Gardening
Goodness me , December ! bound seems closer already . I have been busy order seeds from the Hardy Plant Society seed distribution scheme . Like the proverbial small fry in a scented store , it ’s quite a job to choose from the well over 2000 germ varieties useable . Like a dear boy , I have selected seed from works which have piqued my pursuit over 2017 – there ’s a lot ! With both mine and Mrs P ’s allowance plus a lucky dip I should have 50 ish slight package of seed to sow . Now I just have to wait until the goal of January for the seeds to arrive . Taps metrical unit impatiently … .
Anyhow , time for Six on Saturday . Six thing , in the garden , on a Saturday . Could be anything – a plant , a flower , a job to do , a task , a plan , a success or indeed a failure . Anything ! Join in …
Regular lecturer may recall that Mrs P and I spend last weekend in Birmingham , and a adorable clock time was had too . We had a slap - up balti , some truly splendid cocktails , did a canal tour , took in the ballet , a museum , but the very first place we go was the Birmingham Botanical Gardens . Like many British garden at this time of year much of the garden is “ resting ” but there was enough to keep us ( well , mainly me ) concerned for a couple of hours , so my Six this hebdomad come from our sojourn to the Gardens .
1 – Euphorbia milii , ‘ Crown of pricker ’ . Looks a lot like a cactus , a common schoolboy erroneousness . It is in fact a spurge , and pretty brutal wait with it . If the thorns were n’t enough to put you off , it ’s also toxic . Nice ! aboriginal to Madagascar , it ’s slow farm and semi - succulent . It was kicking its heels in the Arid hot - business firm .
2 – wintertime fair weather . Well , it ’s a thing , and it was in this garden . Specifically , see through some frondy grass . It did n’t occur to me at the time to look at the recording label so of the variety I am ignorant , as in so many other things . Stipasomething - or - other I expect .
3 – Ricinus communis , castor - fossil oil plant . I was taken in by the foreign flowers , and by the form of the leave . I had n’t realised that if you so much as face at this plant the wrong way , it ’ll envenom you . It has a doppelganger in Fatsia Japonica to which it has a pass resemblance – occasionally one is mis - sold as the other . The ricinus is the source of ricin ( clue ’s in the name ) , a highly toxic sum . I mainly thought it was pretty .
4 . Heliconia rostrata , hanging lobster claw , or false shuttlecock of paradise . What a strange looking matter . I ab initio thought it was a palm or a toy that had been hung in the tropic house , but no , it ’s live ! A native of Central and South America . Apparently it is pollinated by hummingbirds .
5 . Acer thingummyjig . We made a bee - telephone circuit for the Acer garden thinking we might just catch the tail ending of the autumnal leafy show . lamentably it was almost all desolate ramification . This one had a few leaves left , hang on grimly but fighting a losing battle .
6 . Xantosoma sagittifolium , tannia . Bits of this are eatable , allegedly . I just like the leaf which were quite gravid and a pleasing colour .
Enjoy the respite of your weekend , do n’t forget to go over back in as links will be added over the next 48 hour .
I shall be back with another Six next Saturday .
If you like this post, please share!
Related
