Sunday, November 29, 2009



The Fuschia by the kitchen door is getting BIG. And this after cutting it back and after some fairly major branches had got broken by the builders. Some of the branches now require a hacksaw to cut.

The flowers start in summer and it just gets better and better until the severe frosts. I've taken a cutting as insurance because I think one year it's not going to come back.







Sunday, November 22, 2009

Schizostylis coccinea



It's almost over now but this is Schizostylis coccinea of some kind. It flowers mainly in the autumn here and the flowers contrast well with the soft green leaves. I saw something in the local paper that this needs moisture, sort of the opposite to what I thought for a just hard bulb from South Africa. Mind you, the rhodohypoxis need moisture too. I also have a soft pink form, I think it is called "Pink Pearl".

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Buddleia


It was t-shirt weather in the garden today. A bit bedraggled after a storm this is my yellow buddleia, probably B. x weyeriana. I asked at the local garden retail outlet (rather than a nursery) what it was and the person looked at the label and declared it to be "Black Knight" somehow missing that the picture on the label was of dark purple flowers while the plant actually had orange/yellow flowers. Ah well.

I've been cutting back a normal Buddleia until the wheezing set in. I always find when cutting it back something catches on the back of my throat and I have to stop. I know I shouldn't cut it back hard now but really I don't mind if I lose it. I have about fifty seedlings on tufa in the troughs and I could always buy a new one. Might have to buy it in flower though.