I just listened to Sandy Denny’s ‘Late November’; first time in years. Getting nostalgic. How can she have been gone over 40 years?
It’s cold and wet and drear and dreich and I’ve got a cold. Must be winter. I haven’t been out much lately, it never seems to stop raining and there’s not a lot that can or needs be done out there. I put a couple of hours in up my allotment yesterday but the ground is saturated and I prefer to stay off it. It stayed dry long enough yesterday to find a few things for this, but two items are pictured from indoors and one is in the greenhouse.
From the weather forecast, most of the country will have woken to a clear, frosty morning, whereas here it is cloudy, breezy and spitting with rain. It’s meant to move away during the day and it looks like the next few nights will be around zero so I need to have a quick look round to make sure I’ve not overlooked anything that needs moving in.
One.
Camellias ‘Navajo’ and ‘Paradise Little Liane’. It’s five weeks since I did ‘Navajo’ so given the dearth of subject matter, it’s getting another outing. Outside my front window, the first thing I see when I roll up the blind every morning.
Two.
Bomarea edulis. In the glasshouse now, having spent the summer outside in its pot. This will die down completely sometime soon but after it flowered it produced quite a few seed pods which have just started to split open. Do I need any more of them? No. Will I be able to resist sowing some seeds? Not a chance. I did pictures of the flowers in September last year here. I plan to plant it out permanently next year, just need the perfect spot.
Three.
Cyclamen coum. These flower mainly between late December and March, this one has jumped the gun somewhat. There were seedlings around them last year so I could do with cutting a few things back and doing some careful weeding.
Four.
Alstroemeria ‘Indian Summer’. I think my top three for flower power would be this, Geranium ‘Rozanne’ and Salvia ‘Amistad’. A proper frost would have finished it off but we’ve not had one so my two potted plants of it are still going. I would love an Alstroemeria that flowers as well as this but in pink or yellow. Anybody know of one? It’s related to the Bomarea but doesn’t set seed, which is probably why it keeps on flowering.
Five.
Every tuberous rooted Begonia I’ve lifted so far has been infested with vine weevil grubs. I think the safest course is going to be dumping them and getting new ones next year. I left these on the surface of the pot and a robin lunched on them.
Six
End of the month. Four or five years ago when I first got into this blogging malarkey one of the memes I latched onto was “End of month view”, hosted by Helen ‘The Patient Gardener’ (Hi Helen). It was what got me into taking the same three or four views every month. Noting that it was the last day of November I went back four years and found one of them. Here it is with this year’s version. I tagged the main things that have gone, I’m a bit ruthless. I found a picture from 2005 today, now that is scary, a panorama of ghosts.
1 Magnolia ‘Heaven Scent’
2 Chionochloa rubra
3 Hazel
4 Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Little Spire’
5 Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Goshiki’
6 Fargesia nitida ‘Simba’
7 Pinus pumila ‘Saentis’
8 Pinus koraiensis ‘Silver Ray’
9 Quecus robur (next door)
I have no plans to remove anything big next year, except my polytunnel, but there won’t have been any long term planning behind any of the removals in the picture either. I just find I am dissatisfied with something and it shouts louder and louder until I do something about it. I can honestly say that far from having any regrets about getting rid of the things I have, I’m glad I did and glad I have been able to do so.
Right, lets off to The Propagator, see what the rest of the world is up to.
There is change in these last 2 photos but sometimes a change must be done!
A quick look allows to see the departures of plants but also new arrivals of things.
Nice cyclamen coum. I’m waiting for my flowered alstroemerias very soon …
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You have Alstroemeria on order? What have you got coming? I wonder if you have same the varieties in France as we do here.
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Are your Indian Summer flowering now? It is a great make and model. The pink and white camellia is special, unlike the vine weevils which are a menace!
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My ‘Indian Summer’ are still flowering some, having started back in June/July-ish. The only thing stops them is frost and starvation such that they don’t make new growth; they’re big feeders. I’ve seen ads, T&M usually, offering it with others as if they were a series, I’d love another that performs as well in a different colour.
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Me too! I am not a massive fan generally but this one is in a league of its own.
