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

[tonyg]

Remind me, Tony... why did you decide to get rid of that glass house?

It has taken me twenty years to finally do the evil deed Maggi!  When we first moved in it looked quite derelict and I mooted the idea of removing it only to be sternly rebuked by a local AGS stalwart!  Cleaned up and with plunge and bulb bed installed it did service for a while.  However it had very little ventillation, was steel, concreted into the ground with glass held in by putty and a few clips.  When children came along my 'care routine' kind of shifted indoors and I suffered losses in this greenhouse because it got so hot so quickly.  In truth in the last 10 years the only things in it have been Cyclamen graecum and a few bulbs. 

A couple of years ago we built our second extension which left Ruth's bedroom windows about 6 feet from the greenhouse.  It just was not in the right place.   If it could have been moved I would have moved it but age had corroded the bolts where it was bolted together (and it was made in a small number of big, welded pieces).  Being concreted in around the edges, combined with the considerable weight, made lifting it whole impossible (and it would not have fitted through the gate!)

So, reluctantly, as we want to re-model all of that side of the garden, I accepted that it had to go.  I already like the sense of space that we now have at this end of the garden, and that even despite our mini-everest rockpile.  I do have plans to add extra cold frames (Access type) around the other (larger) greenhouse, so it's not all doom and gloom on the greenhouse front.  One of the hardest lessons for me to learn has been to make my plans fit the time I have available .... hopefully there will be a little more time in the next few years than there has been in the past few

[Maggi Young]

Thanks Tony.... I'm sure you have made the right choice.
Open space near the house always seems luxurious.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

I'm not a fan of "reality telivision".... this is sooo much better !!! 

[tonyg]

More progress on The Grand Plan this week.  Never mind the cold, when you are working this hard you generate your own central heating!

Space ...  but not yet the Final Frontier!

The same view as before - still cluttered.  Well you cannot have everything!  BTW the washing rotary line was not made for midgets .... it rusted through at ground level and the current compromise is 'ram what's left into the hole and hope.'

Cycalemn coum proving its worth again.

[tonyg]

No progress to report on the Grand Plan.  We are at the stone choosing stage for the 'patio' area.  York riven or Natural Sandstone?  Any suggestions gratefully received.

Sunshine today, warm too.  Hopefully not the start of another long, hot, dry Spring.  Last year was not good for alpines and bulbs here.

A couple of crocus shots from the garden today.

Crocus cvijicii which I am trying in the open garden for the first time.  And a happy pollinator at work.  (I could have shown you lots of aphids who are also appreciating the warmth   Look closely on the C cvijicii for a start.

[angie]

No progress to report on the Grand Plan.  We are at the stone choosing stage for the 'patio' area.  York riven or Natural Sandstone?  Any suggestions gratefully received.

Tony nice crocus pictures.
I have Indian sandstone on one of my patio areas, not very happy with it. It gets very slippy and lots of bits have flaked away. Maybe it ok down south where it doesn't get such a hard frost on it.

Angie 

[tonyg]

One month later!  (2 weeks written off when Jacinta struck down with flu)

Electricity in the greenhouse.  Not seen since it was moved almost exactly 15 years ago.  Power also to the site of the new outdoor dining/seating area.  A whole days work for a nifty electrician.  (A weeks wages for me  )  Builder coming to quote for laying stone tomorrow.  Will it be done for our 20th Wedding Anniversary which is in one months time? 

Pulsatilla vulgaris coming into flower as the last crocus fade.  Spring!

[mark smyth]

I'd like to get electricity in to my greenhouse also

[angie]

One month later!  (2 weeks written off when Jacinta struck down with flu)

Builder coming to quote for laying stone tomorrow.  Will it be done for our 20th Wedding Anniversary which is in one months time? 

Off course it will be done. Then you can sit there in comfort and wine and dine your wife. Looking forward to see the table set for the evening dinning by candle light or electric now that you have electric power to your new patio area 

Its my 30th wedding anniversary on the 31st of March and hubby said last night I have booked a meal out for us on Friday night. I replied it wouldn't happen to be at the Carron restaurant, his reply was yes. I then said it wouldn't be because I got £100 voucher from my niece at Christmas time for that same restaurant. He said he had forgot all about that  .
Any way as long as he doesn't forget my expensive chocolates I don't mind  ( 3 bags of white chocolate buttons for £1 ) heaven 

Angie 

[Peter Maguire]

Nice to see that your husband's saving some money so that you can buy more plants. 

[Lesley Cox]

Don't let him give you golf balls as a pressie Angie.

[fermi de Sousa]

Don't let him give you golf balls as a pressie Angie.

I know what Angie would be serving up to him if he did!
cheers
fermi

[angie]

Don't let him give you golf balls as a pressie Angie.

I know what Angie would be serving up to him if he did!
cheers
fermi

You know me to well 

Angie 

[Lina Hesseling]

Don't let him give you golf balls as a pressie Angie.

I know what Angie would be serving up to him if he did!
cheers
fermi
[/quote]

Chocolate, maybe?

Lina.

[tonyg]

What a difference a day makes.  The two pics of Iris bucharica  were taken 24 hours  apart.  In the warm weather  the flowers develop apace.  The pictures are of a clump in thefront garden, also pictured to show how it has 'greened up' since 2011.  The clump of iris has declined significantly since last year.  I think this is due in part to the very hot spring last year.  All the bulbs were dried crisp by the end of April, a shortened growing season leading to reduced size and strength of flowering in 2012.  Iris bucharica flowering late in the bulb season seems to have suffered more than most, perhaps also due to the cool, damp summer which followed the drought last spring.

Final shot is of a tray of cuttings and seedlings.  The cuttings are the few survivors from late cuttings last summer which sat in the pumice rooting medium until last week, notable are two Dionysia aretioides.  The seedlings are the first from 2012 exchange seed, growing so fast they'll likely make a good weed!