Sweet Pea Varieties- Thompson and Morgan

Im back with round two of my sweet pea seeds run through.  Today its the ones I bought from good old trusty Thompson and Morgans and two from Eagle Sweet Peas.  I say 'good old' but I discovered the other day while clearing out my email inbox that Thompsons is emailing me at least every other day.  Whoa! Im as keen as anybody on the garden but thats a bit much.  Stop bombarding me.  Also they track when you have visited their site and send you an email thanking you for your visit, which is just plain creepy.

Anyways, that's all by the by, they sell nice sweet peas, although as usual the packaging irks me.  Only varieties sold in stores have pictures, hence why there is only one included in this post.

Turquoise Lagoon: Hello! Will you look at the colour of this badboy?! I am promised that these astonishing colour-changing blooms transform from pink to turquoise as they mature, even after cutting.  If so this will certainly liven up the traditional bunch.  Saw it, bought it, enough said.  This has disappointment written all over it.  This is bred by 'renowned' breeder Keith Hammet.  He may be an excellent breeder, but I have never heard of him.

Blue Shift: I was so taken with the concept of a turquoise colour changing sweet pea I also bought Blue Shift, turquoise's sister.  This one changes from mauve to true blue as it matures.  I clearly don't need both of them but I have very little willpower to resist pretty things with.  This is described as being 'totally unique' (clearly ignoring the similarity to Turquoise Shift here).

Little Red Riding Hood: This one is just too cute.  Exactly like the name suggests each flower has a bright pillarbox red hood in the form of the top two petals.  The bottom of each flower is white blushed with pink.  Love the look of it, love the name, love everything!

Prima Ballerina: This one is just so girly and pretty, with the flowers being either lilac, purple or cream on the same plant.  I really seem to have been taken by varieties that are a mixture of colours rather than just a solid one, in delightful girly pastel shades.  Not really my usual cup of tea at all.  However I cannot deny that it is rather special.

Spanish Dancer: When I was writing this post I got to the end of the packets and was rather disappointed to find that I had in fact not bought Spanish Dancer like I thought I had.  But I had, the packet had merely slipped under the box.  As thrilled as I am that I did splurge, you really don't need both Prima Ballerina and Spanish Dancer, just like you don't need both Blue Shift and Turquoise Lagoon.  Apart from me, I need all of them.  I don't get Thompson and Morgan, they describe the colour of every variety, and then for one just randomly doesn't.  This appears to be pale yellow with two shades of pink.  Delightful.

Having revisited the Thompson and Morgan site to see pictures of my purchases (see above for picture gripe) I am rather wishing I had also bought 'Tickled Pink' and 'Mollie Rilstone', although as both are creamy pink in nature Its probably best I haven't.  Next year.

I only bought two from a specialist grower this year, we will have to see whether they germinate any better than the last bunch.  I plumped for 'Leominster Boy', a salmon orange, and 'Charlies Angel' which should be pale blue.  Blue and orange do after all make such a good colour combination.  I had to buy these blind but a little googling has revealed that 'salmon orange' should really be called 'coral'.

Fuchsia round up 5: Deep purple

Deep purple; a glamorous beauty

If you were looking for a fuchsia that really is a show stopper, or a real 'bobby dazzler' as it might be known in the UK, then look no further than 'Deep Purple'.  Who ever bred this variety could grow fuchsias, they just weren't terribly original with the naming.  Its a deep purple colour... so lets call it 'deep purple'.

There are two things that set this fuchsia apart from the masses.  One is the colour; deep intense royal purple set against absolute driven snow white sepals.  The contrast can only be described as eye catching. However the purple is more interesting than just a solid colour.  Where the petals join the sepals the bold purple blends seamlessly into hot pink and its all very pretty.  Then the stamens are again pure white contrasting with the surrounding ruffles.

Its undeniably huge

The other thing is the pure size.  I would probably say deep purple is the fuchsia in my collection with the biggest flowers on the whole.  They are simply massive.  To give an idea of its true scale I have photographed it next to a biro pen.  While that is not a terribly glamorous measuring stick I have more than once bought a fuchsia on the strength of an online picture thinking it would be massive and been sadly disappointed.  A biro is a fairly standard size universally I believe.  Its basically the size of the palm of my hand, and I have big lady hands.

