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 !  

                                          🌿💚🌿

Sunday - ☀️ 🐝🦋

It has been fiercely hot today . I did a quick check around the garden early this morning .

Runner-beans still looking o.k.😊 I noticed a couple of shallots coming up at last !

Courgettes , Butternuts and Courgette plants are still there .

 Thirsty plants ...I will water them tomorrow morning ...trying to encourage them to put their roots down deeper .

 I'm so glad I rescued my chives ( they had been nibbled almost to the ground by bunnykins 🐰) .

 

I planted them in with my Lavender and the bees and butterflies are loving them !

My Snap-Dragons are looking their best in their second year . Also much loved by the bees .

 I sat watching them ...listening to their busy humming as they climb into each flower .

The climbing and short beans are looking o.k too .

        This beautiful butterfly closed it's wings just as I went to take a photo .....

                 .......... then opened up again ......

              

                                     Painted Lady  !

Too hot to do anything today . Made a mental note of things I have to do .

      Mostly weeding . ..... maybe tomorrow morning early .

 I want to transplant a couple of Echiums into the front garden .

    Yep , maybe tomorrow .

Self sown Echium seedlings . 🌿

Impatiens tinctoria ...lots of buds ..this Impatiens stays in a well behaved clump

unlike Impatiens glandulifera also known as Himalayan balsam which is a real thug .

  Native to tropical Africa and I assume that parts of the plant can be used for dye ... I might try it when I get some free time !

 The flower of this is beautiful white and fragrant . Watch this space for an update !

                        Weeds !                                        Weeds !

  Need to earth over these exposed Dahlia roots !

 Left over hazel poles...might make another teepee somewhere else in the garden .

I have a couple of climbing roses that would look nice on it and maybe some more Sweetpeas .

Meanwhile in the greenhouse ......

                 Epiphyllum Curt Backeberg 

                      Epiphyllum Clown 

Everytime I look her bud is swelling !

              May be tomorrow ......maybe during the night .

I will have one more check on these later on . Watch this space !

                                          🌿🌿🌿

Anyway .....

I sat in the summerhouse for a while sorting out a vintage kit I bought on ebay .

 

 The colours were a nightmare to sort out , the instructions called one batch of greens " olive greens " and the other "forest greens" ..I'm still not sure which is which ! And pale brown and very pale brown very difficult to decide which was which lol ! but I got them all into their colour shades and into neat bundles and I think I'm almost ready to start  . 

Yes , the observant amongst you will see that the picture on the front of the kit has blue flowers  🩵🙄

   It's o.k. because after  going through the instructions several times I found this ...

                              

                                 🩷     Phew ! That's o.k then ! 🩷  

           Me separating the pale brown from the very pale brown and white wool .

I like stitching with silk but my hands are a bit sore with all the weeding so I thought I'd switch over to crewel wool for a little while .

                             So hot today !  The sea so calm .

It is going to be very hot again tomorrow . So I'll be up early to do the watering .

 I hope you are all enjoying a nice long bank holiday weekend and maybe also half term school break .

         Take care in the hot sunshine and enjoy !  ☀️

               Love and Peace  💐🕊️🐝 Debbie x

🌿🌿Waiting 🌿🌿🌿

 Waiting for tomatoes .

Waiting for Epiphyllum Curt Backeberg  and Epiphyllum Clown buds to open .

Waiting for Grapes .

Waiting for my Cosmos cuttings to take root . 

I pinched out the tops of all of my Cosmos seedlings  and stuck them all in two 3" pots of compost .

 I watered them in well .

 They are standing in an old washing up bowl with about a quarter of an inch of water at the bottom .

They are so delicate . I didn't quite believe that this would work ....still not sure !

  I did this two days ago and thought they would have passed out within half an hour ; but next day , they are still standing !

                                                     🌿☀️ 🌿