Tag: perennial

New butterfly in the garden….

15/09/2016
Buddleia

I collected this little fella as a caterpillar a few weeks ago. He was around for a few days then turned into a pupa. Ten days later this gorgeous creature emerged from it’s chrysalis and we released it in the garden, on to the buddleia. Firstly I could not believe that it didn’t fly off straight away, then what came next was quite incredible……

Buy a beautiful buddleia plant to attract many different butterflies to your garden!

Buy before 12th October 2016 and  save 50% – Buddleja Plant – Flutterby Peace  – A beautiful much more compact and dwarf version of the butterfly bush, ideal for smaller spaces and even large patio pots. Stunning panicle flowers that attract beautiful butterflies and buzzing bees throughout the summer months!

Butterflies in the garden…

23/08/2016
Buddleia

My buddleia cuttings from last year have done really well and this is the exact reason I wanted buddleia…

ST on buddleia

Today there were at least 10 Small Tortoiseshell butterflies and a couple of Wall butterflies on the lavender.

First Crocus..

08/03/2016
Crocus

..of the year, from bulbs planted last autumn. What a beauty!!

First Crocus

New Chrysanthemum

03/11/2015
Chrysanthemum

Yesterday we bought a beautiful Chrysanthemum Morifolium for just 3€, it’s a gorgeous colour and is full of blooms:

Chrysanthemum

It is now planted and the flowerbed looks like this….

Flowerbed151104

Not bad for just over 4 months old. I know it’s messy with all the leaves, but there are still lots to fall off the trees, so there seems little point in clearing it all until they have all gone.

Fuchsia Cuttings

22/10/2015
Fuchsia

These fuchsias are beautiful! They come up every year in our friends garden, so yesterday she gave me some cuttings. I took photos first so that I would remember what they are and to discover their name:

Fuchsia1

I then trimmed 4 stems into approx. 10cm lengths and stripped off all the flowers, buds and just left 4/5 leaves per cutting. Placing them in small pots to fit in the propagator tray, I used my seed/cutting compost and watered well. (Removing any excess water from the tray.)

Fuchsia Cuttings

I then labelled the tray and put the clear plastic lid on. They will be kept moist and stored indoors in an unheated room. Fingers crossed, as I have no idea if they will take at this time of year. (It is incredibly mild for October though!)

Sowed my first seeds!

18/10/2015
Sweet Peas

I planted my first ever seeds today! Two types of Sweet Peas, I don’t know what varieties they are, but I do know they are perennials, one pale pink (SP1) the other bright pink/purple (SP2). They are from a very good friend who gave me lots of pods (which explode quite violently when the seeds are ready). I was watching Gardeners World a couple of weeks ago and Monty said that you could plant sweet peas this early and over-winter the plants ready to planted out in the spring. So I couldn’t wait, here goes…..

I planted 2 seeds in each pot / 4 pots of each variety (2 in trays and 2 in 6 cm vitapots just to experiment)

Sweet Peas SP1Sweet Peas SP2Sweet Pea pots

I filled the pots with seed compost almost to the top, then sat them in trays and watered them. The soil dropped quite a bit, I poured away the excess water in the trays. The seeds needed to be planted 1cm deep and so I placed the seeds on the soil and then filled the pots to the top (which was 1cm)! They will be stored  in a cold room in the house in front of a south facing window. They have lids on the propagator trays to retain the moisture. Germination time is 30 – 90 days 13C – 18C.

Planted 85 bulbs today!

27/09/2015
AlliumAnemoneCrocusDaffodilsGeneralTree FlowerbedTulips

We bought 85 bulbs from Lidl a couple of weeks ago, with daffs, crocus, allium, tulips, anemone and grape hyacinth:

 

I nearly didn’t get them as I knew there wasn’t room in the flowerbed! But we decided that the area around the old poplar stump was a good place for the new editions. I dug over the area (a couple of days ago) to get rid of weeds and roots. I then dug in some horse manure, planted 2 clusters of grasses and marked out the places for the bulbs.

Today I planted all 85 bulbs – knackered but it’s worth it! Tulips and Anemones in the flower bed and the rest in the tree flowerbed.

Tree Flowerbed1

Tree Flowerbed2

It doesn’t look much at the moment but at least it is tidier than it used to be and has a purpose now!

The primroses are wild and just sprouted up at the beginning of the year, so they are staying!

I have labelled the bulbs in the flowerbed as I don’t want to be weeding the wrong things:

A – Anemones
A1 – Allium Moly
A2 – Allium Oreophilum
T – Tulip

Fuchsia Cuttings (de Groots Dream?)

28/06/2015
Fuchsia

I acquired a stem of De Groots Dream (well after much research I think it is?) fuchsia today. I know it grows into a huge bush, is deciduous and these are the flowers:Fuchsia dGD2

I divided the stem into 6 cuttings and pretty much did the same as the buddleia cuttings a few days ago.

This photo was taken 1 week later, I can’t believe how well they are all doing!!

Fuchsia dGD1

First Cuttings!

25/06/2015
Buddleia

I have never taken cuttings before so here goes…. The first are buddleia (white), from our good friends, I planted these on the 19/06/2015:

Buddleia1

I looked up online what you need for cuttings ie. compost for cuttings, root hormone powder, cold frame/greenhouse. It’s a no to all of those!! So I put some soil from the garden in to some pots I had in the garage, placed them in a large pot which was half full of old soil (from grasses that had died off) in a sheltered and shaded part of the garden. Watered them well and crossed my fingers. The above photo is taken just over 2 weeks from planting and I’ve only lost one, not bad! It has been warm and I am watering them twice a day if it doesn’t rain.

 

First new plants!

23/06/2015
AnthemisAsterCoreopsisMarigold

The purpose of our new flowerbed is to give me a new hobby by collecting seeds and taking cuttings to fill the bed and make it look pretty! But we have given ourselves a start by buying 4 plants today and a bag of horse manure too. These are pretty crappy photos but it is just for info:

Anthemis1Aster1Coreopsis1

Aztec Marigold1

We bought an Anthemis, Aster, Coreopsis and Aztec Marigold! I know nothing about any of these plants, we just took a chance!