm going to keep them inside for now and they should make a nice flower display in a couple of weeks (maybe a bit more). I am hoping that they will form some bulbils this year. I didn't find any when I emptied them out of their pot in winter. Perhaps I missed them because new bulbils tend to be very small. I might even store this whole pot in winter so no bulbils will be thrown away accidentally.

Protea Project

2013-03-09T17:43:00.000+01:00

My parents have come home from their vacation in South Africa and brought me some seeds to try out. I have quite an affinity with South African flora and the artichoke like flowers of the Protea family are very charming. I have a packet of mixed Leucadendron, Protea Eximia and Protea Neriifolia. These particular Protea are known to be relatively easy to grow.

The fluffy seeds seen here are the Protea seed and the black seeds are the Leucadendron mix. In their natural habitat they germinate following the fires that occasionally rage in the fynbos. I don't have any smoke primers and I havn't had any success with burning some pine needles on top of some other SA seeds I once tried so I am taking a gamble and planting them without any smokey preparation. I'm planting them in pots that should be big enough to handle a year of growth. I'm using regular seed starter soil because it is both quite sandy and low in nutrients which the Protea like. If enough of these germinate I might experiment a bit with their hardiness and I might even plant out one or two in a well drained acidic spot. They can handle a bit of frost but not much so I will need to think a bit on what protection to use. First things first though; germination.

One Sunny Day

2013-03-08T15:20:00.000+01:00

It is that special time of year when the tentative first signs of spring start appearing. Crocus and Snowdrops are providing a taster of the flowers to come and the birds are beginning to sing. Inside I started the peppers, chillis and tomatoes. And lo! The first warm and sunny day has arrived. I can never resist getting a couple of my succulents outside to soak up some much needed sun.

It is still months away before they can be left outside off course nevertheless a little bit of sunshine will do them good. The sun is not yet strong enough to burn them and this way they get re accustomed to her rays.

The Aeoniums in particular seem to immediately change colour. Schwarzkopf especially is noticeably darker a couple of hours in. Aeonium sunburst cristata will begin to show its pink stripes.

Aloe plicatilis and Aloe polyphylla have lost a lot of their gel and their leaves are thin instead of plump. But with a bit of water and sunshine they should plump right up again.

Unfortunately this taster of spring will end tomorrow when a cold front will drop down from Scandinavia and bring the frost and snow. Hopefully spring will be right around the corner because this little taster has proven irresistible.

Planting Out My Tree Fern

2013-02-27T20:12:00.000+01:00

Today was a nice sunny day and my fingers were itching to do something in the garden. The ground has thoroughly thawed and the ice on the pond has melted so I decided to finally plant out my Dicksonia Antarctica. Granted she is looking a bit rough. It hasn't been much colder than last year but it has been dryer and more windy which accounts for the desiccation of most of the foliage. I had the plant protected with straw all around the little stem held together by some cardboard. Since I am not anticipating any truly hard frost so I removed the outer layer of straw and just kept the straw that is covering the crown.

As you can see two years in this pot has left it severely pot bound. The fibrous roots are impossible to tease apart in any way shape or form so I am not going to bother. I trust the roots will fan out in search of moisture by their selves.

This is the spot where it is going. Last summer my extremely beloved Japanese Acer succomed so some nasty fungus. We have been having some drainage problems of late which the poor little tree just couldn't handle. As you can see we have installed a new gutter to try and remove some of the excess water. I have good hope the tree fern will be much better suited to deal with a little bit of extra water. I was a bit concerned about their hardiness but I have had her outside for the last two winters with the same protection I can give it when she is in the ground.

Digging the hole was a bit tricky since the lighting cables run through this bit but eventually it fitted. It doesn't look like much yet but I hope the increased space will accelerate growth a bit. When the crown starts shooting up new fronds I'll begin to remove the damaged foliage and it should be back to looking like the glorious plant it is.

Edit: This was stupid, now it's dead. Damn you unpredictable Spring weather.

Wake Up

2013-02-17T17:13:00.000+01:00

It is that frustrating point in the year where it is still unmistakably winter but there are some flickers of spring to come. After close examination you can find little signs of life and unfortunately some death as well. On top is a bud of one of my Cypripediums, the flowers I am most excited for and I am happy that the plant seems alive and well, though I hope this is not the only bud.

This one already has four buds but here I am also hoping for a couple more. If there is going to be some more considerable frost I intend to cover these with a couple of leaves just to be on the save side.

Aquilegia 'Black Barlow' is pushing out new foliage. I really love this flower but I think after this year I will move this one because it grows so so big, overshadowing some of my other gems.

All the plants on the north wall have done exceedingly well (original post here). Especially the Clematis Armandii has been a big success so far. It has grown immensely and stayed green even though there have been periods of hard frost. Now it is bursting with these buds.

The white Meconopsis seems to have survived so far as well the bud is tight and solid. I have some hope I will finally get a Meconopsis flower this year even if it isn't the blue I so desire.

Unfortunately I have managed to kill yet another Meconopsis. Meconopsis Napaulensis looked OK only a couple of months ago but on closer exception the crown had rotted and the roots pictured have turned to mush.

All in all some encouraging news and I for one can't wait for spring.

Crocus Time Lapse

2013-02-16T20:09:00.001+01:00

Slowly things are awakening so I hope I can write a non Time Lapse post soon. However I think this is my best one yet. Lovely marbled crocus.

Snowdrop Timelapse

2013-02-10T15:45:00.000+01:00

Spring is slowly approaching and the snowdrops are pushing their way through the fresh snow. Here is a little Time Lapse vid of an opening snowdrop that I made.