Monday 9 July 2007

HYACINTH TIME!

The Hyacinths are starting to come out!!!!!!
Don't worry there hasn't been a leap back in time to the Spring...the Hyacinths I'm talking about are the Summer Hyacinth (Galtonia candicans)...........

It was once called Hyacinthus candicans and can grow to 120cm tall. A bonus is that they are fragrant.

These flowers come from South Africa, and need a warm sunny position (I know my garden's very shady but there lies the challenge). They are tender and so I keep mine in pots and tuck them in the shed for winter protection.

There's been an addition to the household...I've now got a GUARD DOG...well a woman on her own needs some protection doesn't she! The great thing is he doesn't need taking for walks and never does his "business" in the garden. He also cost nothing to feed!I won him last Friday at the school's Summer Fayre. I have a bit of a reputation of being quite lucky on soft toy Tombola Stalls. Well despite being away from the School Fayre scene for a couple of years I'm pleased to say my reputation still holds. BOTH of the tickets I picked won a toy....the other was a small teddy which I gave to Nicole, but this fierce dog I had to keep for myself! Burglars Beware!!!!!

While we (Manda, Chris, Nicole and I) were at the Fayre Chris had a go at the BEAT THE GOALIE ......................he beat him 2 out of 3 times so that's not bad. and one of the children (J) asked if Miss (Manda) would take a turn at being the Aunt Sally so he could throw wet sponges at her.....she was a good sport but got absolutely soaked.......I'm sure she'll get her own back on J at some point!

There's a lot of building work going on near the school; the builders have been into the school and spoken about the dangers of playing on building sites. The children have all done warning posters and they have been displayed on the site.It's been a beautiful sunny and really hot day today...a far cry from the dark, rainy days of the last few weeks. We are definitely in for a storm though as in the last few minutes the clouds have rolled in and the sky has gone black; a distinct rumble of thunder can be heard in the distance. Oh well...at least the day was dry and I've managed to catch up with the dead heading in the garden and trimmed back the ivy so the bin men have a nice full "green waste" bin to take tomorrow. ...and taken a few more "new flower" photos.



Oh the dark clouds have blown over; I guess we've missed the storm...time for one more walk around the garden before dinner......BYEEEEEEEE

6 comments:

talj said...

Lovely photos Ruth and I am so glad you got to spend some time in the garden today!!

Congrats on the win too! Looks like the little fella will be a great guard dog!

Ruth, do you think I could grow Allium? (think I spelt that right!) I think they are so pretty and would love to have some/one of my own! Look forward to hearing what the expert says! :o)

Love and {{HUGS}} xxx

RUTH said...

You'll have no problem with Alliums; they should do well in pots as well as long they are well drained. There are so many different Alliums of different shapes and sizes and they are hardy so you'll have them year after year!
Rx

Shaz said...

It sounds like I wasn't the only one to enjoy our few days o sun over the weekend. I loved the pics o the ayre but your blooms have to top everything I've even seen in a garden.

There's a Schmoozer over at our place for ya x x x

talj said...

Thats great news!! I am going to have a search around on the web and see if I can find a colour/type that I really like!! Thanks Ruth! :o) xx

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

Great slide show! You have peaked my interest in summer hyacinths, the key word was "fragrant" I love fragrant, I have not grown them, they will be on my wish list.

Katya said...

Ruth, as usual, I love visiting your garden! It is so wonderful! I am awaiting on my black-eyed Susans, coneflowers, and hydrangea to blossom...oh, they do take their time!
What a wonderful little guard dog! However, it would have been nice if he would have been a *Scottie*!hehehe
We had a dear little underweight, under-sized Wire-haired Fox terrier before the Scotties. Lady was so delicate and sweet...I used to giggle and tell people, "many people have a guard dog....Lady is our "garden" dog"!!!!!

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