i love hens and chicks! my great aunt used to have them in front of her home and when she died i was asked to take some for the family and let them grow in a particular spot in my garden so everyone could eventually take some...it is so exciting every year seeing the little chicks grow and seeing how far they spread...lovely array for a garden you have...i am envious...
Thanks Daisy...We have some poppies coming up this year, they did nothing last year. I looked up "Hens and Chicks" and it looks like it's a very innocent name for what is otherwise known as an opium poppy??!
Pip, forget gardening. It is crap for your back. Get people to bring you a bit of a plant from their gardens when they visit you (and even get them to bung them in for you!)
i don't know lilith but they are in the 7th picture you have on your blog..we always called them hens and chicks...don't know why...but that is how they identify them here...
Ha! I have just found them on wiki, Daisy. I don't know why I got a load of opium poppies when I googled hens and chicks! Yes, we tend to just call them succulents, or "weird plant" as in "Have you seen what this weird plant is up to now?"
We had a profusion of yellow poppies when we moved here, but they seem to be dying out each year - despite collecting the seeds and chucking them everywhere...
Agree about getting other people's plants etc, Younger Daught and Mrs S always whizz backwards and forwards with all sorts of stuff! I just fill the glasses...
Lovely, Lilith. If I were to post photos of my garden, there be lots of moss, some fine dandelions, and some rather bedraggled leftovers from last summer. It's not that I dislike gardening, I love it. The weather here is not condusive to be out at all times, unfortunately. Our daffs are only just flowering and the tulips are thinking about it.
Thank you Scroblene :-) I am actually v lazy, alternating with obsessive compulsive, in the garden. If I am stressed I love to neurasthenicly weed and worry the soil. But only in the early part of the year. After May I kind of lose interest in DOING anything in the garden and just like to sit in it :-) Plants are self selecting according to their resistance to slugs, their ability to survive extreme temperatures/having their roots soggy/dried out one week to the next. Many things are planted hopefully only for them to disappear over night or after a season, inspite of the "hardy perrenial" label.
Oh Fuchsia, this year hasn't been good here either for getting out into it...most of what you see here has just done it's thing with no help from me...I hate it when it's windy though I don't mind a bit of drizzle.
Sadly all we have now are a few plastic plants as we live in a condo now. I do miss the garden in the old house but like condo living now though, more time to travel.
Arh.. Lilith your flowers are lovely. I struggle to grow pretty plants as we have 'rogue' lop eared rabbit called Rocket who constantly decapitates any pretty flower or shrub. He must be aged about 8yrs now and doesn't show any signs of going to the 'Great Cabbage Patch' in the sky. Must be his healthy diet that contributes to his longevity. I don't wish him dead, mind you, he is rather lovely and all the kids love him. He would make a wonderful Rabbit Pie though,as his favourite herbs are Basil, Rosemary and Parsley.
So we just have a garden full of hardy 'Rabbit ' proof shrubs..Shame as I really miss my pretty flowers and roses etc. Like Kevin, I think we have been Blogging Chums for about a year now. I remember reading your post, round about this time last year, that featured you garden. It was lovely then too.
I know people who put plastic tulips and alliums into their gardens to make them look more impressive Old Tarf :-) Neat idea. Gardening is shit for your back too..
Rocket the Rabbit, Trubes :-) Well, that's one way of keeping the weeds down...have you thought of calling in Kev the Dispatcher? He'll take it up on the moor for you....
Lileth: You and your daughter are very welcome. If she really is serious about going to Syria, as long as she keeps her wits about herself and does not get herself into obviously stupid situations (she sounds like a sensible lass)she will be fine. I hope she likes goat cheese which is the standard fare for breakfast! It squeaks as you chew it but tastes great with freshly baked Arab flatbread and fresh brewed coffee....
Oh God I hope she doesn't drop out Lil, hows she doing? I think it would be better to get the A levels then do what she likes, from working in McD's to being a camel herder. But at least with the A levels under her belt she has a choice - she can always change her mind. Without them she'd have to start again. Possible but tedious. Could you promise her her own goat for every A level she gets?
" A rhododendron was hailed a real treasure after being newly identified as a Victorian hybrid. The rhododendron, a hybrid of R. arboreum and R. fortunei, was identified during a study of 825 rhododendrons at Westonbirt Arboretum, Gloucestershire. Experts believe that many other new hybrids are waiting to be discovered. Simon Toomer, Westonbirt's curator, said: “You could relate this to restoring an historic building after discovering long-lost artefacts and features.” The hybrid is believed to be the work of Sir George Holford who inherited Westonbirt in 1892."
That's you, Westonbirt, isn't it Lilith? Shall you go and look?
