Making the Best of It... (Was 'Blog from an Untidy Garden')

[tonyg]

The little pulsatilla seedling is just in flower ... but the first flower has been beaten up by a hailstorm at the weekend.  The picture below is of another plant, a few feet away which fared better.  I'll return to the little one in future, there are other buds developing.  In flower in the last couple of weeks, Corydalis malkensis, white, which seeds around gently but widely.  I think the seeds must be flung away from the parent plant when the narrow pods burst open.  They occur in odd places not as a distinct colony.  Corydalis solida has not yet seeded in for me.  Here the pale pink one is 'Beth Evans'.  In the greenhouse the dionysias are still looking good.  The third 'survivor' here is Dionysia tapetodes.

[Ragged Robin]

Lovely to see your garden welcoming Spring Tony..... I will watch with interest as to how your Corydalis spreads ; it's a plant that I have only just started appreciating here in the wild, the meadows are full of Corydalis solida!  Is your Pulsatilla seedling from last year?

[tonyg]

The larger plant is 2 or perhaps three years old.  There will be about twenty flowers in all.  I'll try and get a picture of it at its best.  Here is a shot of the 'baby' just now, another plant in bud and a different self sown plant from a previous year, this one would be 3 or 4 years old.  There are others developing, flowers for a month or so ... and then the lovely seed heads.   I can bring some fresh seed with me in August but perhaps you should try and introduce the native species from seed.  Sown fresh it germinates quickly, as you can see it establishes well from open ground sowing!  My free draining, sandy soil suits pulsatillas well, your slope must drain quickly too.

[Ragged Robin]

Wonderful!  Great photos of it at different stages! Thanks 

[angie]

Lovely seeing your Pulsatilla flowering, mine are still tight budded but cant blame them its raining out there again. I only planted them last year so hopefully they will bulk up.
Angie

[tonyg]

A quick look at the greenhouse today.  Warm, sunny and windy, things dry out fast in these conditions from now until late autumn.  Almost time to start shading.  Here is how it looks without its summer clothes.

The alignment is almost North-South.  The west side bench, close to the boundary fence is more shaded but as the east side is very open round to the south aspect, the whole gets full light for a good part of the day.  Under the east side bench where it is quite well lit, young bulbs and cyclamen abound.  I also keep an area under here free where the less hardy items from above can be placed in severe winter weather.  The glass is removed around the sides at bench height (except 1 pane where dionysias live!) to give the best ventillation.  It has been like this for 12 years without a problem.  I know that others will flinch at the thought of 'weakening' a greenhouse in this way.  However, my greenhouse is sheltered from the worst of the wind by buildings and trees.  There is also glass taken out down to ground level at the south end.  The wind blows through, it will never have no escape.  I have another greenhouse, much older, with a door and just one vent.  Many years ago I accidentally left the door partly open in a storm and the wind blew several panes out of the roof as it had no way out!  I use no heat ... not much point with all that glass missing!  'Grow them hard' is my approach, although our winter lows are moderated by being only 20 miles from the sea. 

[angie]

Looks fantastic and so many young plants, great to see
Angie

[Ragged Robin]

Gosh Tony you've got your hands full with all those young plants to look after  

Do you have a watering system or just use a can?

When do you expose your Cyclamen to more light?

The Cyclamen seeds that Thomas sent me have geminated but are very wee and I put them outside every day in part sun - should they stay in shade?

[tonyg]

Not so difficult really - all the 'weans' - the secret is growing a lot of things that need similar treatment.  And the bulbs I grow are almost exclusively winter growers so nothing happens too quickly.  In summer's heat they are dormant and when all those bedding plants need constant monitoring I can put me feet up  

I use a watering can with fine rose plus a hose when everything needs a good soak.  As the weather warms up (now) I have to keep a close eye on things.  The plants are in full growth and need plenty of water.  As the foliage begins to yellow I will switch to a smaller watering can with a narrow spout.  This way I can water those that need it but give the ones with yellow leaves a miss.  Too much water, especially in plastic pots when the plants are dying back can lead to rot, especially in a warm greenhouse.

The cyclamen under the bench stay there all year.  Many are C repandum which generally needs a semi-shady site.  I am planning to plant some out this year ... in the new semi-shady bed that I am working on.  The other cyclamen (alpinum, cilicium, mirabile, coum, hederifolium, graecum) need some sun although coum wouold not want too much under glass this far south.  (Ian Y needs to maximise sun/warmth to get good flowering in Aberdeen though).

Your seedlings need to be kept growing as long as possible, so avoid too much sun.  The longer they keep their leaves the bigger the baby tuber will be.  When they are mature I'd guess that a semi-shaded position wil be fine in your area.  It sound like you are doing OK.  

[tonyg]

A few pictures from the raised bed near the back of the house.  The main subjects are the ladybirds who are present in large numbers following last summers’ extraordinary visitation!   The ‘plague’ made local TV news as some parts of North Norfolk were almost coated in ladybirds on a few warm early summer days.  Here in Norwich I saw far more in the garden than ever before.  Working outside over the winter I often uncovered overwintering ladybirds.  Now they are warming themselves in the sun, here on the slate and timber of the raised bed.  Is the spider predatory?  Perhaps one of our bug-buffs can tell us.  Hopefully we will continue to see plenty of ladybirds this summer. 

Also in the raised bed are two forms of Primula elatior.  The more dwarf and floriferous one is from seed collected high in the Pyrenees and donated to the AGS seed exchange.  I have seen this plant in flower in the Cirque de Gavarnie so it has special memories for me.

And finally the last crocus in flower here is this special form of Crocus minimus.  Seed raised it has both very dark outer petals and a white style.  A special crocus to end a good spring flowering.  Seed pods are appearing  ... just hope it stays cool enough for long enough to ensure they all mature ... and not until after our Easter hols trip to Wales next week.

[Ragged Robin]

Tony, your inclusiveness in the way you talk about your methods is great and I am already addicted to this Blog about your garden....there are so many crumbs and soon slices of cake I imagine 

Love your photographs of the ladybirds

A Beautiful form of Primula elatior and very special Crocus 

[tonyg]

Tony, your inclusiveness in the way you talk about your methods is great and I am already addicted to this Blog about your garden....there are so many crumbs and soon slices of cake I imagine 

Your wish is my command!

 

But soon there will only be a few crumbs left 

[Ragged Robin]

 

[Maggi Young]

Darn! I missed the cake........

[tonyg]

Darn! I missed the cake........

Send Ian down with an empty plastic tub when he comes .... you never know your luck

... We'll make another .... that last slice will have found a good home by then.