Oh ! I noticed that my Wallflowers on our Cornish hedge are flowering ! They smell wonderful and good for any bees that might be out foraging .
And as I went to collect the post from my box on the gate , I spotted a Violet !
And then , lots of them , in the hedgerow going up the lane ! Sweetly scented Cornish Violets .
No Snowdrops yet ...usually they would be up by now ...but maybe they need a cold snap in the weather and it has been so mild again . Tomorrow I'll go and take a look in a little secret place where I know they usually grow .
Then off up to the greenhouse . Everything has been under a thin layer of fleece during the last few stormy days . We haven't had snow , but there has been a lot of hail mixed in with torrential rain . I thought it best to give the plants a bit of extra protection .
I pulled off the fleece from this South African bulb though , as I could see it is pushing up a flower spike .
Veltheimia bracteata
In fact it turns out , there are two flower spikes !
Albuca bracteata
I noticed another flower spike coming up on this Pregnant Onion ( Albuca bracteata also known as Ornithogalum bracteatum .) I must have dropped a bulbil in this pot with a Dasylirion . It seems I also stuck an Aonium cutting in there . I'm going to plant the Dasylirion wheeleri out into a sunny spot in the garden when it gets a bit bigger .
Back in the cottage and on the kitchen windowsill is another type of Albuca .
Albuca spirilis "FrizzleSizzle" .
This is how it looked when I first bought it in June 2017 . You can click to enlargen my pictures by the way . This is when it still had it's Frizzle Sizzle .
Apparently it will lose it's Frizzle Sizzle curls if - 1) It doesn't get enough light . 2) if it is over watered and 3) if it is under watered .
I did have it in the greenhouse for a while, but it went dormant over the winter and didn't wake up until I brought it indoors and put it on the kitchen windowsill this Spring . So after 4 years dormancy , I was delighted to see lovely green shoots coming up .
I have only given it fresh rain water .
I tried giving it lots of water and I have tried not giving it very much water . I have tried waiting until the compost is dry before watering it and I understand that it doesn't need to be fed .
It likes to be warm and it's warm in my kitchen .
So it must be that it wants more light and therefore would be better back in the greenhouse , where it can have more overhead light .
Basically it is one very tricky plant that would be happier back in it's homeland of South Africa .
I am hoping it might still flower for me though . Little yellow flowers which smell of buttery vanilla .
Marlothistella uniondalensis
Oh ! I nearly forgot , just one more little thing up in the greenhouse , my favourite Marlothistella uniondalensis has a couple of flowers . I'm hoping there will be a few more buds to come .
People like this plant not only for the sweet pink flowers but for the nice caudex that is grows over time . Next time I repot this ,it should be bigger and I will raise it up a bit to show off it's caudex .
That's all for now ! Take care !