Yes, I saw that too HG...I shall indeed :-) We have made a promise to ourselves to go every month...we love it and Pig is in HEAVEN when we go there...Silk Wood is full of playful dogs.
Lilith: Excellent! Now the only other thing she might need to know is that the Arabic dialect she will be likely to learn is the Syria/Jordan/Israeli one. This is fine - except that when/if she goes to say Egypt,Yemen or the Gulf States, she will not understand a word they say! In reverse, it is bit like an Arab going to Glasgow or Newcastle to learn English and then being transferred to Cornwall. Just so she knows...!
Kev, from somewhere on the interwebby I found this :-)
After They Bloom
They do not have to be dug up once they are finished growing and the leaves fade. As long as you don’t water them, they’ll be quite happy in the ground.
Cut the flower stem to the base where you can see it when the flower fades and the petals start to fall.
This stops the flower from setting seed and instead it puts its efforts into building a big bulb for next year.
However, do not cut the leaves off the tulip until they start to fade and turn yellow.
This is extremely important if you want to see bulbs live from year to year. Those leaves are energy factories and the bulb needs the energy to grow and produce another flower.
If you find yourself still having tulip leaves when you want to plant annual flowers then switch to early varieties of tulips that will be finished when it is time to plant annuals.
Do Not Water
Do not water tulips during the hot summer months. They are genetically used to hot, dry summers and cool wet springs. If you irrigate them, you may cause them to rot.
What a beautiful spot you've created there Lilith, hope you now find the time to sit down amongst the blooms and enjoy a glass or two of something refreshing.
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37 comments:
i love hens and chicks! my great aunt used to have them in front of her home and when she died i was asked to take some for the family and let them grow in a particular spot in my garden so everyone could eventually take some...it is so exciting every year seeing the little chicks grow and seeing how far they spread...lovely array for a garden you have...i am envious...
Is this the same garden that E-K likes to sniff?
Ok am ashamed - is it too late to plant seeds?
Thanks Daisy...We have some poppies coming up this year, they did nothing last year. I looked up "Hens and Chicks" and it looks like it's a very innocent name for what is otherwise known as an opium poppy??!
Yes, Killem, the very same one :-)
Pip, forget gardening. It is crap for your back. Get people to bring you a bit of a plant from their gardens when they visit you (and even get them to bung them in for you!)
i don't know lilith but they are in the 7th picture you have on your blog..we always called them hens and chicks...don't know why...but that is how they identify them here...
Ha! I have just found them on wiki, Daisy. I don't know why I got a load of opium poppies when I googled hens and chicks! Yes, we tend to just call them succulents, or "weird plant" as in "Have you seen what this weird plant is up to now?"
Lils those pics are marvellous!
We had a profusion of yellow poppies when we moved here, but they seem to be dying out each year - despite collecting the seeds and chucking them everywhere...
Agree about getting other people's plants etc, Younger Daught and Mrs S always whizz backwards and forwards with all sorts of stuff! I just fill the glasses...
Fantastic photos again. Has it really been a year ???
We've been friends over a year now, Lilith !
About time I put you in my link list ;-)
Lovely, Lilith. If I were to post photos of my garden, there be lots of moss, some fine dandelions, and some rather bedraggled leftovers from last summer. It's not that I dislike gardening, I love it. The weather here is not condusive to be out at all times, unfortunately. Our daffs are only just flowering and the tulips are thinking about it.
Thank you Scroblene :-) I am actually v lazy, alternating with obsessive compulsive, in the garden. If I am stressed I love to neurasthenicly weed and worry the soil. But only in the early part of the year. After May I kind of lose interest in DOING anything in the garden and just like to sit in it :-) Plants are self selecting according to their resistance to slugs, their ability to survive extreme temperatures/having their roots soggy/dried out one week to the next. Many things are planted hopefully only for them to disappear over night or after a season, inspite of the "hardy perrenial" label.
Yes Kev, another year older and wiser :-) It's been great.
And this year we'll meet :-) I hope.
I suspect Idle, Tuscan and the Hitch are all together somewhere where there are no computers and lots of wine.
Oh Fuchsia, this year hasn't been good here either for getting out into it...most of what you see here has just done it's thing with no help from me...I hate it when it's windy though I don't mind a bit of drizzle.
Lovely pictures Lilith... inspired me to put some of mine up chez FLeet.
Great garden.
Sadly all we have now are a few plastic plants as we live in a condo now. I do miss the garden in the old house but like condo living now though, more time to travel.
Arh.. Lilith your flowers are lovely.
