Wednesday 31 January 2007

FREEBIE HUNTING

When I was having a Blogaround yesterday I saw a photos of Amaryllis in flower; it reminded me that I'd had one last year and when it had finished flowering I'd stuck it up in the box room. I knew I'd given it a drop of water just before Christmas when I'd had to move all the house plants up there but had thought no more about it.
almost forgotten
Imagine my surprise when I went to look at it...it's got a flower bud on it!! Isn't nature wonderful....I've now moved it downstairs and look forward to seeing the bloom open









As Mick was snoozing peacefully in his armchair I thought I have a little walk round the garden to see what was happening out there. Our garden's only 21ft x 17ft so it doesn't take long to get around....not sure what that is in metric?....6.5m x 5.5m approx I suppose?

A few of the pots looked quite dry and this Lamium had really suffered in the strong winds of the other week. I tidied it up and gave it some water. It'll soon perk up.






I also kept an eye out for "freebies"...some of our pathway is gravel and it's surprising the number of self seedlings you can find.


These are baby Hellebores..I'll let them get a bit bigger and then choose a few strong plants to pot up and grow on.











This is Campanula; I've wanted to put out some out the front so once the Spring comes I'll lift this and replant it,







I'm pretty sure this is an annual Candytuft...it does look a little like an Osteospurnum but I don't think that it would be looking this robust if it was; I found it in a very cold, shady area and can't imagine an Osteo seed being happy enough there to grow.




This is a Lamium, like the one in the basket I mentioned early. It'll be a handy plant to have for the Summer hanging baskets.







In the cracks between the slabs I laid for wheelchair access I found these Stipa seedlings...if they do as well as the one I found last year then I've no complaints. Will lift these now and pot them up so that I don't run over them with the wheelchair.






I think this may be Nectaroscordum; it is in the right area of the garden for our ones to have dropped seed there. I'll grow it on and see...................let's hope I'm not going to be growing a weed...I remember once growing on and nurturing a Gallardia seedling.....only to find out it was a Dandelion!!!!




These I am sure about...they are Quaking Grass seedlings.






I'm really pleased with my "freebie" hunt...it's only January so to find so many already is quite exciting.


One other thing I spotted was that our Helichrysum Ruby Cluster has a flower bud on it and is looking a lot healthier since I moved it to the front garden where it gets some winter sun.

10 comments:

Sheila said...

Your garden must be a delightful place. The 'volunteers' you discovered, tell me you know exactly what you are doing and what you've got.

Annie said...

It'll be a little while before I get to find all the delightful surprises in my garden walk around my house. I always love those moments when I see the little seedlings tucked tightly here and there. Thank you for this moment of anticipation.

talj said...

So many beautiful things dotted around! I bet your garden is a wonderful place to be! :o)

Libbys Blog said...

All those freebies how lovely! I have loads of maybes? the problem is I can't tell the difference between a weed and a plant!!!!!

Elsie said...

You certainly do know your plants!!!

Thanks for your delightful comment on my aged post. I don't think I know the "Oldest Swinger in Town" song- sounds like something Frank Sinatra would have done- but I also like to "swing' - I can even do a little headbanging... LOL

Funny thing about this post also, I do not eat potatoes, so my children cannot understand how I can drink vodka - what do they know, some foods are just better in liquid form!!!

Take care

Lcxxx

Anonymous said...

Why did you alter the "flowers" thing? ... You could put maybe "x flowers in bloom" ... or something like it ?? no?

What was I going to say. O yes. Amaryllis. Some say it is called "the poor man's orchid" ... I hate that expression "poor man's 'anything"' why does it need to be compared. ... no. anyway those amaryllis are beautiful.

btw we used to have wild orchids in our garden. White. Tiny. Think they are called wood orchids ..?

Bob said...

Hi Ruth, what you said about growing the weed reminded me aboutlast year when I got some new Fuchsia plants, there were two that grew on really strongly and had really different leaves, I couldn't wait to see what the flowers turned out like and then one day I came across the paper that came with the Fuchsias and the two different Fuchsias turned out to be white budlia's that had been included in my order as a free gift! The thing was as soon as I knew they were budlia's it was pretty obvious what they were but I'd never even considered it before because I wasn't expecting anything but Fuchsia's.

RUTH said...

ukbob; I would have been really excited that I'd got some new variety!....good job you found the paper and hadn't planted them up in a hanging basket; would have been an interesting sight by midsummer!!

Women on the Verge said...

I'm so envious... when I look out my windows at my gardens I see a knee-high blanket of snow! It will be months before I can start my annual re-arranging...

Jeanette said...

Hi Ruth
You may have a small garden but you have a lot of lovely plants in it.

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