Sauromatum venosum - update

 

                                        Is waking up ! 💚

Sunday Flower - Dracunculus vulgaris

                             I,m in the fern garden today , pulling weeds mostly !

Thrilled to find my Voodoo Lily is flowering for the first time ... I know with that name it is probably not the most appropriate flower to choose as my Sunday Flower  !
              It cant help its sinister looks !  I think it is gorgeous anyway !

            I bought the little corms from someone on Ebay a year or two ago .

                                             I love the markings on its stems.

                                I just have to go in and look at this close up ...

It is supposed to smell of rotting meat , to attract flies which pollenate the flower.....but I cant smell anything , maybe it is too soon . It has only just opened , so maybe the perfume develops after a few days ?  Anyone know ?

                                                Outrageous Sunday Flower !

Hedgerow more !

                                                    So I bought some more !
....they arrived faster than I expected and I got them planted ., you really have to get them planted as soon as possible ..........yes......my back is really aching now !

                                                  I love the tiny daffodils .

 The Snowdrops seed pods are fattening up , I,m going to gather and re-sow these .

                          My little lady blackbird friend who follows me around .

Oh ......and here's the Voodoo Lily Update . Look at those leaves !  I thought that they would be like the Arum Lily, arrow shaped , but these are far more interesting !
We have had strong gales and sleet , so over night I put it into the Porch , I think I need to rig up some kind of support , I dont want those stems to snap in the wind . Its actually the wind I,m more worried about than the cold .
           

Bit of Weeding before Night Fall

 Oh ! This has been worrying me for a couple of weeks now , but the weather has been so bad and the grass too wet to walk on . These are my Red Blood Onion Sets I planted in the Autumn . It is mostly Speedwell and Grass , the odd Thistle and Dandelion  .

                                                            Out ! Out ! Out !

                Well , I got most of them out , just half an hour ago, its almost dark now .

                                      Voodoo Lily Update -------------- look !

Meanwhile up in my Greenhouse

We have lift off ! Germination is a wonderful thing , all helped by the pull and push of the Moon . Anyway here we have one tray of Pot Leeks and the other is Zebrune ( Banana ) Shallots .

 I sowed them a couple of weeks ago , one seed to each cell...the Pot Leeks are very slow in germinating but I can see one or two . I will be sowing some more leeks this week ..good old reliable Musselburgh  . I also like to grow Jaune de Poitou and Bleu de Solaise if I can find the space for them ...these two varieties have done well for me here in Cornwall .

The Zebrune Banana Shallots are really getting away , I,m quite excited about these , as they are said to get to onion size , have a delicious flavour and keep really well through the winter . I,m going to sow another tray of these .
 These are not very good photos , as I am taking them through the dirty glass windows of my greenhouse ....because there is not much room left for me to stand inside , it is SO chock-a-block with plants ! : )
    Cacti , Epiphyllums , S.African succulents and bulbs   ,Agave babies , Soapnut trees , Pelargoniums , the Celery plant experiment , the new Champagne Rhubarb plant I got in Morrisons for  £1 , cuttings and unknown seedlings from plant hunting expeditions : )

Voodoo Lily Update .....
The Voodoo Lily has been outside last night...it was quite mild and rainy . Better for it to have rain water than nasty tap water . The wind has been picking up and getting quite strong this afternoon here in Mullion , so I might bring it back into the cold porch for the night .

Voodoo Lily

On a mad spur of the moment on Ebay, I put in a bid for one corm/bulb of  a Dracunculus vulgaris  plant. ..and won !
 Karen of Potted Pixie Plants in Lincolnshire , sent me this huge  beautifully packed parcel containing not one , but three plants ! A glove to protect my skin , some folk can have an allergic reaction .
 I actually potted them up into a very large pot, with multi - purpose compost , perlite and horticultural grit ... without actually touching those  beautiful speckled shoots .

 I left it in the cold porch over night  to recover from the shock and in the morning , stood them outside to catch a shower of rain .
 Karen tells me that I can plant them out , hers are outside and come through the frost just fine .
  I think I,m going to bring them on a bit before planting them out into the ornamental garden .
 Today they are enjoying some sunshine and the very tips are already beginning to turn green .

Dracunculus  vulgaris is known by many other spooky names , such as Voodoo Lily (Voodoo Lily , that should be my Belly Dancer name !  lol ! ) Snake Lily , Black Dragon , Dragon wort , Dragon Arum ...... Stink Lily ....OMG !  and What's that smell ?  ! :)
 It is going to have the most beautiful flower with the most awesome fragrance .....watch this space !
 By the way , I noticed that Karen has another one listed on Ebay along with other unusual plants .