CUTTING REMARKS

SHAZ made a wonderful slideshow up of her visit to the Gateshead Flower Show. One of the photos was of a standard Fuchsia. We haven't had one of these for a few years and seeing that photo gave me the urge to start taking some cuttings and starting a new one. Not having a heated greenhouse I have to overwinter cuttings on the windowsills so daren't do too many but every year I never lsten to myself and always take so many that I' hunting for space come the Winter. I'm clamping down this year though and except for the Fuchsias I'm only takings cuttings of Osteospernum Sheila and Pelargonium Black Lady...they've both done so well despite the fickle weather this year. I will of course be overwintering the mother plants too but I often find that small rooted cuttings seem to overwinter easier than larger plants. Everybody has their own method of taking cuttings and so I won't go into too much detail as to how I do it but if you're taking a cutting primarily to make a Standard Fuchsia a three leafed cutting makes a better head. I'd love to show you a photo so you can see what I mean but not one of my Fuchsias has a three leaf stem at the moment!!!

One thing I like to make sure of is that the pots and knives (I use my thumbnail) are clean and I try to cut at the junction of a non-flowering stem

This isn't always possible....if you can't or it makes the cutting too long just cut beneath a node and remove any flower buds. I like to use a really open compost and always mix a good load of vermiculite in with my potting compost (perlite, grit or sand can be used...not building sand though!)The Fuchsia and OsteospErnum cuttings I tidied up and put straight into a pot of compost (I always put them around the edge)...watered in and covered with half an empty cola bottle...then put them in a shady spot against the wall in the garden. I never bother to use hormone rooting powder or gel at this time of the year.These are a few of the Pelargonium cuttings I took..............I took off some of the lower leaves and made sure the ends of the stem were cleanly cut.....then left them to dry for a few hours.........I'd only do this with Pelargoniums...it seems to stop them rotting if the ends are allowed to form a callous........When I potted them up I watered them but didn't cover them at all...in a warm, shady spot they seem to root quite easily this way.

If your mother plant is thriving you can of course take cuttings in the Spring but I like to have something to nurture during the winter months. Of course if you've a really mild late spring you can always just snip a bit of plant off pop it into the soil against a wall and take pot luck. This is exactly what I did with a piece of the climbing Fuchsia Lady Boothby.......and look at it now!

Right that's my cutting taking done for this year................though..............well............ermmm...the Lantana, Coleus, Iresine and Verbena borensis are all quite tender and may not make it through the winter....perhaps I'll just take a few..........

SOMEBODY STOP ME PLEASE!!!!!!

GARDEN CATCH UP

Yet again serious flooding has threatened not only properties but lives as well. Parts of Gloucestshire and Oxfordshire are seriously affected at the moment. Many people have no drinking water some are being told to boil their water. Much of Southern England is under a severe weather warning ........I have been lucky (so far) in my small part of East Anglia and the weather has just been something to have a good moan about......my heart goes out to all those whose lives have been devastated.

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Another week's passed since my last "catch up" post and still no sign of a bud on the Cannas and Brugmansias....the mixed up seasons this year are doing strange things to the garden. These Cyclamen don't usually flower until the Autumn...........and there's already autumnal colour starting on some of the Sorbus leaves...............
at least the Hibiscus is flowering bang on schedule....it always starts when the children break up for the summer holidays. When I think of how much I chop it back each year to keep it to a manageable size it's a wonder it doesn't sulk. At least my Japanese Painted ferns haven't minded the low light levels this year...the are right against our Northfacing wall and are twice the size they were last year......
I love the colouring on the leaves.....................
I'm really pleased I took cuttings of the double busy lizzys last year; I cursed trying to overwinter them in the back bedroom but it was all worth it. This is one of my favourite....

The Coleus cuttings have bulked out too...when I think how weedy they looked after the winter....I use them to fill in gaps when early flowers have gone over......this one plant has filled this space in a trough in no time..............

Another cutting doing really well is this Pelargonium...........I had problems with white fly on it during the winter but it seems fine now. I'd love to take more cuttings each year but space is limited......the garden itself is 24 feet by 20 feet (7 and a bit metres X 6 and a bit metres) and as practically every part of it is planted up (except for the path way and and one small bench area) there's just no room for a proper greenhouse.