Deep purple is a trailing variety.  Im not sure whether its meant to be a trailer but the monstrous blooms hang heavily over the side of the pot like parachuters who haven't quite made the ground, although I have found some before now that have sagged right onto the floor.

They can't help but hang heavily like curtain tassels.  They really are solidly built

The blooms are so big that it was actually possible to wedge my camera right up into the frills and I got a little involved in taking some arty pictures that actually show it off rather well.  So for once Im going to button it here and let my photos sell this baby because those purple frills can show themselves off far better than I can describe them.

Sweet Pea varieties: Sutton Seeds

All my indoor bulbs have been and gone, all my outdoor bulbs are only just emerging and my sweet peas don't look vastly different to the last time I covered them.  That, by the way, is a good thing.  I pinched the growing tip out after the first pairs of leaves appeared and its had the desired effect and really slowed them all down. So lets instead turn to what my sweet peas will hopefully become if they manage to sweat out my warm garage.

My previous sweet peas I bought at Hampton Court flower show because I presumed that if you got your seeds from a specialist grower you would be off to a solid start.  Lovely theory that.  Instead half of them didn't germinate and I managed to kill most of the others.  While I can't blame killing them on the seeds, I can blame non-germination.  It became apparent when they flowered that out of a packet of about nine varieties I only actually had four different colours.  Five were complete no-shows.   I can't say I was terribly impressed.

This year I have predominantly shunned the specialist grower and gone back to slumming it with garden centre varieties.  Im fine with a lower brow kind of variety if it means they actually come up, give me a workhorse over a fancy-pants thoroughbred any day if that thoroughbred has no plans to come out of the soil.  Thats what I call wasting money.  I have always been a bit of a snob when it comes to sweat peas sold in garden centres but having thoroughly browsed a few different brands' stocks I have actually been quite impressed at their offerings.  This should be evident by the number I have bought.

The good bit about buying my seed from a specialist grower was that I bought I variety pack that somebody had spent hopefully a decent amount of time considering and collating to give a rounded display.  I have done no such thing.  Instead I lost my head a bit with the freedom, bought far too many varieties and with no thought to any kind of colour scheme.  I know sweet peas are meant to be an assortment of colours, but Im pretty sure other people choose like one blue, one white, one red etc. which I do have, so maybe its not as bad as I think.

I bought what I liked, and I liked a lot.  My seeds come from three sources I believe, and I will include pictures if the packet has kindly provided one.  Today I will go through the first four.

The slight sheen on the packets has made this look terribly out of focus, my apologies.  In fact the lights terrible altogether.  The sun was going down and its always dark and miserable. However, does that not look like a white flower on the right? Right: Albutt Blue. Left: Fragrant Skies

Suttons: Absolutely no idea where I got these from, a garden centre here or there Im sure.  All of Sutton varieties are described as 'climbers'.  I wasn't aware there was any other type of sweet pea but there we are.  Prince of Orange is new, with a 'delicate scent', which I interpret to mean its not much of a whiffer.  The others are 'high scent', so should be fairly smelly.  Albutt Blue is good for showing apparently, which is only a good thing in my book if by show it means 'show it to a vase'.

Albutt Blue- These are described as 'pale blue blooms with picotee edge' which is surprising because I bought this variety on the strength of the picture on the front which clearly shows a white flower with a dark, almost navy blue, edge.  Thats what picotee means apparently, a flower with a different coloured edge to the petal, I googled it.  So either their picture is lying or whoever wrote the blurb did a bad job. Im hoping its the second option because if it does look like the picture it will be pretty.

Fragrant Skies- A 'navy/violet bicolour'.  Again picture mainly just shows it as being blue, a really intense incredible blue, but just blue.

Prince of Orange- Unhelpfully doesn't include a description so Sutton must think the picture speaks for itself.  One of my favourites, its a bicolour of orange and pink.  I liked it so much I nearly bought it twice.

Juanita- Is oh so pink. This 'bicolour heritage variety' is a mixture of different shock-it-to-you pinks.