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I just looked ’em up on Cotswold Garden Flowers encyclopaedia; he gives ‘Rock & Roll’ 10/10, very striking variegation with scarlet flowers; and ‘Chi Chi’ gets 9.5. I shall look out for them both.
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Me too! Good research. 🙂
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I have 2: ‘Indian summer’ that will bloom soon for the second time and another one , shorter and more red (https://fredgardenerblog.wordpress.com/2019/11/02/six-on-saturday-02-11-19/)
Here in the GC, we often see hybrids. There are also pinks or yellows.
I already saw on sale (A. aurea ‘Lutea’)
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I just thought to look on Cotswold Garden Flowers Encyclopaedia and not only does Bob Brown give Indian Summer a 10/10 rating but he also says the anthocyanin in the leaves protects against sunburn and acts as an antifreeze! Who new? Now I need to see if he rates any others as highly.
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Good to know !
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I’m with you on the required ruthless streak. If it’s not earning its place, out it must go. The alstromeria is fab.
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The only other Alstroemeria Bob Brown gives a 10/10 rating is ‘Rock and Roll’, a marmite plant if ever I saw one. If I ever see it for sale I shall just have to buy it.
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Like the post as ever you put in some specials. Thanks for a thumbs up for Indian Summer. I enjoyed reading about the garden now and a look back to see what has been removed. Had been looking for a Hac Mac week…but something to look forward to.
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I took pics of the Hak macs individually earlier today, not sure what I have of them in the green, as it were.
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I’ve also just realised/remembered that I did a piece on Haks 2 years ago, almost to the day. I’m not good on tags. https://wordpress.com/post/gardenruminations.co.uk/5455
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Sandy Denny…one of the first people I saw in concert when I was at school…giving my age away there! Love the alstroemeria – mine are beginning to flower down here.
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I like the alstroemerias very much, but I think they wouldn’t like our climate. are the hac macs those clumping golden grasses? Very nice! They give the garden a real lift.
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Yes to the golden clumps being Hak macs. Alstroemeria is naturalized in Australia according to Wikipedia but they don’t say where. However, elsewhere I found that A. aurea is naturalised in the NSW tablelands. It may be they like your climate too much. https://keyserver.lucidcentral.org/weeds/data/media/Html/alstroemeria_aurea.htm
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Many thanks for sourcing that info Jim. When I researched alstroemerias I noted that the info said they are best in moist soil. We don’t have much of that here, even at the best of times as we are on the western edge of the tablelands.
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Hope you feel better soon. I was enjoying your Six until Number 5 – horrid things! You have plenty of colour still. I like the camelias especially. (Is there one l or two? I have seen both.)
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There are two camellias, an in focus ‘Navajo’ and a fuzzy ‘Little Liane’ in bottom left. We all hates wine weasels.
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The vine weevils in my pots were multiplying year on year and so I used the nematodes last summer and this one. Result! I’ve only found two this autumn. I applied them three times.
‘Navajo’ looks so delicate. Wish I could grow Camellias in the ground here.
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I have used nematodes in past years, didn’t get around to it this year, which was a mistake. Wonderful thing, hindsight.
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Hi Jim, first year growing begonias for me and I’m now wondering if I should go and check them for vine weevils. They’re potted up in the greenhouse. Will let you know…
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I have quite a bit of trouble with vine weevil, I grow too many things they like and they get a long egg laying season so if you hit ’em with nematodes too early more eggs get laid after and if you leave it too late you have a lot of damage.
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I see what you mean about the alstroemerias, what a fabulous colour. I love your camellia too.
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It is a great picture of the nasty wine weevils and I’m glad the robins had a good lunch on them. A also enjoyed the before and after picture, as we know some pretty big things have gone. Love the labelling, very helpful. I was all for adding a pinus pumila here for a while but the moment has passed and I’m rather glad it did. Maybe it will be grasses for me to dither over next year.
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In a parallel universe somewhere is another me with a garden consisting of little else but Pinus pumila and Pinus parviflora, with rocks and moss and a single fabulous specimen of Paeonia rockii.
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