Epiphyllum Curt Backeberg - update 🌿

 

Apologies everyone , Epiphyllum Curt Backeberg is keeping us waiting !

It's a bit overcast this morning , he's waiting for the sun to come out !

There are actually two buds on him this year . 

So while we're waiting I'll show you around the shed .

Celery , kale, coriander and lettuce . Yellow sticky labels to catch compost gnats ....not sure they're working to be honest , but the plants are doing o.k. 

Moving up the bench - Only four of my first batch of sweetcorn germinated , so yesterday I sowed another lot in that propagator with the clear lid . 

 Another tray of Lettuce seedlings struggling in the heat . 

Epie cuttings . My new Echinocereus and Iguanodon 🦖 . Crambe maritima seedlings . Cardoon seedling (only one germinated !)

Lemon verbena and Helianthemum plug plants ...Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri rooted cutting ready to send up to my mother as I think she lost hers during their house move . It is a cutting that originally came from mum's which was possibly a cutting that was originally taken from the one my grandmother had on her windowsill .

 I'll show you my bigger one that I have on my kitchen windowsill later on .

 So then , more Epie cuttings ..King Midas and Marilyn Monroe .

Epiphyllum Marilyn Monroe - not showing any signs of flowering this year .  

  She needs tidying up , she's climbed out of her plant support and wants to go rambling about !

             🌿🩷   Here are some pics of last year's amazing flower 🩷🌿

                              🌿   Epiphyllum Marilyn Monroe 🌿

                                               Click twice 😊

                            🌿 Epiphyllum Marilyn Monroe  🌿

 

 Nice view over lovely new gate into the meadow , which I think , will soon be cut and baled  .

              I took the leek , beetroot and other seedlings  out of the shed now .

I'll bring them on outside for a while before planting them out .

 Giving everything a nice long drink during this hot weather .

 Three Furcraea longaevas waiting to be planted out in the new tropical bed . It's just been way too hot to start on that .

    I need to get these planted out very soon and sow some more Beetroot .

  The water barrel's are almost empty . Hoping we'll get some rain soon to refill them and refresh everything .

  It has been uncomfortably hot , too hot for me ....too hot in the greenhouse for some of my plants !

 I almost lost my tomato plants , but managed to revive them .

I fixed up some windbreak mesh to give a bit of shade in the greenhouse . 

 This morning it is a little bit misty and overcast , but that hot sun is now trying to burn through .

                                      🌿    Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri 🌿

         🌿 Pretty scarlet star flowers of Rhpsalidopsis gaertneri 🌿

   

       Hopefully E. Curt Backeberg will bloom for us later on .

              Take care of your plants in this hot weather ☀️🐝🦋

Courgettes and Lettuces

One last photo of Epiphyllum Marilyn Monroe ..taken in much better light , showing her colours more accurately  . 

She'll probably be fading this evening  😢         🎶🎵 Goodbye Norma Jeane 🎵🎶 !

And that is pretty much the end of the Epie blooming season for us here in the far south west of Cornwall U.K.

Oh there can still be the odd one or two blooming every now and then through the summer months , but from now on I tidy them up , prune and take cuttings , re-pot and feed them . I need to make new plant labels .

This pic was taken early this morning .

Today's task is to prick out and pot on these Courgette seedlings . 

I was beginning to think we would have to do without Courgettes this year . This is the third batch of seeds . This time I simply got them going up in the shed .

     I sowed two seeds into each 3inch pot  . Those are lettuces germinating up on the top shelf .

Anyway , I took them all outside .

Filled the pots and gave them a bit of a soak . Got everything I needed  and a kneeler pad to sit on , get comfy for about half an hour , to really relax and get some of them into their own 3" pot .

               These little tools are so useful for pricking out and potting on .

After about half an hour , I did wish I'd taken out a more comfy cushion to sit on !

Look how long that root is ! You have to be very careful not to damage it , make a hole deeply enough for the whole of it , and carefully gently backfill with the compost as you lower it in . 

 I repeat all that to myself as I do it !

I potted up 12 lettuce seedlings . The rest will be spares waiting in the wings to replace the exhausted plants as we use them . I pick a couple of the outer leaves from each plant  and this keeps them going for a while . I can always sow more seeds to keep the succession going .

Next I potted up six of the Courgette seedlings . 

Look at how they have grown even from just this morning !

                          Look at the roots on that !

 I gave them a good drink then away into the shed they go !

On to this cheap little shelving unit . Thankyou to clever husband for putting it together for me . My thinking is that snails can't walk on the wire grid shelves . 

 These are the lettuces waiting to be potted up .

 Also two pots of two more Courgette seedlings spare for anyone local who wants them . Courgettes have been impossible to find in the shops round here .

So that's that job done !

Took a large half of my cheese flan over to my daughter . For lunch we had roasted sausages and onions , cauliflower cheese with honey mustard and tomatoes , roast potatoes and peas , mango chutney and ketchup . .... Oh my life !... Proper job ! ...  mmmm ....

🌿Epiphyllum Marilyn Monroe Flower - update 🩷🌿

 

I didn't think she would bloom today, with it being so foggy and gloomy . 

But here she is ! Finally !

I think this photo best shows the colours of her petals . Soft pink on the centre . Peach/nude on the outer petals .

                This one also shows the colour of the petals more accurately .

  Hard to take good photos in such a gloomy fast fading evening light . It has been foggy and gloomy all day ! 

                                        Along the cliffs here earlier today .

If the sun comes out tomorrow I might take some more photos in better light . 

   Hope you all enjoyed my pics of this sensational Epie !

                                                          🌿🩷🌿