Left: Prince of Orange. Right: Juanita

Amaryllis Apple Blossom- In full bloom

As promised yesterday here are my pictures of my Amaryllis apple blossom in full bloom. It is just beautiful.  Don't really need to say anything else, I said it all yesterday.  Now both my amaryllis have flowered the challenge will be to try and save the bulbs for next year!

For a white flower there is a surprising amount of colour on the back

I think you'll agree this simply is a thing of utter beauty

Amaryllis Apple Blossom- from bulb to bud

Incase you didn't know, it cost four pounds

One Amaryllis would be enough for most people, but not me.  While my first amaryllis was doing its thing, flowering and snapping and wilting, the sorry tale of which can be found here, I had a sneaky second one quietly doing its thing on the kitchen windowsill.  You may think that I wouldn't be able to find anything else to say about my beloved amaryllis, but oh you would be wrong!  The difference between this one and my first is that this one has grown completely in my presence, rather than literally just popping into flower the moment I got it over my threshold.

It didn't live outside, at this time of year you have to go where the light is
notice the blunt cut.

I can't say I had great hopes for this bulb as it didn't start life in the most luxurious surroundings.  Contained in a cardboard box and stacked outside the door of a Wilkinsons, it felt like a bit of a punt even buying it, but for 4 pounds I felt it was worth the risk if there was a chance the bulb might flower anything like the picture on the box said it would.

See It just emerged from the bulb one day fully formed!

The reason I was a little doubtful of the bulbs viability was that the stem had been cut bluntly in the past so it just didn't look like it would do anything.  However shortly after being exposed to some light two little bright green fresh leaf tips poked out the old stem like little green rabbit ears.  Great I thought, here comes the huge stem that will produce the flower.  Or not.  Instead two whopping leaves grew a foot and a half high tall without so much of a sniff of a stem.  Leaves don't exactly have the backbone for that kind of height so a bit of scaffolding had to be installed on the form of a stick to prop them upright rather than draping all over the kitchen.

On its way up

I was understandably a little concerned at this point as it appeared I had bought a bulb that only produces leaves, and from a bulb that I don't think is exactly known for its leafiness, but then one day the top of a bud suddenly emerged from one of the crusty folds in the bulb quite separately to the leaves.  Its been quite fascinating watching this bud form, although I use them term 'form' loosely here.  Turns out the bud emerges from the bulb fully formed and already at its final size.  How weird is that?  Not just weird, how is that even possible?!  Its literally like a little hatch in the bulb suddenly opens one day and out trundles this gigantic bud.  I truly find it bizarre that this is even possible.  Then over a matter of just a few days the bud shot up on the usual meaty stem, so apart from the weirdly long leaves it was then at the same stage as the other one when I first bought it.

Unfortunately those silly leaves really do spoil the overall appearance of the plant
especially as they require propping up, again it didn't live here its a question of light

Having already extensively covered the rather fabulous manner in which these plants open, I am just going to skip to saying how beautiful this variety is.  My gamble paid off; amaryllis 'Apple Blossom' is even more lovely than my orange one was if thats possible, and it looks exactly like the one on the box!    How can one amaryllis possibly be more beautiful than another?  Well its apple blossom's beautiful colouring that has won me over.  Although predominantly white, the petals are ribbed with pink in the most delightful way.  But lets face it, its the shock of bright green that has really grabbed me.  Zingy!  The flowers aren't as big as the orange one but Im hoping to keep it until next year and then they will be bigger.  The flowers are beginning to fade now, I would say quicker than the last one, but seeing as it chose to snap off after like a week I can't really compare.  I photographed every last move this plant has made so rather than making this a post of epic proportions I have saved the pictures of it out in full bloom for tomorrow, so pop back to see it in its full glory. 

Fuchsia round up 4: Fuchsia rust

Clearly this is not a picture of fuchsia rust, it is instead 'Voodoo'.  Unfortunately
rust struck in the days before I photographed every move a plant made, and its a funny thing to photograph
ordinarily.  I wasn't about to put up a post of just words so this will have to do.
There are plenty of good pictures of rust elsewhere Im sure

So you mooch out one day to your pot of prized fuchsias and things are not looking good.  Flowers are few and disappointingly small, things are looking a little bare on the leaf front.  Are there orangey-brown spots on the tops of leaves?  Turn one over, is the underside of that leaf suddenly looking like a rusty old bit of metal?  If so my friend; you have fuchsia rust.  Or more precisely, your prized fuchsia does.  Oh dear.  A fungal disease that 'reduces vigour' is blighting your plants.  Lovely word that; vigour.