The basket I planted up of "left overs" to cover the bare area where nothing would grow......is filling out really well.................
and I think I'd better start picking these runner beans.....the dwarf ones are new to me so looking forward to seeing what they taste like......
This lily has started bloming now...it's the same markings as the Turks Cap but faces upwards....being one of the Asiatics it doesn't have a scent........
I'm pleased this Hydrangea is doing well; it's a cutting taken a couple of years ago...purely by accident...I was making up a floral arrangement with some Hydrangea flowers in Oasis and the stems rooted!Libby sent me some Rincinus seed which unfortunately I never managed to get them to germinate. I was lucky a few months ago to find 4 seedlings for sale at a local nursery....they are growing quite well now and I think this may be a flower bud starting.......I've already posted photos of the red Lucifer crocosmia (monbretia) flowering but now the orange one has started to bloom....just the yellow to wait for now....I think the Whisky Mac Rose by the front door is trying to block the doorway....maybe it's aiming to stop the postman dropping off the bills.......LOLBet you thought "Oh no insects today!"....well I'll just slip in one butterfly photo before I go.........

Dependant on what today's weather brings we are hoping to have a "Family Walkabout". Looking pretty dismal at the moment but the day is still young...off to do my "sun dance" now.

Sorry I'm not getting to all of your blogs at the moment; I'll catch up as soon as I can.

THIS WEEKS GARDEN CATCH UP

Just a quick catch up of the latest garden happenings...luckily except for snail damage everything seems to have come through unscathed despite the horrendous weather lately. I think the low light levels, cooler temperature and lack of sun may bring some of the Autumn flowering plants forward and set the Summer flowers back. If you've dropped by for my Photo Hunters post...just scroll down a bit more.

I MEANT TO BLOG THAT!

Every Saturday night I try and sort out the countless photos I've taken during the week and often come across a few that I'd meant to post but either slipped through the net or were just to blurred to see clearly. With Leanne and the kids staying plus the fact it had been an emotional weekend I didn't get around to doing it till I got up this morning. As I'd nothing specific to post today I thought I'd let last weeks forgotten few have their 5 minutes of glory.

A few damsels

Lily pads on the river
Windswept Poppy....Bobby Charlton comb over style?

back to back Frog & Hedgehog!

Not the greatest photos...but this Hornet was massive and I didn't intend getting too close!

Cute baby bird in the park
and a cute albino chipmunk

Beautiful Canna leaf

Pelargonium in it's 4th year...a cutting brought home by Mick
Reflection of the garden in a water droplet
Quaking Grass
Don't bees have hairy legs!



This one wasn't a "forgotten" photo...it's last night's sunset

Just had a lovely surprise; Shaz at Us Danes & Our Family has given me one of their awards! What a great start to an otherwise gloomy, rainy Monday morning. Thanks!!!! I shall wear it with pride.

AFTER THE STORM

What a storm we had yesterday evening; thunder, lightning and really heavy rain. I was even off the Internet for a while; thank goodness the TV didn't go off...I would have missed the final of The Apprentice! It was really humid though and I left the kitchen door open to let in some fresh air as the heavy rain meant I had to shut every window in the house. It was quite a shock when I went to make myself a coffee....some of our frog population had come in to keep dry!!! I spent about an hour trying to shoo the frogs out of the kitchen...of course they all tried to hide behind the washing machine and fridge...I thought I'd have to search in the Yellow Pages for a Frog Herding company! This little fellow decided to have a stand off with the brass frog doorstop..... The garden was full of snails this morning...speaking of which.....one of my Canna leaves look like it has bullet holes in it.....no doubt a slug or snail had a nibble when the leaf was still in bud...those little nibbles turn into whacking great holes as the leaf grows..........
I was pleased to see our Oriental Poppy is blooming...the flowers are so big......
and I love the chocolate brown splodges in the centre.
This Oxalis has started flowering too......such a pretty colour.....we've had this for years now and the clump is expanding nicely without becoming a nuisance......
the new Oxalis Triangularis I planted a last week are starting to come through now...I love the colour of the leaves................I have quite a few small pots of them growing so shall be able to try them in various areas of the garden to see where they do best.Couldn't resist snapping another picture of this Geranium......
the Candytuft is really blooming well.....this year most of them seem to be lilac.......

this Bidens is a different flower form to the usual one I have....I like the little tufts of petal in the centre...it was a "freebie" gift ....I like "freebies"...
The first of the Callas is starting to come into flower......I like the speckled leaves....
the Campanula at the back of the rockery is romping away......I cut this back hard after the first mass of flowers or it swamps everything else out....it soon comes back again.....

The Blogger's Paradise Blogalong theme for this month is My Favourite Recipe.......I've decided to opt for a cake...but we have so many favourites it's hard to choose...some I've already printed before on my Please Read blog so I don't want to do them again.....I've decided go with my Strawberry Crunch Cake....I'll print it up tomorrow so "Dieter's Beware!"