Saturday 7 April 2018

. . . we have lift off



Time for another Six on Saturday.  For me, that means six things in the garden that grabbed my attention sometime during the week, not necessarily on Saturday.

For the proper way to do Six, run over to The Propagator who not only has guidelines, but links in his comment section to all sorts of other Six on Saturday bloggers.


At last.


So, on with my week.

At long last, the rains have ended.  Or taken a break.

Yes, it's true.  We have sun.

<= <= <= Unlike Mr BigNose, we couldn't spend the week basking in its glory.

Work awaited us.  And OAP Fairies.



1.  Keeping up appearances.

You may remember that an OAP Fairy Person lives next door.  Once the sun came out, she mentioned some of our neighbours use a lawn mowing service.

Now me, I like a bit of a length to my lawn, enough to let the dead nettle & escapee grape hyacinth & teeny lawn daisies flower.


The Butcher of Lanfranc.

But it never pays to cross the Good People.  Mow my lawn?  Indeed I did.


2.  Feed the trees.

The potted forest began to wake up after the Beast, & its rumbling belly could be heard inside the house.  Fairy Person appeased, it was on to feeding & repotting.

New big pots.

Like someone with a dozen chillen, I use the hand-me-down method - buy a few new pots & hand down the old ones to the smaller denizens.


Oak planted by a squirrel 4 gardens ago.

The oak tree's pot'll go to the rhododendron.


3.  More daffs.

Last year, I got free daffodil bulbs for buying something else that I didn't need.  I was tickled pink when my first daffodils opened last week.

But this week . . . well, just look at this fascinating thing.  White petals on the outside, then a layer of yellow petals, & finally a tight ball of white on the inside.

Surprise beauty in the crooked cherry tree's pot.

The next day, it unfurled all of itself.

Look at that face. Not Mlle Doodle. The daff!

Can't really count the layers in there, but I'm quite liking it.


4.  I forgot about these.

While gadding about the garden, I noticed some speckled leaves in a pot shoved onto the terrace.


Well, hello there!

Fortunately when I planted them last year, I also tucked the label inside the pot.


White dog tooth violets, o my!

How many weeks you reckon before they open up?


5.  Spider's web Fatsia.

After all these lovely finds, I got enough courage to cut back the Beast damage on the fatsia.


Looking a bit bare.

As Fred the French Gardener predicted, there's new growth on the stem, including something quite charming.


Little white leaf.

This is my first spider's web fatsia, so I don't know why this happened.  Think I'll take it as a good omen for the growing season.


6.  Germination.

With our move, I decided not to do seeds this year, but couldn't find everything I wanted as plugs.  Even in years we don't move, I've learned not to plant seeds before April.  This was the week the germination factory got up & running.


Germination factory.

And Houston, we got lift off.


Peek-a-boo pea.

Which rounds up my Six for this week.


Time to put my feet up.


So isn't it time for you to join this blathery of gardening bloggers?

Yes, you can still do it this week.  Out you go, take your six snaps & post a link.  We'll be very glad you did.

See you next week!


22 comments:

  1. That's an incredible looking daffodil, I never realised they could look quite that fancy - kind of puts the mini daffs sitting on my windowsill to shame!

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    1. Love your daffs, Paddy. It's a different type of beauty, is all. When you see those little daffs, their tiny yellow faces, don't they make you all smiley inside? In fact, I was thinking that w/my daff, you'd only want a few in the garden surrounded by other more simple designs to give variety.

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  2. Old fairy is trying to be your friend. Show her some appreciation by buying her a little present, like http://bit.ly/2uVAwN2. Tell her you've sown them all over the place in your garden. Spiders web leaves are green speckled white to varying degrees; occasionally you get an almost completely green leaf or completely white one. As the leaf grows and ages, more green will most likely appear on it.

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    1. She strikes me as someone who had a career in education. Wonder if I should tell her I'm a lost cause.

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  3. Original this daffodil! Beautiful colors .... About your Fatsia, I'm happy to see its new growth ... I hope I'm not mistaken.
    You're lucky that these seeds have sprouted... with this skull, they could have been afraid ...��

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    1. The skulls were incentive - germinate or die! As to my fatsia, of course you're right, Fred.

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  4. Lovely, lovely daffodil! You are right about waiting to sow seeds, but I couldn't resist so now my greenhouse is bursting and I have to admit some of the inhabitants are more than a little leggy.

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    1. That's the same problem I'd have, then I'd be worrying things would die before I could get them out. So much less stress, waiting until April. Then it's all go go go!

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  5. Good things come to those who wait Lora. I find the 'Just in time' method quite illuminating and often the things you really don't want or need don't get sown and you don't miss them!

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  6. The dog tooth violet leaves are so beautiful! We have some growing wild in a corner of the yard, and it is a sweet surprise to find them every year. Are your pea seedlings the flowering or edible sort? (or are they one in the same - I'm not sure) I'd like to try some, as I understand that they can be planted out early.

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    1. My peas are edible. They can be planted directly out, except that critturs like to eat the seeds, so I start them indoors & move the plants out later.

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  7. Very beautiful daffodil, and I’m looking forward to seeing the dog tooth violet in flower when it happens. It isn’t a plant I’m familiar with.

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  8. Why are gardeners so thrifty? Are there devil may care, buy, buy,buy gardeners out there who throw away stuff left right and centre? if so, you don't get them on The Propagator website. There is something about nature not really wasting anything, I think.

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    1. We're thrifty because we spend our money on seeds & new plants & that really fantastic tree & . . . but yes, nature doesn't waste anything. Makes sense that not-wasting'd be a side effect of gardening.

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    2. I agree with you. Nature does not waste. Also, the more one gardens, the more one realises the awful impact our consumption is having on her.

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  9. Your daff is lovely. All this potting on is so exciting. Like children going up a year in school.

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  10. I like your seed factory. Looks very compact.

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    1. They germinate quickly in there, too, so lots of turnover in the boxes.

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    2. I love that seed factory. It is genius in its simplicity and efficiency. When do you transplant them out? Before the appearance of the true leaves, I should imagine?

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    3. I keep an eye on the temperatures (thus no seed planting until April) but w/the peas, I want them at their 2nd leaf in hopes the mice will leaves them alone.

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