I had heard tales of fuchsia rust being prevalent and to be on guard for it, but for several years my fuchsias had managed to evade its dusty clutches.  Had I not been so keen on buying new varieties on the internet I would probably always have escaped it.  But, alas, my lack of self control and incessant need for more frilly ruffles was my downfall and on one shipment in came the infection.  I couldn't tell you which plant it was and where it came from because by the time I had spotted it, it had already spread.  And quite frankly, my memory is just not that good.  I can however tell you how I managed to eradicate it, because it is possible.  I assumed that if a fuchsia caught rust then that was it- bin time!  But copious research revealed that it can be tackled.

Firstly I identified which plants had succumbed and tried to isolate these.  By 'isolate' I mean shift them about five metres away from the masses to the other side of the patio.  Considering rust can be carried on the wind, thats not much of a quarantine, but I tried.  Some varieties appeared to be largely unaffected, others were completely blighted.

Next I got plucking, literally.  Every single leaf that appeared to be affected was removed; a lengthy process that was a killer on the knees to say the least.  The lack of 'vigour' at this point is actually a benefit.  Removed leaves should really be burned I believe to help stop the fungus spreading.  Some of my collection began to look like freshly plucked chickens, but needs must.  Sometimes it has to get worse before it can get better.

I had hoped that if I kept on top of the plucking I might be able to steadily eradicate it, but its rusty little grip was tight, so I resorted to fungal spray.  Yes, chemicals.  I know if you are a fan of organic then I have committed a sin, but I was desperate and sometimes organic just isn't going to cut it.  Im not aware of any organic remedy anyway so there wasn't much choice.  Although fuchsias hardly enjoy fungal spray, they also don't enjoy rust so your between a rock and a hard place so you might as well give it a go!  Luckily my trip to the dark side worked, and while my plants did not ever return to their former glory that year, the year after there was no sign of it at all.

This kind of disease is the reason behind making sure all leaves are stripped from the bark before tucking plants away for the winter.  While keeping the fuchsia snug and warm, winter protection is also harbouring your pests and diseases if you don't ensure the leaves are all removed first.  Pests and disease that will happily sit and wait, patiently biding their time, plotting and scheming, and then boom, spring comes and they are back.  In the past I have not been the most vigilant about removing leaves, I have found it difficult to actively de-robe a plant while it is still looking fairly good.  I have been known to cover a plant up in leaf and go back and uncover it at a later date when the leaves are a bit more shrivelled.  Bad, bad, bad!  You have to be cruel to be kind, and that winter I held no prisoners.

Spring hyacinth bulbs- a bad case of rot

I really don't know what the one at the back thinks its up to, or the one at
the front actually, other than rotting gently

Really however you look at it, this tale of hyacinths in a tale of woe.  My previous post on hyacinths, located here, outlined two key points, namely that I don't like them and that I don't plant them.  As I have not had a hand in growing these bulbs I have not been lurking around the garage checking progress every few days, but obviously Im not going to say no to a few bulbs brightening up the corner of a dull room at this time of year.  Therefore it was very sad that the hyacinth bulbs the mother planted have turned out to be a complete disaster.

On checking the progress of said bulbs one day in the garage it became evident that all was not entirely well, although at this stage we were making a fuss about nothing.  Three buds were growing and swelling just as they should, but one was not a happy chappy.  Still small and clearly not doing a great deal, it became obvious that it would be far behind the other three.  The mother informed me at this point that she had never actually managed to get four hyacinths in full bloom standing tall like mini Marge Simpson hair-dos at once, and lamented that yet again this year, it would only be three.  If only we had known at this point what was in store...

