Recent Garden Acquisitions

[Opsa]

Yeay! Go, little sprouts!

I think I may be seeing some more lettuce sprouts, here.

[pieces o nine]

V's father died after a long bout with cancer, which is sad, and she had to (fight) with relatives pretending that he was feeling fine and not getting ready to go on the cart on one hand, and those trying to deny him hospice pain meds so he wouldn't 'become an addict' on the other, which even sadder. She is dealing with this by making abrupt changes around the house and spending time in the gardens, which is why I am posting in this thread. She's been liberally  <---[If/x: ba-dum-ching]  spreading chicken manure on everything that can't run away again to the point of a dark comedy movie premise:  The Poolander/The Chikkening.

Even Dom is refusing to go out in the steaming air.

Back to your regularly scheduled garden maneuvers...   

[Aggie]

She's been liberally  <---[If/x: ba-dum-ching]  spreading chicken manure on everything that can't run away again to the point of a dark comedy movie premise:  

Classic political stereotyping; conservatives spout bull shit, liberals are chicken shit.  

[Opsa]

OMG, so true.

Sorry to hear about V's Dad though. Gardening can be very soothing to the broken hearted. Thank TGW for gardens.

[Roland Deschain]

I'm sorry to hear about V's dad, too. It must be an awful time for her, especially after the rest of her family acted selfishly during his decline. Give her my love and sympathy if it will mean anything to her.

Seeds are popping up all over the place now. Currently showing are:-

Grasses

Chionochloa Spicula x 3
Cyperus Involucratus x 7
Melica Altissima Atropurpurea x 16
Setaria Macrostachya 'Will Scarlet' x 16

Fruit

Myrtus Ugni x 1
Wonderberry x 8

Flowers

Andean Rarities x 3

It is now 2 days shy of 3 weeks since they were planted. There are a lot there that I have no idea on germination times, so once it reaches the 4 week mark, i'll have a thorough look online to see if I can find any more info on germination. I am already going to leave what doesn't germinate this year until at least next spring, looking after them in the meantime and simulating natural seasons in the hope that this is what they do.

This seed growing lark is nerve-wracking, lol.

[Opsa]

Speaking of lark, my larkspur have started to blossom. Very sweet! There's a little bunny shape in each flower.

[Roland Deschain]

Do you mean Delphinium? They're a beautiful flower, but you really must stake them, or they fall all over the place. Consider this a lesson from experience in my case.

Dad just bought 2 x Weigela Midnight Wine. My parents have 2 patches of lavender, but one of them came up very patchy this year. Dad being impatient, he now wants one whole patch taken out (it's ~18'x18", or 5.5m x 0.45m), and all new stuff put in. He wants to get low-growing shrubs from the local Homebase, but i'll convince him that he needs to buy online to get a decent choice. If he only gets from Homebase, they'll have a garden looking like all the others round here, and that is not what I want.

Weigela - Midnight Wine

[Opsa]

That's a very pretty Weigela!

Around here the annual form of Delphinium is called a Larkspur. Since the perennial version sulks in our extreme humidity, I grow the annual larkspur to console myself. It is very pretty, but not as tall and fully flowered as the perennial kind.

Below is a pink larkspur spike and a close-up of the bunny center.

[Roland Deschain]

That's a striking Delphinium you have there. The variety here is purple. It's pretty when staked, and messy (but still pretty) when not. Love the bunny centre!

[Opsa]

I hoped that would amuse you, my bunny sibling!

Most of ours are purple, but I have a pale blue and this pale, cool pink. I didn't get any cobalt blue ones this year so far, but I love those. I tend to have a lot of orange/peach/yellow shades in the garden at this time of year, so these guys cool the picture down a bit.

[Roland Deschain]

Sounds wonderful. I'll remember to stake the ones here next year, as along with the Lupins and most of the flower stalks on the Campanulas, they're a little floppy.

Sometimes a display of the same or very similar colours can be striking, but it can get a little too much. Different is good.

[Opsa]

There's much to say on behalf of contrast and diversity.

By the way, I grew my larkspur in tomato cages this year and so far they've held up to a couple of wicked storms.

[Roland Deschain]

I've been thinking on how to keep the herbaceous perennials standing to attention by aesthetic means, but keep coming up against bamboo canes as the definitive method. I've looked into tomato cages, and found most of them to be pretty intrusive in terms of looks (One Example). Bamboo and string it may well have to be.

[Opsa]

I bought a bunch of little, lightweight tomato cages a couple of years ago, which I haul out every year for various plants. I place them when the plant is small, and the foliage hides the wire.

[Opsa]

Got a bit spring-happy and bought two bags of 50 each red gladiola bulbs. I have always loved gladiolas, and needed some red punch for the late summer garden. The only problem was finding enough bare spaces in which to tuck them! I think I over did it. Ah well, if they bloom, it should be a nice show.