Crammed Greenhouse

On a cooler, wet day the place I like to be most is in the greenhouse. Its warm and I love the earthy smell. Checking on all the seeds I have planted, wondering why some have come through and others haven't.

The shelves are filling up.

The plants are getting bigger.

Then there are the Ensetes I have over wintered, you walk a fine line when getting them going, to much water and they can rot.

The Cyathea in the corner is big, every autumn I chop off all the fronds, they are to big to over winter, every spring they grow back bigger. The pot takes up so much room that I stand pots with Dahlia's in on the soil in its pot, sort of like a shelf.

My propagator full as always, the large pots at the back are Dahlias then in the covered propagator are all the seeds I have on the go.

Even underneath I have succulents and aeoniums being propagated.

In the 'dryish' corner my more tender palms, which still require watering but not as much as the rest of the greenhouse.

Just a few of my cactus and agaves.

I am growing Caladiums for the first time this year, I grew 3 of each, this is Rosebud. 

which will hopefully look like this.

But Red Flash is still in the propagator in the kitchen, grown in exactly the same conditions, but as you can see there is only one shoot just popping through and that is only in one pot!

This is what they will hopefully look like.

My plan for these is to put them in the front garden trough. Very different, just hope they work! 

We shall see.

#staysafe

#stayhome

A little bit of shopping!

I just knew I should never have bought those begonia plug plants, fortunately they weren't to expensive. Since my last post I just kept thinking and thinking about them. I have never had a reaction like this before regarding plants, I actually have a knot in my stomach just thinking about them.
So I did what all good gardeners do and searched 'Best plants for shady window box' on Google. Good old google. Right at the top you get 10 best flowers for window boxes in shade

Right at the top is Impatiens, Busy Lizzie, I have done these before and they where gorgeous and did very well. Then came the dreaded Begonia, I will say no more. Then we have Caladium,

not the best picture in the world but definitely different. Followed by Forget-me-nots, Ivy, Coleus,

 Petunias, Fuschia, Snapdragon and finally Verbena.

You can see where this is going can't you, I like Coleus I had never thought to grow them in my windowbox, I quite like this idea.

But ..... just look at the Caladiums, well not the ones i the picture above, these ones

How absolutely stunning are they!! So which have I decided to go with????????

I cheated, I have bought both lol!! I ordered  40 Coleus  plug plants £7.99, easy to bring on and if I decide against them they can go around the garden.
I ordered 3 bulbs of each of the 2 Caladiums photographed above. They are very different and I do like a talking point, a bit more expensive but they can be over wintered or dry stored, ready for use the following year. I am hedging my bets as I am not sure how they are going to grow, time will tell.

So the seedlings I started off just 2 days ago

have come through!! In just 2 days! I was gob smacked. I have never know any seeds to come through so quickly. The only thing I can think may have helped, is this year I stored them in a tupperware box in the fridge. Anyway, they need to grow on a bit more before I pot them on. Then once these are potted on I will start some more.

I am hoping this will be a good year in the garden. it is a great distraction for me, to all the issues the world is having with Coronavirus. My escape!

Stay safe xx