This is such an intense shot of colour, but I don't think its going to get any bigger.  I did read that not producing a proper flower is a sign that the bulb wasn't kept right before they go on sale

The pot was eventually brought in and we awaited bloom-age.  Finally one burst into flower.  The only problem is it seemed to burst into flower horizontally rather than vertically.  The flower stalk was leaning right across the pot, literally leaning over another of the buds.  I don't remember being aware of this bulbs' desire for an unusual direction in life before this point, but the stalk had not simply collapsed so it must have done.  There was to be no convincing to change direction.  At the same time, another of the buds was beginning to flower, bit also rotting at the same time.  Both the petals and leaves were decidedly soggy, with the blue petals rapidly turning yellow.  It could not be saved, so it was cut off to protect the others from whatever was affecting this one incase it was catching.

This was as good as it got, and it was quite good, albeit briefly.  The bottom flower was just getting a little
variation in colour through age

So we have one down, and one horizontal.  Another bud managed to actually properly pop out so, for a time, had a nice little display going on.  The last bud popped as well, and even though I don't think this will ever form a proper big flower, it is such a deep dark blue purple that it is still attractive.  But then disaster.  If you thought it couldn't get any worse, you were wrong.  Both stems, which by the way are surprisingly thick, although all bulbs seem to have good solid stems, suddenly rotted right through.  One flower had to be chucked and the other is now residing in a vase of water which just about works but looks a bit funny.  The pot with its final partially open bud surrounded by wilted drooped leaves looks very sad.

Oh dear, this is really the spring display we were looking forward to when we planted them!

I don't know where it all went so wrong, but I can avoid all blame as I didn't grow them!  Maybe they were duff bulbs, maybe they were over watered, maybe there was a problem with the bulb fibre; I just don't know.  If anybody does have a clue, feel free to let me know!  The mother has resolved to grow hyacinths next year in water in hyacinth vase as she thinks they grow better that way.  I personally can't comment, but hyacinths definitely are not doing whats required to win a place in my heart, although I will still try the black ones outside next year.
Im totally over indoor bulbs now, apart from my final beauty which I will share with you next week, come on spring get on with it!   

Planting hyacinth Bulbs

Not the most scintillating photo I have ever included I will admit, but it is the windowsill in the garage after all.
Quite obviously a pot of four hyacinth bulbs

More bulbs!  Surprise surprise, although these are different from my previous recent endless bulb posts for three reasons:

a) I didn't plant them
b) I don't like hyacinths
c) They should be out soon

You may recall last spring that I expressed my distaste for all spring bulbs, particularly hyacinths.  That opinion has largely changed but alas, not for the poor old hyacinth.  Left to me I wouldn't grow them, but they appeal to the mother for some reason and so she snuck off on a visit to a garden centre when I was busy captivated by daffodils and bought four.  They are all 'Delft Blue' which is a deep blue, her favourite colour of hydrangea.  I actually think it might be the colour selection that I don't like.  I have seen some rather fabulous black ones that maybe I should have a go at next year.  She also bought a bag of paperwhite narcisssus, which is fine because I do like a pot of them indoors over the winter period.

Next came the pot search, she used to plant hyacinths in this revolting mustard coloured pot that was only ever used for this purpose, but its vanished, thank god.  And no, I did not have a hand in its disappearance.  So she had to buy another one and a pot for the paperwhites.  I approve of her choice; simple, sleek, black.  Considering the mother and I differ on taste over many things, I will admit she knows how to choose a pot.  If the flowers are going to be pale like the narcissus, black shows them off to a tee.

Weirdly this photo almost demonstrates the growth of the shoot, from what the bulbs originally look like when planted on the left, to a solid green snout emerging from the top of the bulb on the right

I haven't got any pictures of the planting process as I was taking a nap at the time, the same one as when the mother pinched a terracotta pot for her hydrangea.  She was very active that day.  Im not a regular napper but starting a new job has left me kind of knackered.  I was in the garden when the need overwhelmed me, I just about removed my wellies before flopping onto the sofa still in my coat.
The bulbs are in fibre; bulb fibre.  Never having been a bulb fan before, I was unaware of the existence of this substance up until now.  I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that plants are fussy things.  If I invest in a great big bag of compost I expect to be able to stuff absolutely everything into it.  But no, bulbs want fibre.  After a little research I now know that bulb fibre lacks the nutrients in normal compost because bulbs already have everything they need and want packed into the personal suitcase that is the bulb.  These things come prepared apparently.  The bulb fibre just provides a bit of support to hold the bulbs in place as they grow while retaining moisture.

