David's Blog

Wonderful !

Kalanchoe - Liza (Liza Mannelli, Judy Garlands' daughter). You could plant some colour co-ordinated flowers like the red and white striped tulips, there are red ans white varieties in the Rembrant collection, World Expression and Coors are another 2 varieties. This could reflect the witches tights.

It really sounds as if the new version is well on its way, even if only in planning! Well done for the boost for GoY by the way! How did the radio station get to hear about your garden and GoY David?

Many thanks for your great ideas, Andrea. Will check out Kalanchoes later this evening. I don't think I could get away with planting tulip bulbs now, though, could I?

Brilliant stuff David. Keep the updates coming as they happen - this makes great reading with a cup of coffee and a wee biscuit

Hi Spritz! Your suggestions of petunia "Storm" and "Rainbow Mixed" (13/9/07) were among the 27 packets of seeds that fell through our letterbox last week, thank you very much. Will mention this again later. I wish I'd had the "Storm" variety for last summer's lousy weather, but, hopefully, this year will be better and we won't have to find out if they really do what it says in the catalogue. I have very good reason to believe that a little birdie (Hi Gemma!) was doing GOY a service, and tipped off the radio station.

Oh Maple, I wish I had time to stop for tea and biccies! Was looking at phormium "rainbow" types today in a garden centre, but resisted the urge to splurge - for now, anyway.

I bet your halo is shining, David! How long will your resistance last, do you think? I hope the Petunias germinate and 'shine' in your Oz garden! Looking forward to seeing them. You might just get away with the tulips, by the way, as you are so far North. They'll obviously flower later, though.

It's positively blinding, Spritz, like the beam from a lighthouse (it is revolving coz my brain is spinning from all the googling and info-gathering). Hopefully, my resistance can hold out until Easter, by which time I hope to be able to present my wife with her favourite plant - a fuchsia - with the variety name "Mrs Marshall" (that being our surname). However, I also ordered one called "David",lol!
Also got some good "Oz" ones, too, but they can wait until the next blog. I knew someone would help me with the tulips. Will give it a go. Do you think I might get a better result if I plant in containers and put in an unheated
greenhouse, or would it be better to plant straight into the cold ground?

I did not find Kalanchoe "Liza" so far, Andrea, but did find Kalanchoe "Rusty" (reference to the Tin Man?). It has gone onto the "wishlist". Many thanx for that lead.

Hi David, - is'nt it all sooo exciting, can't wait to see it all in it's glory! would have thought tulips better off in the ground, especially with all the wet weather - i think water is the key with most bulbs! will get more in ground than in a pot! - good luck hope they make it on time!

I did a search on google and that came up her is the link http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/plaveg/pbrpov/cropreport/kal/app00005051e.shtml, the tulips will have to wait until bulb planting time later this year, that's of course if you can't wait and buy some already grown in a pot from a garden centre. You could do what Spritz has suggested and experiment and plant a few now, don't plant them as deep as you usually would, but that may expose them to frost, give it a go! I'd pop the Kalanchoe in pots if I were you they look more like tender plants or house plants. Do you have room for a monkey puzzle after the flying monkeys. You can put it in a pot I suppose. There is a monkey flower, here is the link - http://www.laspilitas.com/groups/Monkey_flower/California_monkey_flower.html. I think it is a type of Mimulus, you could plant that in a pot with the Kalanchoe for a lovely summer pot display. It's stopped raining now and i need to cut down a gigantic passion flower so I hope this has inspired you

Green Wizard™ ~. Rudbeckia , Wizard Coleus and Black Wizard Dahlia

Many thanx for the websites, Andrea, will check them out later.Have already got seeds of Mimulus ("Monkey Flower") and Coleus "Wizard" type and "Rainbow Mixed". I got the Rudbeckia "Green Wizard" last year, but it didn't flower - hopefully this year, though. Your dahlia suggestion is a new one, though, thank you. Thanx also (and to you,too, Majeeka) for the tulip planting advice. Hopefully they will work. I'd actually planned to have a stripey rainbow Spring planting made up entirely with tulips, but time ran away back at the proper planting time.

I was at a garden centre today (again), but I was so good - I had only a tenner in my pocket, and no plastic! I was about to buy a rather nice evergreen shrub, Leucathoe walteri "Rainbow" when I spotted primroses with the variety name "Emily". "Aunt Em! Aunt Em!" I almost shouted aloud, putting down the shrub and taking the flowers instead. We planted them in a basket and a small tin bucket and put them out by Aunt Em and Uncle Henry's house (see new pics).

If you can get hold of the tulips, plant them in plastic pots with their noses just under the soil and keep them warm in a light spot and they might surprise you and flower, then you can pop them in the garden and have an instant display, I did that with Hyacinth last Xmas

Will try all suggested methods and see what happens, Firstly, I have to find some tulip bulbs. Surely at this time of year they should be half-price, too, which would be a bonus.