Mullion Village Church of St Mellanus - Wild Flower Festival

Today I,m taking you to see the Wild Flower Festival at Mullion Village Church of St Mellanus .

The pathway leading up to the church entrance was lined with flower filled clogs , shoes , trainers and wellington boots .

                                                        So pretty !

It does look so pretty with the pink Hawthorn in full bloom .
  The two middle trees were replaced a few years back , but are fast catching up with the older ones now .

                            More shoes and boots , such a lovely idea !

                             Through the main entrance , a glimpse inside .

                                        St Mellanus above the door.

Soft classical music played as I walked around . Such delicate wild flowers , so carefully arranged up beside the main Altar .

                               Little arrangements delight the eye .

                                                All so fragile .

                The light streaming in through the stained  glass windows .

                                          The lovely Paschal Candle .

                             This is my favourite window ..gorgeous !

             .....and this tiny arrangement at the end of a pew ... so sweet !

I came to find out information about the Mother's Union in Mullion for a friend .
               Well , here was the Mother's Union badge or logo  .

 And there is going to be a Mother's Union open meeting next Thursday . Unfortunately we have to go to the dentist , so I wont be able to get to this ..oh...well ..another time ....but do go and meet them all if you're in Mullion and I,ve heard the Handbell Ringers are really good too ! :)

 The ancient Holy Water font ....was empty as I dipped my hand in ...

 My husband bought two slices of delicious Victoria sandwich cake , with jam and butter cream filling and butter cream and crumbled chocolate flake on top . The kind lady on the cake stall , even gave him a tub to carry it home in ...I will drop it back tomorrow . The cake was absolutely delicious !

 The rest of the day was spent admiring more Epiphyllum flowers up in the greenhouse . This one is E. Bountiful and the photograph just doesn't do it  justice . Now that it is fully open there are flashes of purple in the middle when the light shines through it and the red is more of an orange -red ..just gorgeous !

   This one has lovely yellow petals around the outer ring and sweet perfume .

 I potted up those Epie cuttings and will be planting out those Physalis babies tomorrow .

 I got the Charles Dowding method , multi-sown Leeks planted out at last ....although there is another tray of them which I am holding back , to plant out later on , to take us into the Winter . There will be more space for them later on too . We use a lot of leeks !

 The Sweetcorn and two more Butternuts also got planted out .We also really love Butternut Squashes ! 
 We really could do with a good steady downpour of rain , hopefully over night .

 Epie cuttings rooted and putting out fresh new shoots and one of them even has a flower bud !

                So all is well in the greenhouse and I am off to bed ...

                    ...I'll be dreaming about flowers tonight for sure  !

Epic Epie sort out - Bank holiday Weekend

May is a wonderful month for enjoying Epiphyllum flowers  . I have pretty much dedicated this Bank holiday weekend to being with them up in the greenhouse .

                        Being utterly delighted and surprised by their beauty . . .

                             and fragrance   . . . I feel so spiritually uplifted .

                                 Epiphyllum crenatum sideways view .
            These flowers lasted for about two and a half days before fading away .

 So now I want to make more of this lovely plant and I have taken off this branch to make a couple of  cuttings .

 I write the names of the plants onto the leaves with a plant label pen .
 The proper names for the leaves of Epiphyllums are cladodes/cladophylls or phylloclades . They are actually a highly specialised way for the plant to climb towards the light , flattened stems which photosynthesise and find moisture and nutrients....growing in their natural habitat high up on cliff face and up in the branches in the tree canopy of the rain forests ...Epiphyllum crenatum is from Mexico . Most of them , Epiphyllums , come from South America .
 Epiphytes are plants which grow on other plants/trees taking their nutrients , air and moisture from the moss and bits that have fallen and collected in amongst the tree branches and crevices . They spread out their stems , climb and hang down , scrabbling along and propagating themselves as they travel .
 The stems send out long shoots called stolons which reach out and when they have found the perfect place on a branch, these stolons change their shape and become flattened and widened . . . and those beautiful flowers come from out of the nodes , the little indentations or crenations  or dimples on the leaves .
  I will refer to these cladophylls as leaves from now on , but it is interesting to know how these extraordinary plants grow and differ from other plants .