Not having been there at the time, I asked the mother how she planted them.  "With their noses out" was her incredibly detailed reply.  What she actually did was place a layer of bulb fibre underneath the bulbs, space them out so they didn't touch each other or the sides of the pot, then fill in with more fibre until only the very top of the bulb was visible above the soil, or the snout as the mother calls it.
They then want to be placed in the dark at a cool temperature for six weeks.  For us this means the pot gets wedged in the garage between boxes of paint and car washing sponges, with a layer of newspaper over the top as our garage unhelpfully has a window.  This encourages the bulb to put done a nice root system before it sets about making flowers.  This is where we are currently up to, they were planted a few weeks ago now and are still hanging out in the garage and will be for the forseeable future.

Fuchsia Round up 3: The very first pot

For todays fuchsia round up lets go right back to the very beginning- my four originals.  This is where my slightly overwhelming collection and the love affair with these little frilly flirts all began.  When I first saw the bank of little plug pants we chose just four, and a delightful little orange diascia to go in the large black pot that resides next to our driveway.  I would probably have bought more at the time, but the mother probably held me in check, she became less successful at this over the years.  May I just say on a side note; diascias are lovely little plants that I need to get back into my life.

This is such an old photo, probably should have titivated a little before I took it but you get the idea.  On the left is Bella Rosella, bright pink buds on the right are blackie

Southern Belle Bella Rosella- When I sat down to write this I could not remember the name of this one for love nor money, which is ironic because this really is the one that got me started.  What happened was upright Blackie flowered first, so when the pendular buds on this one got to a similar size I expected them to flower too.  But the first two ones just kept growing, and growing, and growing.  Those first two buds got obscenely large and I was completely transfixed.  It was only when they reached the size of lemons and I had spent a considerable amount of time on my hands and knees in the front garden staring at them that they finally flowered.

The very first two Bella Rosellas that came out, see how ginormous they are.  Also notice the whopping bud above it, thats about four times the size of a blackie bud

Huge and frilly; nothing else needs to be said.  Those first two blooms were so huge they only just fitted into the palm of my hand.  This is a 'Southern Belle', meaning its a huge double, and there are frills all round.  Mine has dark purple petals with lighter, almost baby pink sepals.  When looking this variety up elsewhere on the web I have found pictures of pink fuchsias labelled as this, I would like to think that mine is labelled correctly, but who knows mine could have been something else masquerading for years right under my nose.  None of the subsequent flowers have ever been quite as large, I think it put a lot of effort into those first two buds, but it was too late; completely hooked.

Bella Rosella bottoms, the interesting bits that you don't actually see day to day

Upright Blackie- Much much smaller than Bella Rosella, this one is about colour not size.  The petals are really dark, although not actually black like anything in the flower world, but near enough.  They are really striking, especially when grouped amongst the bright colours and pastels in the rest of the pot.  Still some frill-age, a delightful little number that I would highly recommend.

Spion Kop- A quite large, although not southern belle sized fuchsia in white and raspberry pink.  The formation of the petals of this one is really lovely, it always reminds me of a huge ruffled ballgown skirt as the petals are quite splayed out rather than being all tight and contained.  I liked it so much I ended up with two of them, one out the back as well.

Spion Kop at the front on the left, wendy's beauty on the right, the orange mass is diascia,
was called something like 'pumpkin'.  I think it all made for a rather nice display

Southern Belle Wendy's Beauty- This is basically exactly the same as Bella Rosella, just pale.  The petals are very very pale lilac, and the sepals are white.  A nice contraster to lots of colour, and obviously lovely big flowers.

I overwintered this pot by cutting the stems right down and then interweaving lots of fleece amongst them to keep the soil from freezing.  Helpfully the pot is situated on a drain cover so it keeps it just slightly warmer than it would have been.  After a couple of years I found that wendy's beauty started to take over the pot and the other varieties were struggling to elbow themselves some space.  I was going to keep this one, but I really fancy a change, its such a nice black pot and it would be great to try a new display in it.

