Garden Notes: Something for Nothing

[callmemadam]

I write this to the roar of a tractor, as they're cutting hay in the meadow. Also the roars at Trent Bridge. Yay!*
What do I love most about gardening? Propagating plants, that’s what. As Beverley Nichols wrote in Down the Garden Path:
Do you not realise that the whole thing is miraculous? …Surely you would be surprised if, having snipped off your little finger, and pushed it into a flower pot, you were to find a miniature edition of yourself in the flower pot a day later?



Here’s my favourite pelargonium, ‘Lord Bute’ just coming into flower now. Three new plants from cuttings of last year’s one. Most of this year’s pelargoniums were propagated from last year’s.
*written before Pietersen threw his wicket away. Again.




Last summer I planted a Gaura, with its lovely, airy habit. I made sure to take cuttings and this summer there’s two more. Unfortunately the deer have taken a fancy to them and there’s no flowers at the moment, although plenty more buds. The bitter winter killed off a pretty pale mauve penstemon but luckily I have a cutting planted out. I’m not sure it will flower this year but you never know.
Another rescue: an expensive euphorbia, ‘Black Pearl’, which carelessly died on me. As you see, it’s very slow growing as this is all the progress the cutting has made. Not lost forever, though.



Grown from seed, the Cerinthe



has done very well, making good clumps. Bees love it. There’s also plenty of Nicotiana ‘Lime Green’,



doing well but too short for my liking. The Cleomes were a failure and the plants of Nicotiana sylvestris have succumbed to slugs. The ups and downs of gardening.

Comments

[gghost.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous!

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'd like pictures of various parts of the garden but my camera is being awkward about distance shots. I do feel I've improved it since I moved in.

[gwendraith.livejournal.com]

Been listening to the cricket on the car radio...very enjoyable :)

The pelargonium is beautiful.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

What about this Bell fiasco though? Unbelievable.

Thank you. I have a new one I bought this year which had no name on it. I think it might be one you showed recently; must take a picture of it.

[gwendraith.livejournal.com]

He was a dozy devil. He's back now so all is well that ends well after their tea ;)

[mimmimmim.livejournal.com]

While I applaud the Indian team for their sense of fair play, I think it was very cheeky of England to ask them to reconsider their appeal.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

This one will run and run. It was a good thing Bell didn't make enough more runs to make much difference to the outome of the match.

[trixiebacon.livejournal.com]

Lovely. The colours of the pelagonium and Nicotiana – gorgeous. A striped cardy in those shades would look good!

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Great idea!