I struggle to grow pretty plants as we have 'rogue' lop eared rabbit called Rocket who constantly decapitates any pretty flower or shrub.
He must be aged about 8yrs now and doesn't show any signs of going to the 'Great Cabbage Patch' in the sky. Must be his healthy diet that contributes to his longevity. I don't wish him dead, mind you, he is rather lovely and all the kids love him.
He would make a wonderful Rabbit Pie though,as his favourite herbs are Basil, Rosemary and Parsley.
So we just have a garden full of hardy 'Rabbit ' proof shrubs..Shame as I really miss my pretty flowers and roses etc.
Like Kevin, I think we have been Blogging Chums for about a year now.
I remember reading your post, round about this time last year, that featured you garden. It was lovely then too.
The flowers that bloom in the spring, trala.... (The Mikado)
I know people who put plastic tulips and alliums into their gardens to make them look more impressive Old Tarf :-) Neat idea. Gardening is shit for your back too..
I will pop over Fleet :-)
Rocket the Rabbit, Trubes :-) Well, that's one way of keeping the weeds down...have you thought of calling in Kev the Dispatcher? He'll take it up on the moor for you....
Quite so Nomad. Thank you for your encouraging comments on the previous thread. Exciting adventures...
la la la I'm home - flowers, sunshine, yummy.
Hope you're feeling yummy Lilith? Trubes? Dais? All of yous in fact.
Lileth: You and your daughter are very welcome. If she really is serious about going to Syria, as long as she keeps her wits about herself and does not get herself into obviously stupid situations (she sounds like a sensible lass)she will be fine. I hope she likes goat cheese which is the standard fare for breakfast! It squeaks as you chew it but tastes great with freshly baked Arab flatbread and fresh brewed coffee....
Oh God I hope she doesn't drop out Lil, hows she doing? I think it would be better to get the A levels then do what she likes, from working in McD's to being a camel herder. But at least with the A levels under her belt she has a choice - she can always change her mind. Without them she'd have to start again. Possible but tedious. Could you promise her her own goat for every A level she gets?
" A rhododendron was hailed a real treasure after being newly identified as a Victorian hybrid. The rhododendron, a hybrid of R. arboreum and R. fortunei, was identified during a study of 825 rhododendrons at Westonbirt Arboretum, Gloucestershire. Experts believe that many other new hybrids are waiting to be discovered. Simon Toomer, Westonbirt's curator, said: “You could relate this to restoring an historic building after discovering long-lost artefacts and features.” The hybrid is believed to be the work of Sir George Holford who inherited Westonbirt in 1892."
That's you, Westonbirt, isn't it Lilith? Shall you go and look?
She ADORES goat cheese, Nomad!!! Yes, she can be sensible....
I think we will get there Pip...it's all a bit skin of teeth though...
Yes, I saw that too HG...I shall indeed :-) We have made a promise to ourselves to go every month...we love it and Pig is in HEAVEN when we go there...Silk Wood is full of playful dogs.
Lilith: Excellent! Now the only other thing she might need to know is that the Arabic dialect she will be likely to learn is the Syria/Jordan/Israeli one. This is fine - except that when/if she goes to say Egypt,Yemen or the Gulf States, she will not understand a word they say! In reverse, it is bit like an Arab going to Glasgow or Newcastle to learn English and then being transferred to Cornwall. Just so she knows...!
How do you deal with tulips once they've gone to seed, Lilith ?
Kev, from somewhere on the interwebby I found this :-)
After They Bloom
They do not have to be dug up once they are finished growing and the leaves fade. As long as you don’t water them, they’ll be quite happy in the ground.
Cut the flower stem to the base where you can see it when the flower fades and the petals start to fall.
This stops the flower from setting seed and instead it puts its efforts into building a big bulb for next year.
However, do not cut the leaves off the tulip until they start to fade and turn yellow.
This is extremely important if you want to see bulbs live from year to year. Those leaves are energy factories and the bulb needs the energy to grow and produce another flower.
If you find yourself still having tulip leaves when you want to plant annual flowers then switch to early varieties of tulips that will be finished when it is time to plant annuals.
Do Not Water
Do not water tulips during the hot summer months. They are genetically used to hot, dry summers and cool wet springs. If you irrigate them, you may cause them to rot.
I will let her know, Nomad, although sometimes she reads my blog :-)
What a beautiful spot you've created there Lilith, hope you now find the time to sit down amongst the blooms and enjoy a glass or two of something refreshing.
It is my quaffing space TT :-) The whole point of my back yard is to be able to sit in it with an nice glass of something :-)
Mine too, Lil, but then I'll drink in any shithole if the beer is good.
Have I ruined my image Kev?
What image, Pippy ?
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