Pottering about in the Greenhouse

I had planned to pull out my sewing things and do some patchwork , but I went up to open up the greenhouse window and ended up taking down the insulation from the greenhouse rafters and pottering about watering and checking on things and marvelling at things and making fresh plans and and and ... you know how it goes !

                      Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri 

 This was a small cutting from my mum's plant over twenty years ago ....and hers was a cutting from my grandmother's plant . 

It has been a blaze of red flame-like star flowers for several weeks now ! 

I think most people know this as an Easter Cactus .

 With those flame like flowers it is more of a Pentecost Cactus than an Easter Cactus . 

Up in the greenhouse the Tomatoes need watering , they're doing well .

 

  I am feeding them now at about every other watering .

I want to make sure everything has been watered before the up coming warmer temperatures this coming weekend .

 If we get more rain , that too will be good to refill the water barrels over night .

I may have lost one of the ferns under the end bench .  I need to pull that out and see if I can revive it . I have a very delicate Epiphyllum under there ... can't remember what it is . Might be Epiphyllum oxypetalum  🤔I need to pull it out and check the label . I'll do that tomorrow .

 

I still need to get my little fountain going in there ! That can be a job for my grandson when he next comes to visit .....also to see if there are any potatoes in my spud-tubs !

Everything is looking healthy and lush .

Bowiea volubilis is going crazy now along with my one remaining Passiflora manicata . The others were/still are outside , not sure if they survived the winter , need to check on them . Meanwhile Passiflora manicata in the greenhouse is very happy and I will sort out a more permanent place for it in there in due course .

So at the moment , everything is scrabbling about together happily ....and I don't mind !

                                  Plants of all nations !

                Polacanthus dinosaur on snail munching duty 🐌

Cucumber vine sneaking across to say "hello" to the Sweet Peppers . 

I took down the winter insulation from along the greenhouse rafters . That is now  rolled up and stored away to be reused next winter . 

 I leave the shade netting up along this side of the greenhouse , for the Epies , ferns and the more shade loving plants .

  This will give more light in for the cacti , sweet peppers and tomato plants on the other side .

The Cucumbers are doing brilliantly ..all over the place !

 I'm waiting for the postman to deliver a nice bundle of paracord . Then I can fix up some gentle support for them .

But it's o.k. I can still get in and move around in there to tend to them all .

I forgot to take that Cucumber today . I'll take it tomorrow for our salad .

A huge Nasturtium has popped up in one pot . Where have you come from ? 

I didn't sow any Nasturtium seeds ..I wonder what colour that will be ?

A few more Agaves to  tidy up and re-pot .This one is Agave americana .

 This is a beauty ! I don't know which variety it is . It is a very slow growing one .

But then Agaves stay small until you repot them and then they quickly grow to fill the new bigger pot ! 

  I might take this one out and give it a much grander size pot . 

If you plant them out into the garden ......

                       ...they can quickly grow to the size of a mini car !

                 That's all fer today folks !

               🌿🕊️  Love and Peace and a bit more sunshine ☀️💐🌿

                                          love Debbie  x

                                                🌧️🌦️🌧️

Epiphyllums in the Greenhouse - update

 

                Epiphyllum Curt Backeberg beginning to fade now .

I always feel a bit sad when these flowers begin to fade and wither away .

                    Epiphyllum Clown

However , it will be exciting to see what comes from having crossed these two beauties .

The flower is withering away , but the seedpod is swelling .

                                       Epiphyllum Yellow

I also pollenated the bottom two flowers of this one . Named and sold to me as being E.Yellow , although it is actually very pale yellow on the outer petals and more ivory on the inner petals  .

  I would like to rename it Epiphyllum  Cornish Clotted Cream !

So I pollenated it with this one below ......

.....which was sold to me as E. Acapulco Sunset .  Sadly, as it turns out , I don't think it is Acapulco Sunset .  It is a Giant variety for sure and these giant ones are hard to find here in the U.K.

  These were the only flowers open at the same time .  I only pollenated the two bottom flowers of the one on the left. Epiphyllum Yellow . There was plenty of pollen .

And here are the seed pods forming .

The two unpollinated flowers dropped off completely . 

Very exciting to see these seed pods swelling !

The ripening can take between six and twelve months . Exciting ! 

 To be updated !  

                                          🌿💚🌿

Cosmos 🌿

 

                 Good morning my friends ! 

Here I am tidying up my Agaves yesterday . I still have a few more to repot , but I wanted to give you an update on my Cosmos seedlings .

I sowed these around the beginning of April .

They came up almost overnight !

     I probably sowed them a bit too thickly , but they were easy to prick out and pot on . 

They grow really fast after potting them on .

In previous years I have pinched them out and by doing this ,they put out side shoots and become sturdier and bushier plants .

Here's one I did earlier , you can see the two new side-shoots .

The other thing I have done is to gently stroke them . This also makes them grow stronger .

What I only recently learned , is that you can prepare the pinched out tops as cuttings ! 

 I didn't quite believe this as they seem so delicate and frail ....but I thought I'd give it a go .....nothing to lose !

I gently stuck them into two pots of compost and put them into this old washing up bowl standing in about a quarter of an inch of water .

 

I sprayed them with a mist and just kept an eye on them over the following week or two .

 I thought they would all pass out and that I'd find them all flopped over , dead .....but no .... 

I kept checking them and yesterday I could see some roots coming out of the bottom of the pot !  Yay !

So I pulled them all out  to have a proper look......wow !  🤩✨🎉🎈🥳

That feeling of being incredibly wealthy ! 🥳🎈🎉✨🤩 I suddenly have twice as many Cosmos plants !  🤩

 ( I wouldn't actually know how that would feel , but it is how I imagine I'd feel )

                             🌿🩷   I'm in love ! 🤍🌿

All potted up !  I will give them a few days to get their roots down into the compost . 

  It's forecast to be warm again over this coming weekend . 

I might plant them out after that .

                                    Very happy me !

Other happy news ......

                                 We have cucumbers !!  😃🌿

                                  Proper long cucumbers !

I have grown Merlin and Carmen this year , I think these long ones are Carmen .

I'm waiting for some string to arrive , so that I can fix up support for them . At the moment they are scrabbling happily around all over the place , but very healthy !

                              That's all fer today folks !

                             🌿🤍Peace and Love 🕊️🌿

                                       🌧️🌦️🌧️🌧️🌧️