Hello and welcome to my own little world of plants

Saturday, 11 September 2010

Hello and welcome to my own little world of plants

I'll be using this blog to ramble excitedly about my botanical exploits: what I'm growing, what I'm sowing and what I'm blowing.

Today I sowed seeds of Tulipa turkestana, Fritillaria meleagris, Iris douglasiana hybrids, Verbascum phoeniceum mixed hybrids and Lilium canadense.

About 100 Dianthus knappii have burst through in literally three days, as have Digitalis ferruginea gigantea, and I've managed to root 2 of 4 cuttings of Dahlia Bishop of Landaff. Although they are covered in mildew (as is the poor parent plant) I blasted them with naughty chemicals so hopefully they'll make it. No idea how to get them through the winter, there's no time for them to grow a tuber surely? Just have to wait and see.

Also ordered four Rhododendron species from Chilterns Seeds and a yellow form of digitalis, since ferruginea was such a piece of piss.

Oh, and every dwarf mixed Lupin hybrid has germinated with two huge leathery cotyledons, desperately resisting the temptation to prick out until true leaves appear. Will post some pics tomorrow, if I can work out how to do that...

Oh, and I don't have a garden, just a tiny roof terrrace so f*ck knows where I'm going to put all this.

Actually, I'm going to try posting a picture of something now. Here's a Salvia patens to be going on with. More incredibly esoteric botanical ramblings tomorrow...

3 comments:

the fight to write12 September 2010 at 11:05
Well if you have any spares you want to give to a good home - we're here - happy to split costs on collections. This blog is a brilliant idea btw - will tune in regularly.
ReplyDelete
Replies
the fight to write12 September 2010 at 11:07
ps might also be inspired to get back to my long neglected blog!
ReplyDelete
Replies
chrissyboi12 September 2010 at 12:42
I'm gonna have spares by the ton! fortunately a friend has offered an area of her allotment for bringing on things like lilies and irises as I want to select the best forms before I give the rest away!
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

My recommended suppliers for plants and seed

(And our only business connection is that I give them lots of money in exchange for high quality plants.) Rare Plants (http://rareplants.co.uk/). Paul Christian concentrates on the very choice and rare (and consequently expensive but not unfairly so. Mainly but not exclusively bulbs and a great stop for the hardcore Iris and Lily collector. Mail order. Growild A small operation on the West coast of Scotland dealing largely on eBay and not a garden centre or public nursery so it's a case of when they have it, they'll list it. So keep an eye out for the odd gem (I recently spent £80 on rare Lily species on eBay so it's the market that sets the prices. An esoteric range, best found on eBay Kevock Garden Nursery in Scotland (www.kevockgarden.co.uk/) specializing in unusual alpine, woodland, and bog plants, many of Asian origin. Think along the lines of Meconopsis and candelabra primulas. Online catalogue and mail order. Cayeux Irises Based in France, near Orléans, this lot deal almost exclusively in bearded Irises (550 varieties, many their own) with a few beardless and Day Lilies. Superb quality plants, sent out bare-root from Late June to mid-October (www.cayeux-irises.com).

SEEDS

Chiltern Seeds I have to start with the suppliers who first showed a spotty teenager that there's more to seed catalogues than Petunias and Sweet Peas (although they are in there too). They offer a huge range of genera and the species within. The catalogue (too comprehensive to illustrate, it would be the size of the Birmingham phone book) is witty and informative (or not, which is refreshingly honest on rare occasions when they doubt the provenance of an item, something usually reflected in the price). I've raised many an Iris, Meconopsis and Primula from them and portion sizes are generous. Germination instructions for the needy (seeds, not necessarily gardeners) care often stuck to the packet, otherwise just stick a pin in and have a go! (www.chilternseeds.co.uk/)

Chileflora.com Suppliers of an astonishing range of South American (mostly Chilean and Argentinian) seeds, especially the likes of Alstroemerias, Tropaeolums (the rare ones), Bomareas and a seemingly endless range of Rhodophialas and other bulb seeds. And remember, a lot of Chile is far colder than you think it is! Hundreds of seeds per packet so experimentation with sowing techniques is possible, if at first you don't succeed (you usually will). Many species yet to be named, eg Calandrinia sp. 1212 (mine have yet to germinate). An amazing website with thousands of stunning images taken by the proprietor, Mikhail Belov, and each entry comes with a wealth of habitat, hardiness and other info. He even rates them for ornamental value! (The aforementioned gets an A+).

Rareplants.de Offering many of the above (don't know if they have a reciprocal deal or something) but many, many more genera from all around the planet, seeds are broken down in to sections such as geophytes (bulbs, basically), climbers, hardiness and geographically. And you ALWAYS get a free packet of some Aeonium (Houseleek) species that I never sow. I must have a dozen. Also well illustrated and a HUGE range. Prices are in Euros (the .de domain name should have given that away so be aware of that minute's exchange rate when you order!

Secret Seeds A UK firm specialising in rare perennials (that's where I got my Impatiens namchabarwensis seeds, although at the time of writing they have a picture but no stock), they also deal in grasses, veg and herbs, should any of that float your dinghy. All seeds come in little packets, sometimes a bit on the stingy side but they do tell you how many are coming so fair's fair, with detailed cultivation instructions. Top stuff. (www.secretseeds.com)

INFOLINKS

These links are part of a pay per click advertising program called Infolinks. Infolinks is an In Text advertising service: they take my text and create links within it. If you hover with your mouse over these double underlined links, you will see a small dialog box containing advertisement related to the text marked. You can choose to either move the mouse away and go on with your browsing, or to press on the box and go to the ad page which is relevant to the text. Click here to learn more about Infolinks Double Underline Link Ads.