Flowering now May 2007

[Ewelina Wajgert]

Luc, you don't need to go to Prague. You have beutifulest in your garden

[Paddy Tobin]

Luc,

Wonderful garden, absolutely beautiful. You obviously spend a great amount of time in it as it seems so well planned, built and maintained with the lovliest of plants and flowers.

As with Maggi, that red tulip certainly caught my eye. It is a stunner. Also building against the wall strikes me as a most unusual thing to do - from the point of view of the danger it might bring to the fabric of the building.

Well done on an excellent garden and thanks for showing it to us.

Paddy

[Lesley Cox]

Great pictures Luc. I shall expect to see Gentiana depressa in there in a couple of years

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Thanks for the nice compliments everybody, part of them should also go to my spouse and fellow gardener Rita who is a master in keeping things nice and tidy in the garden !

Maggi and Paddy,
I had seen a similar construction long time ago and found it a good way to add some "height" in the rock garden.  I fixed a wooden framework against the wall and then fixed the plates against the framework.  As such there's about 1" space between the wall and the plates that protect it from the (possibly) wet soil.  It is also facing East and as most of our rain comes from the West, the part closest to the wall is fairly dry.  Despite the fact thaét it faces East I call it (slightly exagerated) my 'Eiger Nordwand'... 
So far, no problems with the wall...

Ewelina, very nice to say so... but I wouldn't mind a visit to Prague anyway...

I do share your hope Lesley, but I think I know that the marvelous G. depressa is not all that easy to grow... I wonder if I'll manage to give it a home to its liking.

[Paddy Tobin]

As ever Luc, behind every good man there is a good woman.

I recall reading a number of years ago an account of a farewell dinner for the President of the British Allotment Association. He was asked to impart what he considered the best advice for any gardener. His reply went, 'No man should take on a garden bigger than his wife can handle'.

Good advice, which I have followed diligently over the years.

Your gardening team certainly seems to be working very well. My compliments.

Paddy

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Thanks Paddy - I shall transmit the compliments to my other half !

[Anthony Darby]

Not exactly flowering now, but I spotted this when digging out a variegated ivy from a half barrel. Dormant buds of Orobanche hederae attached to the ivy roots.

[Paddy Tobin]

Anthony,

What an unusual one. Did you plant it or did it come in on the ivy?

Paddy

[Anthony Darby]

Several years ago I bought some seed and sprinkled it on an ivy plant in the garden. I think the first flowers appeared three years later. Since then it has popped up wherever I have ivy. It is even appearing in neighbours' gardens (oops ). I probably sprinkled some second generation seed onto the ivy in the barrel a couple of years ago? The seed is like dust so it could easily have blown there?

[gmoen]

Hi again folks

To day I am posting just one picture. It's a nice little Primula flowering in my scree (wet part). I grow this as Primula grignensis. But in John Richards book I can see that he think this might be a form of P. hirsuta (P. hirsuta ssp. grignensis?), and not a separate species. Can someone out there please help me with the correct name for this species.

[Mark Griffiths]

A couple of Silenes from seed. First up S. hookerii ssp hookerii from Archibald seed. This is the second year of flowering, some variation in the flowers, more so in the habit (even more so now the snails and slugs got to them in the greenhouse). Then S. hookerii pulvinata from AGS seed (yes really).

Finally, rather off topic but may interest some, the caterpillar of the Scarlet Tiger that relieved me of the need to strim the nettle patch just outside of the garden wall. Funny thing is I've searched for these t known haunts for several years running and here it is literally on my doorstep!

[Paddy Tobin]

So Mark,

Will you set about introducing a few good patches of nettles into the garden now?

Paddy

[Paddy Tobin]

Mark,

The silenes are very good indeed. Keep the caterpillar at the other side of the garden wall, I think.

Paddy

[Mark Griffiths]

Well I already have a couple of patches. One by the frame was very popular with the comma caterpillars last year!

[Anthony Darby]

That's a tremendous pic of a Scarlet Tiger (Callimorpha dominula) caterpillar Mark. I've not seen a Scarlet Tiger moth since I used to go on holiday in the South. It's not found in Scotland. An individual Comma (Polygonia c-album), however, was spotted, and photograpphed, by two people last summer on Sheriffmuir, up the hill from me, which is amazing.