A nice surprise at mums house.....

At the end of autumn last year I had run out of overwintering space for my tender plants.  The green house was full and no more plants were allowed in the house.  Anyone else have this problem?  To make sure all my tender plants survived winter I enlisted the help of some relatives to store some plants in their houses.  My mum was to take care of my Aeoniums.  I have checked on them 3 or 4 times since October and today I got a nice surprise.....one had flowered!  My mother has done a great job or not over watering the plants and put up with the constant stream of dead leaves falling on to the carpet.

This is the first flower on an Aeonium for me and although not the most amazing blooms, they are nevertheless a cheery site on an otherwise benign day.

Aeonium flowering in March 2012

Variegation variation

I am intrigued by variegated plants and Fatsia japonica "Spiderweb" is an excellent example. Each leaf has white flecks, patches and veins. I only have one plant but each leaf is different. Here are some photos taken of it today.

The plant is grown in partial shade which keeps the green parts of the leaf nice and dark and prevents the white parts from burning in the sun.

Some are even all white!

Colocasias grown on the cheap

Hopefully this video is self-explanitory.  Any questions please ask!

Harwood House is one of the treasure houses of England with many royal connections. What's more interesting is that the gardens are full of exotic plants!  I am a regular visitor to this great place and have visited throughout the seasons to see how the gardens progress.  The main two areas of interest are the Himalayan Gardens which is a relatively new area opened by Alan Titchmarsh in May 2009.  Here you will find orchids, cobra lilies, blue poppies, Musa basjoo, giant grasses, bamboos and lots of weird and wonderful plants.  In spring the area is carpeted with Primulas in every colour.

The other area of interest is the Archery Border.  This is where tropical plants are bedded out for the summer along with the permanent plantings of Trachycarpus, Yuccas, Loquats trees and Figs as well as the largest Eucryphia in the north of England.  In summer the hot colours are a feast for the eyes with gingers, bananas, dahlias and Colocasias.

In winter the structure of the borders can be seen along with the protection techniques employed by the gardeners.  Here are some comparison shots between January 2012 and summer 2011 along with a slideshow from spring 2011.

And here is the slideshow showing what hte gardens look like in spring.

Time to start sowing seeds. Today Lobelia...but a bit different.

We have all grown lobelia erinus, the blue flowering hanging basket plant but there are lots of other interesting species for the exotic garden.  I have been growing lobelia cardinalis for the last five years now and love the tall spires of blood red flowers and dark plum foliage. 

This year I am tryng the following from seed:

Lobelia excelsa

Lobelia fistulosa

Lobelia polyphylla

Lobelia valida

Lobelia x gerardii 'Vedrariensis'

Lobelia tupa All are tiny seeds like dust and have been surfaced sown on free draining compost and left in bright light to aid germination. The Lobelia polyphylla may need stratifying, that is a few weeks in warm conditions and a few weeks in cold conditions (-4 to plus 4) in order for them to germinate. Anyway I'll have to wait and see.  Hopefully they will all germinate and grow into decent sized plants by the end of summer.  Hardiness is unkown to me on these but should be ok down to minus 5.  The Lobelia tupa is quite well known and hails from Chile, as do the other species that I'm trying. I will keep this blog updated with how these get on. Bye for now, Yorkshire Kris

A new Year a new blog.

Hi this is my first post on my new blog.  The aim of this blog is to track the progress of my garden and the plants I grow.  I also aim to show how to grow a large range of interesting plants and how to get them through the toughest UK winters.  Anyway hope you enjoy the read and the photos and videos!