Monthly Archives: August 2018

Duddingston Garden club Annual Flower Show …

getting some plants ready to sell at the annual flower show.   There are: tiarellas, chives, rosemary, lavender, ferns, fuschias, grasses, sempervivums and a couple of unknown things that just popped up in the garden.  The weather isn’t looking that great though and some ninja showers on the way so it might put people off coming.  Shame we had to get rid of the greenhouse due to the neighbours high trees and the golf course trees as I am having to do all my propagation in the conservatory and on the garden table.  I keep having to move them to under the table outside when the heavy rains are due and bring them back out again once they have passed.  I was going to put a couple of plants in the show myself but my Streptocarpus saxorum  only has 3 flowers on it and my roses are either just gone over or just not quite open enough.  I may put my little Hare’s foot fern into the foliage section.

plants, flowers,
Plants ready for the sale.

A few wee snippets…

I read somewhere that wasps feed on nectar and take insects back to the nest to feed the larvae as the larvae need protein.  I sat watching a wasp in the conservatory pulling wings from a hover fly (and the head too I think) then rolled it up into a neat package and flew off with it. This year there have been a lot of wasps around the pond and the bird bath to drink and I have had to save quite a few after they have fallen in.  I did put a stone in the birdbath and that helped a bit , but when they land on the duck weed in the pond it sometimes doesn’t support them, and they don’t appear to be able to fly away from the surface tension of the water.  I also read somewhere that if you want to keep them away when you are eating al fresco, they don’t like peppermint oil so keep some handy.  They might only after something sweet so maybe just leave a saucer of jam out just for them away from where you are sitting.  Or they might be after the ham inside your sandwich to take to feed their larvae.  I have watched them cut a small bit from my salad.
I spotted some brown spider’s webs in amongst the ferns.  All those spores falling on them make them look really tatty and dusty even with some of the nija showers we have been getting.
I also spotted a mushroom on a log at the back of the stumpery.  Someone else has spotted it too and had a nibble.  I have no idea what type it is and it looks a different colour when the sun shines on it.  Brown on the top in the sunshine, but a dark grey when the clouds come over.
We have had a few showers lately, which the garden and the pond desperately needed so things are looking a little fresher and less arid now.

wildlife,
wasp with hover fly
wildlife,
spore covered cobwebs
plants,fungi,stumpery,
in the sun
fungi,olants,stumpery,
in the shade

Cyclamen are stirring…

into life already.  Most of my garden cyclamen are flowering already and it is only the beginning of August.  I can’t find any of my white ones but only the pink ones in flower.  In the conservatory the small tubers are flowering but my huge ancient tuber is still totally dormant.  I have potted it on and the soil was quite damp so I am hoping it is ok.  As promised in  January  I measured the tuber and it is roughly 12.5cm at it’s widest and 10.5cm at it’s narrowest and it old and craggy looking.  I plant it quite proud of the soil level with a moat around it so it doesn’t get water on the top. I bought some small ones last year  they looked like a really dark burgundy colour, but this year they have come out  red.  Still attractive though.

plants,flowers, seeds,
Cyclamen seed pods
plants,flowers,
Cyclamen neapolitanum ?
plants,flowers,
indoor cyclamen tuber
plants,flowers,
Cycalmen that was meant to be dark burgundy.