 So these aren't really a plant that will sit in a pot and grow neatly in one place .
         The more space you can give them, the happier they will be !
They do best given shade  or filtered sunlight . The species can take a bit more sun light but be very careful on that . A North facing windowsill is best in the house .
  My greenhouse is unheated , but we are warmer here in Cornwall , mine get through the winter with sheets of newspaper thrown on if we get a freezing weather warning . The greenhouse becomes hot in the Spring/summer and I open the greenhouse windows depending on the weather . I have fixed up shade net . If ever I have left a pot of Epies in the blazing sun by mistake and accidentally splashed them with water ...then the leaves have scorched and blistered ..so remember ..they like warmth and shade .
They like to be in a consistently moist compost , but not drowning in water during the Summer and almost completely dry over Winter months .
 I will be feeding mine just once after they have finished blooming ..which is also when I do any re-potting that needs to be done .

         So this weekend , I am tidying them up a little and taking cuttings .

        Snails are a blooming nuisance , also a very annoying little yellow Oxalis corniculata , which I didn't take a picture of ....I pluck it out as soon as I see it , but  wonder if I should just give in and let it mingle in around the stems . ... it is  very pretty .....and then I think " NO !"... it is taking all the nutrients from my Epies !

 No , snails are the biggest nuisance for sure and I,m going to sprinkle slug pellets . I think they drop in from the open roof windows when I,m not looking !
Maybe I should set up "slug pubs " ..... maybe that would attract more of them ....aaagh !

 This is what snails have done to some of my Epies over this Winter ...sigh ....

So , snip , snip , clipperty clip ... I cut out all the tatty bits and take lots of cuttings .  The cut end of the stems need to callus over before I pot them up into , just ordinary multi-purpose compost with some perlite mixed in .(works for me). Actually , I have on occasion left out this step and they still do root away  no trouble , but it is better to leave them to callus over first .
  Once again , I write the names of the different varieties of the Epies on to their leaves .....it makes it so much easier ...and if I do it when the plants are in flower I can be sure of the plants name and flower colour too .
I put more information on the plastic plant labels , such as name of the person I acquired it from ,such as Terry Hewitt Holly Gate nursery , Mr John Pilbeam , Mr John Horobin's collection etc and country of origin .

     So we have more buds coming and this photo was taken at about 7pm yesterday evening .

                                                              7pm

            This plant was sold to me as Epiphyllum "Bountiful" ..it is huge !

 I think this is another Epiphylum crenatum ..but there are some others which are slightly different such as E. crenatum var. kimnachii and E.crenatum var.chichicastenango ....so if any real and proper Epiphyllum expert knows the fine tuning on the name of mine as seen here , then please to let me know !

                                         
                                            7pm in  the  greenhouse .

                                     
                                           10pm Epiphyllum "Bountiful"

                           
                       10pm Epiphyllum crenatum has opened out just one petal !

                                      5.30 am Epiphyllum " Bountiful "

                                           5.30 am Epiphyllum crenatum .

                                            Have a beautiful Sunday !

Friday 24th May - Vegetable Garden Update - More Beans

 Today ,the Under Gardener  gave me  helping hand taking apart this wigwam , which I felt wasn't going to be the best way of growing these Ryder's Top O' the Pole Climbing French Beans . I think they'll just get all tangled up at the top with nowhere to go ...the clue is in the name  "Top O' the Pole" ....there needs to be a pole along the top of the frame to give the beans more space ....and it sounds as if these are fast growers !

 I found a few old bamboo canes and tied them in . 
   Beans do prefer hazel sticks / poles . They wind around them and climb better than on slippery bamboo canes  .....but since this is all I could find today they'll just have to do .

All planted up and I,ll sow a few more for spares in the solar shed .( Solar Shed with the big sloping window ) Last year something came along and cut through the stems of my beans , as if with scissors . It was very disheartening after so much work . All the dead bits lying on the ground  ....
    I actually cried ....

So anyway , some you win , some you  lose . That's just the way it is with growing vegetables ...but we pick ourselves up , dust ourselves down and start all over again and don't give up !

 It seems beneficial insects also prefer natural hazel bean poles .
                             Ladybirds eat Greenflies ...hooray !
 

                     Pea flowers ....soon I can add a few fresh peas to our salad .

 Crimson Broad-beans ...sweetly scented and so pretty ..the bees are loving these flowers .

 Birdie ...my grape loving female Blackbird ....reminding me to plant out this last pot of Sweet-pea odoratus "Erewhon"  . Lavender blue and pale pink , with a very beautiful perfume , to go beside my front door . I hope I haven't left it too late .
  I know they do better from an Autumn sowing . I have a couple more packets to try again in the Autumn .
  That's all for now , I have to go check on the greenhouse . Funny weather today, sun goes in and it becomes chilly, sun comes out it becomes too hot . I have sown  the seeds of Morning Glory , Lobelia "Cambridge Blue" , Poppies and  pink Campanulas , so I am keeping a close eye on the temperature in the greenhouse .
       Cheerio for now Debbie x