My Cottage Garden,..glengarry23.

@shiney ,..very impressive splurge of Lupins,..they seem to grow almost everywhere if left alone,.. and yet i bet there are people trying hard to grow them in gardens.

 

@Victoria ,..Hi Victoria,..beautiful bloom from your Geranium and growing at a great height as well,..you have the ideal climate for growing them,..were it me i would take cuttings and increase the stock all along that lane and forget about the Lupins,..Geraniums give off a very nice scent in the heated days.

 

Having no more blooms in my garden just now i will post older blooms in video form to help keep everyone happy with colour and blooms.

Elizabeth's "Ash Garden",..was started when she moved from the city to a 200 year old cottage,..renovated the cottage and started a cottage garden from scratch,..this is the progress since 2004.

The blooms and garden improve as the video progresses,..this is a,... 14 min video.

Images were emailed to me to produce the video,..music by 'Dimitri Shostakovich',..
'Romance Of The Gadfly'.

 

15 Days To Christmas and so a Card for All.

You can view your card here

 

I like lupins as they were among the first things I grew from seed (after radishes and lettuce) that was in Lincolnshire. Since then I have grown them in Essex (Braintree) and down here in Devon. They have never lived more than a few years, 4-5 years max, they fall prey to slugs, lupin aphids or they just develop hollow centres and rot off. So I generally have some seedlings coming along, note to self: sow more this spring.

 

A peaceful Christmas to you Philip and Foxy Molly
Victoria xx



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@Victoria ,..thank you Victoria,..WE appreciate your nice card and wishes.

 

@shiney ,..also NigelJ,..you are both correct about Lupins being hard to keep,..i never seem to have them multiply enough to give an impressive performance,..i do however prevent them from being eaten by those small snails which are hard to see,..those that get inside the stems and kill off the plants,..i start spraying with a mix of Neem Oil and Liquid Soap,..1 Tablespoon of each to a Litre of water,..i spray just before Spring and all through the following Seasons as often as i can but not when the sun is shining,..dull days of course,..no other Slug or Snail remedy is necessary as the Neem Oil Mix will kill off anything that eats the sprayed plants,..i use it on all plants as its not harmful to Bees/Butterflies/Lacewings or Ladybirds,..safe with Pets and Children as well.

I replenish any Lupins which don't survive over the Winter by cutting off areas of the plants stem where a joint has started off,..this appears just like a new plant beginning,..cutting it off below the joint and dipping it in Rooting Powder or Rooting Gel helps to start off roots,..then leave the cuttings outdoors over Autumn and Winter,..most of them survive,..i do likewise with my Foxgloves.

Philip

 

Looking back at my garden in June 2012,..at the end of the garden there was a very attractive bush which eventually got top heavy and fell over,..a yellow blooming flower with red in the middle,..Cytisus scoparius 'Scotch Broom'

This bush appears in all my videos back then in the Avatar.

My own Video-Music by 'Howard Green',..'Eyes To Enchant Me'.

 

My Video,..of the garden in Oct 2016 but not posted to YouTube until March 2017.

Music 'Tranquility',..By Robert Haig Coxon.

 

Living in hope for the first blooms of Spring,..seeing our Traditional Spring Begins on Feb 1st we only have 44 days to go.

Looking at my Helleborus orientalis today i was boosted in seeing some blooms almost opened on Helleborus niger,..though its a plain looking bloom its a start.

Helleborus niger-Christmas Carol-Bears Foot.






What i expect to see in Spring below.

Helleborus 'Double Ellen Red'


Last year there was some that grew from seed,..with a slight bloom change.


Helleborus 'Double Ellen Picotee'.


This also produced a changeling.



Another grew from a division sent from a friend in England,..Helleborus 'Pink Lady'


Same bloom.


This bloom changes to the image below.

 

@shiney,..i am delighted for you that yours are spreading like mad,.. its a good sign,.. they like where you have them planted,..some of mine certainly have changed from their original blooms,..even some with less of the double bloom,..it never gave me a thought as i presumed they would revert back to their full double bloom,..keeping my fingers crossed its not bad news.