Saturday 31 March 2018

Crazy Rains



Flooded stepping stone.

We're at it again, that impossible Six on Saturday challenge to share six & only six things of interest in the garden.

When last we met, I'd nearly completed my potting shed, & the missing parts to my storage shed had finally arrived.

I'd hoped my shed adventures would be behind me by now.

Instead, we had a week of crazy rain.



1.  Inside job.

The potting shed roof got brought inside to dry out before felting on it.


It's just a tiny thing.  Not at all in the way.

While construction of the storage shed began in the living room.


Which bag of screws do we use?


2.  Cabin fever.

We've an ancient mattress turned down by every charity, & impervious to Freecycle.  All these rainy days, there's me nurturing a convert's belief that inside this mattress lives the perfect trellis for my berry wands.


During surgery.

I'll half the springs (like making a sandwich) to make 2 trellises.  The padding includes a quilted outer cover, an inner coir-like material, & a bit of foam.  Folded together, they make a nice cushion I hope to cover with outdoor fabric to use as a deck pillow for the dogs.


3.   Cutting update.

This is the current state of the cuttings I took a little over a month ago just before we moved - about a 2 thirds death rate.  As hard as it is to believe, that's an improvement for me.


Hardy little curries.

The discussions I'd had with some other SoSers prior to this attempt, suggested that I'd kept my cuttings too wet.  You may notice it's the drought resistant curry plants that've lived.

The pendulum has swung, me thinks.


4.  Into the storm.

Although all of the above are garden things, none of them are photographed in the garden.  So for you, I braved the elements to check on the newly planted woodwardia.


Woodwardia unigemmata.

It's promised that this fern's new growth will come in bright red, then the whole thing'll go a bit bronzy in the autumn.  Considering this thing can grow 2 metres in all directions, can you even imagine?


5.  A shady character.

I got this little guy because I thought his leaves would brighten up my shady border.  A day or 2 inside the warm house & buds appeared.  It bloomed soon after being planted.


Brunnera macrophylla Silver Spear

My photos really disappoint me, but this one in particular fails its subject.  Like forget-me-nots, the brunnera's little blue flowers glow in the shade.  This is a plant I already love.  Can't wait to see it reach full size.


6.  Long awaited daffs.

Where I'm from, the old mountain folk might call someone dumb as a daffodil, because daffs bloom in the snow.  My daffs haven't been at all dumb this year.  I got my first bloom only yesterday.  These were the ones twice rescued from the fox.


Highly intelligent daffs.

Although there's lots of buds, there's also lots of foliage, most of which have little brown tips.  Not sure if the snow butched them all up or the rain gave them some really good hair days, but the arcs of the foliage & tapered buds are stunning.  Never saw daffs look so good.

And there you have it, my Six.



Do I see tulips in my future?
Considering the week that's been in it, don't think I'll make any predictions for next Saturday's Six.

                (wink wink nudge nudge => => => =>)

For the moment, I'm headed over to our meme's host, The Propagator to see what his week's been like.  He'll have links to all the other SoSers in his comment section, so I can catch up with them as well.

Have a garden?  We'd love a snoop in it.  The Propagator's written some guidelines, so why not join us?

26 comments:

  1. Woodwardia is a new one on me. Looks promising. Good luck with the trellis, dog seat, springy thingy.

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    1. Thanks, Tim. I'm hoping the fern is as lovely as they say it is. If it grows, photos will follow.

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    2. Woodwardia is amazing! Big and brash and makes new plantlets at the end of each frond, so very clever indeed. Love the idea of the springy trellis, great imagination!

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    3. So glad to hear that about the woodwardia. I'm sort of a little in love w/it already.

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  2. I see that work is going on for your garden shed ... but inside because of the weather ... all the solutions are good
    I didn't know the Woodwardia, interested in seeing how it will grow.

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    1. Yes, neither rain nor sleet, etc., will stop me from getting my shed. As to the woodwardia, we needed something tall enough to dissuade the Doodle but that would grow in shade. I'm so excited to've found it!

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  3. OK, drying off a roof in the house is ok, I suppose. But you building a storage shed in your lounge? Don't they have furniture shops where you are now? You have invented a totally new concept of beds in the garden. Be careful when working on that sandwich - they can surprise you by springing unexpectedly and slice a finger off! Persevere with cuttings. You will get it right one day; IME it's more what they are growing in that how much you water them. As I've said before, a house stands in the garden so everything in the house is in the garden. OK?

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    1. I agree the cuttings are going to be practice, practice, practice to see what works for me.

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  4. Really enjoyed your post again this week. I am very taken with the phrase as dumb as a daffodil and might try it out in a gentle way this week. Your daffodils look lovely and the brunnera too.

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    1. To be honest, the phrase is usually used in reference to someone not in the room. ;-)

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  5. Someone gave me lots of the gemmae from Woodwardia orientalis a couple of years back. Now I have a dozen or so and not really enough room for one. Fortunately they've been slow growing so far. Very classy ferns, the Woodwardias.

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    1. Glad to know they're prolific, as we're nomadic & I'd like to keep growing them. 'Classy' is a good word for them.

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  6. I've never been a fan of Brunnera but that silvery leafed one is lovely. Hope you get the shed roof on soon.

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    1. The roof has dried & been muscled into place. Only the glazing left to go, but I've already shunted a few garden things into the shed. I agree about brunnera. Never was attracted to them until this one.

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  7. I see the good old British weather has thrown a spanner in the works with your plans too. I wouldn't have even thought of trying to build a shed indoors, but that looks like it was a good idea.
    Your daffs were a lot more intelligent than the ones in our garden.... although ours did recover from being bent over with snow (but aren't overly thrilled at the amount of rain we had this week)

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    1. 5 days of rain & indoors, my mind'll think all sorts are possible.

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  8. Hiya. Nice six despite the weather. "When last we met..." is a nice turn of phrase. I'm going to copy with pride!

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  9. I doubt it's original. Someone famous probably said it, but considering the syntax, they're probably dead, so you're safe.

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  10. Dumb as a daffodil...new one to me that one. Sorry to see you have hqd a weekmof rain...where do you live qgain?

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    1. It's an Appalachian saying, Paul, so most likely not often heard over here.

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  11. Woodwardia sounds interesting, look forward to seeing it later in the year. Brunnera is a cracking little plant, have it at the front of one of my borders.

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  12. There'll be photos, if it survives.

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  13. Fantastic job giving that mattress a second life! Have you read Jekyll's musings on using hardworking cycle spokes for plant markers?

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    1. I hadn't but did a search & think I should read a bit of Gertrude in the very near future.

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  14. This rain is getting very tedious, isn't it? I wanted some Brunnera 'Jack Frost' for a shady border but found it hard to get hold of (supporting local nurseries rather than online); I'll keep trying though, would look lovely in my new fern corner. Also impressed with your Woodwardia, too big for my tiny urban garden though!

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    1. Would your local nursery be able to order it for you? The on-line photos make it look similar to mine & I can say, that type leaf does look really good in a shady border. Good luck hunting!

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