Eclipse Day !

 

O.k. so what's going on in my rickety old shed this morning ? It's another heatwave day and it is really hot in here .

 If I were to try and open the window , I'm afraid it might fall off  ! 

I might leave the door open for a little while, until the sun moves behind the trees . Still warm , but a bit of shade in the afternoon .

                A few pics from  the shed .                                                                                

On Sunday I found a pack of eight sad and struggling pelargoniums, mixed colours, reduced to £2.50 in the B&Q store . Bargain !  So I have potted them up and I will bring them on for hanging baskets and tubs next year .

 They look so much happier already !

              I quickly nip across to open up the greenhouse .....

 It is ridiculously hot in there already , but some of my plants enjoy that ! 

  

                      Bowiea volubilis is loving it and romping away !

Lots of pretty flowers and seed pods .

    It has climbed up into the rafters of the greenhouse .

The Sweet Peppers which I cut down yesterday are already putting out new shoots . I'm not sure if there is enough time to get a second crop of Sweet Peppers , but it's worth a try . 

   

                    I've given them a bit of tomato feed .

Meanwhile back in the shed ......

                                  Cacti and Cabbages doing well .

  I just want to hold back planting out the cabbages for as long as I can dare . 

     The way I'd like it to go is this   -   The rain returns in a weeks time and then I will plant out my red and green cabbages, Pak choi , beetroots . I will get them all covered over with fine mesh netting . While they are here in the shed It is easier for me to manage watering them and they are safe from the Cabbage White Butterflies .....but on the other hand they could bolt ! So we'll wait and see how the weather goes . 

 I also have a second wave of more winter hardy Leeks to plant out  .

Still waiting for my seeds to arrive from Dobies . I had to contact them about it , it's been so long since I put my order in . They have apologised and say they are sending out a replacement . I have never had any parcels or mail lost in the post before and our post service is excellent down here .

    I hope they come soon , there are some winter lettuce seeds in there that I want to get going soon .

 

           Amorphophallus atroviridis update -

              Starting to open up those beautiful leaves !

      p.s. Don't forget the Eclipse this evening ....I think it starts at about 6pm .

I will try , but really please , don't expect any brilliant photos of it from me ! lol ! 

    

                                 🌿 Peace and Love 🕊️💚

                                          love Debbie 💐x

  

🌿 Very Odd Tomato ! 🌿

                                           Lol !  🤣😄😂

Still no rain ! ☀️

 

            Good morning ! Looking out through my kitchen window .

It has let a lot more light in , since I took off all the lower leaves and Ivy from the Tree Fern .

 It is still very hot here . I expect we'll have some really heavy rain storms soon .

Aah ....there's my little friend Robin waiting for me to come out .

I topped up the bird feeding station and refreshed the water in the bird bath .

There is a big bowl of water in the meadow for other thirsty wildlife .

I think these are "Blue Lake " Climbing beans and there are another lot of dwarf beans down below . Plenty more to come . 

 Peas are coming to the end now . I must remember to sow some more . 🫛🫛🫛

  I picked another big bunch of Lavender , lots more French beans and a couple of nice Courgettes .

Sweetcorn and Runner beans are only just getting going ... no idea why so slow ?

  Plenty of time though for these !

Oh ! Well ! We have plenty of these French beans . Some we are having fresh and some I have quickly blanched then into the freezer .

French beans , which I "open freeze" then bag up into free flow packs .

Meanwhile come with me into the shed ......

Amorphophallus atroviridis - update 

Back in February I acquired this small and strange Amorphopallus atroviridis tuber/corm/bulb/blob  .🤣

I potted it up and have been waiting and watching it for a very long time .

I did actually dig it up at one point to check that I had planted it up the right way .

Well at last it has begun putting up not one but two shoots and I am looking forward to seeing it's lovely leaves .

It really is painfully slow growing , but something is happening now .

          I can see the first bunch of lovely new leaves starting to open !

This is a slightly more rare variety of Voodoo Lily . I think it is a lot more tender , but has the most beautiful leaves  . 

I think it's looking gorgeous already ! 

The other tiny little shoot next to the main one is just stationary ..... 🤔

                                          🌿💚 🌿

Epiphyllum "Helston Library " ( maybe apricot flowers ) cuttings - update -

They are all getting away nicely now . First the new shoots look like they have been squeezed out of a cake decorating nozzle ....

                                    Then they develop "wings"

          Then they grow into proper flat phylloclades or modified leaves .

And then hopefully the flower buds come from the nodes of these adult phylloclades . 

                                 Flower bud coming .

                              One of my other Epies in full bloom 🤍

It is fiercely hot today ☀️ I won't be doing anything out in the garden until this evening when it should cool down a bit .

🪻Might do some patchwork this afternoon or make some Lavender bags 🪻💜

                         Take care in the fierce sun !

                                     Peace and Love 🤍🕊️

                                               Debbie 💐 x