Epiphyllum var "Marilyn Monroe" - still waiting

 

Every morning early I am rushing up to my greenhouse to see if Marilyn Monroe has arrived ! 

The bud on this Epiphyllum is growing larger every time I go to look . You are not supposed to move the position of these plants when they are in bud like this , but she has now become so large that there is not enough space for her to fully open her petals .

                      So I have moved her into a more generous space towards the back .

I had planted her as a cutting last year inside a tomato cage for support but as you can see she has escaped . Epiphyllums like to roam wild and free .

E. Marilyn Monroe is supposed to have a large pink flower . I bought this from another Epie fan , Beverly in  Falmouth . Beverly I hope you are well and looking in today💐 . I am so excited to see her open that flower ! Will it be today ? Will it be tomorrow ? 

Watch this space !  🌿💚🌿

More Epiphyllum Happiness !

 Flowering right at the back of my greenhouse . I couldn't get in to see what variety of Epiphyllum it is ! 

                               Please can anyone tell me what this one is ?

                                                    She's a beauty ! 

                                                     I am in love !

Meanwhile in the Greenhouse - Early May update

 

Trying to take my mind off a hospital appointment this afternoon . So I,m messing about in the greenhouse .

I,ve taken down this insulation foil stuff from the rafters , rolling it up and packing it away in the shed for next Winter.

Unhook the net from this side , where all the desert cactus and sun loving succulents are .

                                            Sweep away the cobwebs .

Then fix up the shade net that I,d just removed and fasten it up over the Forest Cacti and more shade loving side  .

                                           So now , everybody happy ! 

Poor Old Neglected Cactus !

So I was pottering about in the greenhouse  , looking for a cactus that I knew I had in there somewhere .

My brother had sent me a picture of an enormous cactus in his collection . An Opuntia consolea falcata . Huge , a veritable whopper , standing at about 5ft tall  and maybe even taller but he didn't get it all in the photo . Sadly I couldn't get the photo to upload on here . I will have another go later on . Anyway  , this is said to be quite an endangered cactus .

See this link for some more great info about Opuntia consolea falcata -

http://llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACTI/Family/Cactaceae/9724/Consolea_falcata

So after admiring my brothers cactus , I,m now thinking to myself , I used to have one of these up in my collection . . . . 

If I still have it , then it will probably be in the furthest back corner with all the other most dangerous Opuntias  . In the sunniest place ,but well out of harms way !

Sure enough , there it was ! You might want to look away now .

Oh dear.... not good ...half of it is all dried up and half of it has had rain dripping on it from the slipped window pane above and is now a dark green squishy segment of mush .

It looks as if I have somehow just been missing this poor thing out every time and for goodness knows how long . 

I can see a very small segment in there though , which I may be able to save !

I pulled off the mushy segment and tipped it all out to get a better look at it . 

The main plant is very dried up , but still green . 

I gently pulled the nice green healthy looking segment away and was pleased to find that it has a couple of nice looking roots .

So after a bit of a rummage about , I gathered everything I needed together to pot it up . I usually use this " Levingtons desert cactus and bonsai compost "for potting up my Epiphyllums , they romp away in this , but other proper Cacti really need to have much sharper drainage .  However , this is all I have at the moment .

I mix in a good handful of horticultural grit .

                                    He's looking much happier already ! 

                                        Hmmm ..... what do you think ? 

                                       So I potted up the other bit too !

                                          Well , you never know !

Surprise Echinopsis Cactus Flower

I was very surprised to see this old cactus of mine with two buds on it a few weeks ago and had half expected these buds to drop off so late in the season .

 Delighted to see that one of them made it to fully bloom before all this miserable and gloomy weather started . Gales and heavy rain showers ....it is coming up from the South though so it is still quite mild . They are saying that it will be turning much colder next week .
 I will be pulling a roll of foil and bubble insulation over the greenhouse rafters later today and checking my supply of candles to go in the lantern on the coldest nights .

                             I am so delighted with this pretty pink flower .

  It is an Echinopsis , but I have no idea which variety it is ? So please if anyone knows please do let me know . I,d like to put a label on it .

Meanwhile in the greenhouse ...

Back in early June , actually about four weeks ago to the day , we took ourselves off on a one night away trip , to one of our favourite places , Charmouth .
We did a little bit of beach combing and fossil hunting , didn't find anything this time ....but we were tired after the drive  .

So we paid a visit to Groves Nursery in Bridport for some refreshment in their new cafe . Sad to see the old friendly cafe has gone and amazed to see the huge new one towering over the lovely nursery gardens . We enjoyed our bowl of soup and crusty roll .Then had a little wander round . Groves Nursery is famous for it's wonderful selection of Violets especially in the Spring  .They have beautiful healthy ,clearly labelled plants , shrubs and trees .Garden equiptment, everything you could ever need . The Rose garden is lovely, I have several beautiful Roses from Groves , I love their beautiful selection of beans , seeds , onion sets and potatoes ..to help yourself to however many  you want ,scoop them into brown paper bags and weigh on the scales ..love this ! I love the selection of wild-bird / animal food and the pet department ....and so much more !
 Above all , I love the glasshouse with so many beautiful plants suitable for the conservatory or indoor house plants .....too many to name...but anyway...I always make a beeline for the Cacti  , something which always impresses me at Groves , is how everything is always clearly labelled ,with  the plant's botanically correct name .
 In the past I have come across some very rare and more unusual plants in here ..... but nothing was tempting me on this occasion  ......I pottered about for ages...as you do  ........                                                                                                                         

             ........and then I spied this poor little thing ...
 ........ no label ....not much compost ....one shrivelled flower ...
Leaning over in it's tiny pot .....it was coming home with me !

 We had a lovely evening meal  and one night at the Exeter Airport Hotel .

My husband named it "Billy no mates" which I thought was a bit unkind !

I held it all the way home , on my lap in the car . I found a nice pot and some fresh cactus compost and re-potted him .
  It seemed to me that it was happier lying on its side , so I positioned it that way in the pot and gave it a nice top dressing with horticultural grit .

Well , look at it now ! Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would respond like this in just four weeks !

         Look at that gorgeous bud ! Click on it ! Go on ! Zoom in !

 And this morning , as I walked up to the greenhouse , I could see that it had opened in the early morning sunshine .

                                                       It is lovely !

 
                     I would like to label it , if anyone knows it's name ?

                 It is growing very fast , look at those new side shoots !

                            I,m so glad I brought him home with me !

Epiphyllum crenatum

I love them all , but I really look forward to the flower of Epiphyllum crenatum .

               This opened up very slowly indeed compared to the others .

                                            One petal at a time .

  I could smell a slight lemony fragrance , which usually gets stronger as it opens into the warmth of the greenhouse .
 The greenhouse is not heated except by the warmth of the sun , which was shining up in a beautiful blue sky today.....unfortunately there is a chilly East wind blowing. This combination is not good , as I think I,ve mentioned before....if I close the windows it gets too hot ..and if I open the roof windows , I am always afraid that the wind might catch it and tear it off !
 So I do hope it eases up soon . I have now closed it up for the night and covered my seedlings up with a piece of fleece . Runnerbeans , French beans and and a tray of Nicotiana sylvestris . It is going to be cold tonight in Mullion with this clear sky .

                                              Nearly fully opened .

 It still was not quite fully opened when I went up to the greenhouse to close the windows . Oh ! My goodness it is just so gorgeous !

                    I hope it will still be there tomorrow and fully opened up  .