Tag Archives: Debby H

The cosmos are still flowering (at this time of year)

Posted on by
1

We heard from Rich in the Lake District who has just came back from a break in the highlands of Scotland and sent us a couple of pictures below. The castle is Castle Stalker on Loch Laich (famously in Monty python and the holy Grail) and the waterfall at Glen Orchy. Some fine stuff there Rich, thanks for the photos.

Earlier this year we sent him some cosmos seeds thanks to Debby H. The plants went into the front garden and have been doing well (top picture). The big question he asked is “We’ve been staring at those cosmos plants which are really thriving and have large blooms. Is that normal for Nov 1st?” We don’t think it is Rich but it’s brilliant to see them doing well up there and still at this time of year too!

Flowers may be on their way

Posted on by
Reply

Great news from Debby H in North London. It looks like her strelitzia (bird of paradise plant) may be going to flower! We’ve just looked online and it mentioned that, “Indoor flowering is rare in the UK and usually requires a mature plant (at least 5 years old) kept in high-light, warm conditions. Great stuff Debby, let us know how things progress.

It’s double bubble at the weekend

Posted on by
3

Before the bad weather came to SE23 this afternoon we did a bit of tidying up in the polytunnel, giving the bench a good wipe down, making sure water weren’t building up in the plates/trays under the pots, lifting anything we could off the floor and general cleaning up as we’d hate to have any disease or what have you, especially on our first year of having one.

We looked online and it’s poor ventilation, lack of airflow and hygiene, that brings in the diseases so we’re a little paranoid to say the least. We heard via Facebook that Bez lost a load of seeds due to rats in his tunnel and he has only recently put the thing up as well. You’d be well disheartened if that happened.

We covered what we could with some spare bubble wrap and even put a makeshift cloche over some seedlings. We even put a couple of polythene bags over the ginger, lemon grass and basil plants on the bench. In the foreground is a tub where the garlic has been planted. We’ll lift them off every now and check to see how things are under the bubble.

It was 14°C in there today so we had the door open a little bit to get some air in but not so much so it brought the temperature down. It’s supposedly sunny tomorrow with a bit of wind so we’ll try and open a couple of vents but the door will certainly not be left open if there’s wind about! Told you we’re not paranoid (much).

As for the Star-of-Bethlehem seeds that we were kindly sent by Debby H, they are doing well on the kitchen windowsill. We’re chuffed that they germinated and can’t wait to see what they turn out like.

Hope those storms (Steve Austin and Bolero) subside soon, and they aren’t causing havoc to our gardening mates around the various part of the UK, so we can all enjoy that extra hour in bed and a Sunday tipping around the garden.

Please don’t take our sunlight away

Posted on by
Reply

Thanks to Debby H for this great (inverted) image of the partial eclipse last night taken in north London at the maximum at 7.13 pm. What an excellent photograph!

And here’s two eclipse related tracks, the first from the The Eclipse Band with a very aptly titled Daylight Robbery. And another, from DNN called Eclipse Dub.

Road sign of the week

Posted on by
Reply

Thanks to Debby H for sending us this great “geese crossing” road sign from her locality in north London. “The geese used to live by the pond in North London Business Park. That area has been (and is still being) redeveloped. We don’t know if the pond is still there, or if the contract work has frightened the geese away. We haven’t seen them lately.”

“When we first moved here, the geese would cross the road to go to a grassed area, then cross back again later, to go back to their pond in the business park. There would be a small procession of them crossing the road, and the cars would all stop for them. They didn’t hurry either!”

Brilliant stuff Debby!

Cosmos from north to south

Posted on by
3

Thanks to Adrienne for sharing these photos of her Cosmos that is looking very pretty. This was grown from seed passed on from our gardening friend in north London Debby H. This is what gardening is all about, sharing and passing stuff on! Cheers again Adrienne.

Edibles from north London

Posted on by
Reply

We heard from Debby H in north London yesterday as she sent some great photographs of how her garden is doing. She wrote “We grew Capri Red pepper plants last year and tried to keep the plants going over the winter. I was convinced that at least 2 of the 3 plants had died, but they came alive again in June and are now bearing large peppers again!” Wow they look great Debby; they are some large peppers!

We love her first harvest of potatoes (above) and the picture of her Cherry tomatoes that “have gone wild” (below).

She also told us about the greengages she harvested this year, “This is a tiny fraction of the many kilos that our one tree has produced this year. We have never had much off it previously. It must be the heat!” Whatever it is they are doing brilliantly. Cheers Debby!

Returning to the north

Posted on by
Reply

Great to hear from Debby H in north London yesterday, she’s just back from a break away and sent us pictures from her back garden. She said what with the heatwave “Thanks to our indoor and outdoor watering systems, our plants seem mostly ok” and that’s good to hear! Sadly, “The cosmos isn’t doing so well yet, but there’s still hope for later this summer. It’s the same with ours too, none of the seeds took or if they did, the slugs took them right in front of our noses. Her Zephyranthes Robusta are having another flush of flowers (above). More on the vibrant Argentine rain lily here.

“The big daisies seem very happy” (above) in the tidy bed above. They do seem healthy and so does the lawn, not like ours at Weeds HQ!

The phomium tenax flowers are now mostly turning into seed (above).

And finally, “The dwarf sunflowers are now in full bloom” and look how great they look! Cheers Debby for sending us the updates and do send us more!

How does your garden grow?

Posted on by
Reply

Here’s a few pictures and reports this week from our gardening mates around this island and globe of ours.

The first report is from Jesse Yuen in Perth, Australia who let us know that he planted a lemon tree this week (how good will that be, freshly picked lemons from the garden) and sent us some pictures of some flowering aloes (above) plus some nice cacti which are something that he is now really getting into. Love that large barrel cactus (is it called that?) in the tub, that’s a brilliant garden Jesse, ta for the pictures and we love cacti too!

Talking of cacti, the above is a photograph from Debby H in north London of her orchid cactus that has just sent out a flower bud for the first time in a few years.

She also sent us pictures of her dwarf sunflowers that are planted in food waste bins (great idea!) No flowers yet but look at size of those leaves. Cheers Debby.

Here’s a great pic of some gardening “work in progress” from Rich in the Lake District. He was in his garden, putting in these plants (that he started off indoors) into the rockery. What a view from a back garden. Cheers Rich.

Finally here are some wonderful rose pictures from Mike & Julia‘s garden near Coventry. Thanks for the great photographs from Julia as ever. As they said, “Attached are some pics of our roses, which have gone ballistic in the last couple of days!” Some nice colours there.

Thanks for everyone for sending in their pictures of their gardens in, we appreciate it and do keep sending them on as the season progresses.

And now from the north of the Capital…

Posted on by
Reply

Great to hear from Debby H in north London this morning, she sent us pictures of her phormium tenax before she goes away for a while and here’s the how the flowers are developing.
She also sent us pictures of her Peonies (below), as she said “Not so many flowers this year but still pretty!” They look great Debby, hope all’s good with you and ta for the pictures.