A winter sweet pea planting- an update

Thats what I like to see,  little green heads poking out

The great sweet pea growing debacle has begun for another year.  One year, I will figure them out and grow trays upon trays, but the way things are progressing, chances are it will not be this year.  About a month ago I sowed my first batch of seeds and there has now been enough activity for a progress check.

My seedlings got their wiggle on, light does not lead to aesthetically pleasing
straight seedlings

The first thing to comment on is the soaking method.  Before planting, I taught my seeds to swim for an evening in the hope it might help them pop out of their tough little brown bomber jackets and grow.  This part at least has been a success.  I had almost a full house of germination; planted 22 seeds and had about 18 come up.  So yes, it was worth dragging my pyjama'd self out of bed to do that.

Last year I grew my sweet peas indoors which was just a huge mistake.  I might enjoy the central heating but the peas just shot up, became leggy and then collapsed.  Its too cold outside at the moment to just put them straight out, although I am working on possibly providing a little outside shelter soon but for the moment the garage seemed the best option.  Sheltered but not heated with a window for light.  What could go wrong?

There is some serious leg on these seedlings, but other than that look fairly healthy, notice the strangely yellow one, and mr droopy in the front, he isn't coming back

Well lets just say my peas are being a little too keen on going upwards and not keen enough on producing leaves.  Legginess has struck again.  What adds insult to injury is personally, Im not very leggy at all, but the peas?  Oh they are all over that.  Clearly there is some source of heat in that garage unbeknown to me.  Maybe the cats going in there and giving them a warm snuggle behind my back?  Little furry traitor.  I thought keeping a window slightly ajar might help freshen the place out and stop them getting too carried away with themselves, but where as they were about two to three inches tall and threatening leaves last time I checked, this weekend when I paid them a visit it was more like a solid four to five before leaves.

Two of my slightly shorter specimens

To begin with I felt all was lost, lob them into the recycling bin, but actually I don't think the situation is as bad as it first appeared.  Having revisited my post from last year I can see that actually, while taller than I was hoping for, they are significantly more robust than the ones grown last year.  Last year my shoots were pale and thin, and roughly 8 inches to the first leaves.  Not to mention bent over in several places as gravity became too much for them.  At least this years are thicker and green, except one peculiar little guy who is resolutely yellow.  Perfectly healthy and growing in all other aspects, but could virtually join the cast of The Simpsons.  Im hoping this is some peculiarity of the variety.

Now the first leaves have spread I have pinched out the growing tip in the hope of encouraging a little bushiness, which is ironic as in all other areas of my life bushiness is something I would actively avoid.  Even if the very tallest are too tall and will wilt in later life, some of the late comers are significantly shorter.  I don't think I have been helped by one of the mildest Decembers in recent years but then when did the weather ever help my growing activities.  So we will see, maybe they will be ok, or maybe I will have to plant every last seed currently in my possession to get five, but either way every time I do this I learn something.  Like how much I hate growing sweet peas.

Growing Narcissus in pebbles: An update

Notice the white roots vanishing into the depths of the pebbles 

Despite my very best efforts my second batch of narcissi are flowering with gay abandonment!  Only thats maybe a tad strong to describe one stalk of flowers from each bulb.  One.  Now I know there is a whole spray of dainty flower heads at the top of this one stalk, but there is also a whole bunch of leaves.  In the ratio of leaves to flowers, leaves are definitely winning out.  I planted the variety 'Ziva', which unfortunately appears to be exactly the same variety as I planted before to poor reviews from the masses, ie. my mother.  To read a full review of how they were a let down, click here.  Now this batch are all out in flower she has declared she wont be growing them again, which is ironic because I distinctly remember planting these...

Next year we will be having narcissi, but we will not be growing paperwhites.  I did a brief bit of research on the web and found other narcissi can be forced indoors with Tazetta varieties seemingly being popular.  I also found an interesting article by Alys Fowler in which she says that giving your narcissi a drop of vodka in the water after the shoots have got to a certain height prevents them getting too leggy and helps them stand tall rather than flopping everywhere as is their current want.  How vodka can possibly have that effect I don't know, I certainly can't say I have found vodka to have that effect on me, but she is the expert.  Also she said that you could plant a bulb in any glass container as long as it was twice the depth of the bulb, so I will be on the scrounge for the rest of the year for interesting large glass jars.  It would be good to have maybe just a single bulb on my windowsill to brighten my room up.

