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 🕊️🌿

                                       🌧️🌦️🌧️🌧️🌧️

More Stormy weather 🌦️

 Walking against the wind this afternoon .  Storm Dave on the horizon just brushing past the Lizard coastline . 

Stop to study shaggy lichens thriving on ancient rocky boundary walls .

Ruby buds of Thrift waiting for a bit of sunshine . 

Then home and off to the shed to prick out and pot on Cosmos seedlings .

I really should have sown each one into it's own 3"pot . I accidently dropped the seed packet and too many fell out !  

Two days later they have all come up !

I put two in each pot and a few to give away .

I have put them in the greenhouse and I hope they'll still be o.k. tomorrow .

If these don't make it I still have more seeds to sow . I love Cosmos 🩷

I couldn't find the right type of string to tie the sweet-pea and bean frames , so I cut up strips of old stockings . 

                                       Ooh la la !               Perfect ! 

Tomorrow is forecast to be gusty and later on in the day we may get severe gales .

I like to get the frames up while the earth is soft to push the poles in .

I won't be sowing beans just yet though . Maybe towards the end of the month /beginning of May and this depending on how the weather is behaving .

I need to make space on the shed bench  . The Tomatoes ... sigh ..I am just champing at the bit to get them into the greenhouse , but really ought to hold back while these wild weather fronts keep rolling in .

 Hmmm ...... we'll see ...

              Things are beginning to stir .🌿 The Tree Ferns are awakening .

 

                                                         🌿🤍🌿

                                                             🌿🩷🌿   

                                                                  

                                                           🌿💛🌿

Late November - Cosmos

                 Just showing off our beautiful Cosmos flowers today !

 It is 18th November and beginning to turn quite cold at night here in Mullion Cornwall . They are in a tub though and against a sunny South facing wall .
 They also have a piece of string tied around them to give them a bit of support .

             We will be growing more of these next year , they are so pretty .

   Keeping the flowers coming by dead heading them . The ones out in the ground have finished weeks ago .