Anyway this was supposed to be a method update, not another moan about tiny daffodils.  Its not that I expect the method to fail exactly, but I was very surprised to find how securely the bulbs had anchored themselves in when they came back from a brief spell in the garage.  Not that I had really thought about it, but I guess I thought there would be an element of movability to the bulbs.  Not so.  Those babies will not be budging.  A whole host of white roots has evidently interlaced their way amongst the pebbles.  Is it wrong that I almost want the flowers to be over so I can dig in there and see what they have been doing?  I expect a veritable knot of roots to enjoy unpicking at some point.
The solid pots were indeed floored in that knowing when and by how much to water was difficult.  I resorted to tipping the pots to one side to see if any water ran clear of the pebbles, and then splashing some in regardless usually.  They seem happy enough, every one is flowering and nothing is yellow so I can't have got it too wrong.

Thats a lot of leaves for the number of flowers, and a lot of height
As great as having narcissi is over this bleak winter period, I am beginning to find the scent no longer the pleasant joy in my life it once was while Im trying to chill on the sofa.  But, they will be over soon and I will be back with a great rooty mess hopefully!  The things that get me going in life! Its a worry.

Fuchsia Round Up 2: All the whites

Part 2 of my fuchsia round ups is going to begin with me saying this: If you have one frilly white fuchsia you do not need to be going to buy any more.  I apparently had five completely white, or thereabouts, varieties.  I say apparently because its only the fact that I kept the plug plant labels that I know this.  Truth be told, one frilly white fuchsia looks much like another, despite the varying stripes of green or splashes of pink here and there.  I will be differing slightly from my previous format of talking about each variety in depth because I can't with these five.  In my memory they have basically all merged into a single variety, apart from Upright Annabel because she distinguished herself from the pack by being was less frilly.  Thats how you stand out from a crowd apparently, by being the frill-less plain Jane.  I even had to resort to comparing the pictures on the labels with my own photographs to distinguish between them.

Annabel, bit of pink, long dangling sepals, not much else to say

Upright Annabel- I think.  The 'upright' element of the name refers to the growing habit but to be perfectly honest, apart from the real droopy trailers that are over the edge of the pot and off across the floor before you can turn round, I can't say that there is a noticeable difference between the rest.  Despite being a bit of a plain Jane, I actually rather like old Annabel.  Simple and refined, but with proportionally long sepals that are shown to curl up on my old packet, but in reality rather hung down hiding the petals like saggy dogs ears.

Sarah Eliza- My pick of the bunch, but then she's not strictly white

Southern Belle Trailing Sarah Eliza- This would be my pick of my white varieties, probably because its mainly pink.  I think the contrasting sepals and stamen in a surprisingly bright shade of pink make it fun zingy variety.  The problem is, and I don't know why I always make this assumption, but I expect Southern Belles to be real whoppers.  Sarah Eliza is decently proportioned, but she is no larger lady.  Turn her over and I think she has a really delightful undercarriage, but as you can't see that unless you get a little handsy it shouldn't really be factored in.

Look at that for a bottom: frilly, ruffled with a flash of pink.  Whats not to like?  Apart from my prematurely ancient hand in the background

For my other three varieties I can't tell you anymore than the pictures can! Southern Belle Pink Marshmallow, Trailing Trudi Davro, and Southern Belle Upright Happy Wedding Day are white fuchsias, fairly ruffled, fairly large but not huge and otherwise completely lost amongst my crowds of pots.  I don't dislike them but they haven't really registered on my radar.  If one wanted a white fuchsia to make up a hanging basket or window box or something they would be perfectly acceptable.

Think its Trudi Davro, really couldn't be sure.  The packet showed the sepals down and mine are most certainly up!

But again; lovely bottom.  The dusky pink of the stigma is actually rather lovely

No idea what this is, it doesn't match any of the above three varieties

This looks like the most likely candidate for Happy Wedding Day

Next time in my Round up part 3 its back to some colour thankfully!