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Winter cometh
Very slight whiteness on big the lawn this morning, where there is less
tree canopy and shelter from the house. But it's another beautiful, sunny, crisp day - just the sort of autumn day that is perfect. Just looking from our bedroom window we have Romneya, Cimicifuga, Fuchsias, Dahlias, Helianthus, Crinums, Salvias still flowering well. -- Sacha |
Winter cometh
On 2009-09-25 09:36:21 +0100, Martin said:
On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:40:27 +0100, Sacha wrote: Very slight whiteness on big the lawn this morning, where there is less tree canopy and shelter from the house. It's that cosmic cold radiation again & so soon. ;-0 I'm trying to persuade Ray to light the First Fire tonight. It's as much for the pleasure of the sight and the scent, as anything else! -- Sacha |
Winter cometh
On Sep 25, 2:12*pm, Sacha wrote:
On 2009-09-25 09:36:21 +0100, Martin said: On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:40:27 +0100, Sacha wrote: Very slight whiteness on big the lawn this morning, where there is less tree canopy and shelter from the house. It's that cosmic cold radiation again & so soon. ;-0 *I'm trying to persuade Ray to light the First Fire tonight. *It's as much for the pleasure of the sight and the scent, as anything else! -- Sacha It's lovely here during the day, quite hot but the evenings are a bit cold. We had the log burner on a couple of times this week. Judith |
Winter cometh
I work a few miles inland, close to a river and tidal marsh (AKA Soggy
Bottom) and although there was no indication of ground frost this morning, grass temp was just 3C at 7am. Here the min was 10C so no great chill here on the coast. I've noticed that the intensity of the sun seems remarkably fierce so late in the year. I'm used to being out in the sun all of the time, but the strength surprised me both yesterday and today. As usual it clouded over this afternoon, but seems to be clearing at the moment. Just looking from our bedroom window we have Romneya, Cimicifuga, Fuchsias, Dahlias, Helianthus, Crinums, Salvias still flowering well. A big clump of Crinum moorei 'Album' is carrying about a dozen 5 foot stems laden with 6" wide flowers, Hedychium 'Tara' (nudge, nudge) is flowering again on secondary stems that shot up in August and H. sp. Forrestii (hort.) is still out, spilling its faint, narcissus-like scent into the air. Jasminum polyanthum is again smothered in red- budded, large white flowers and the fragrance from that is almost overpowering. I much prefer this to the more reliably hardy J. officinale, which has much smaller flowers and a shorter flowering season. Here it gets everywhere and roots into the ground whenever a stem touches the soil. In a way it's a rampant nuisance, but it really pays its rent and then some by being almost permanently in flower. Nerine bowdenii seems rather late this year and the sugar pink flower buds are only now beginning to open a good month later than usual It's been soundly beaten by a stunning, brick red sarniense hybrid that has been out and looking very good for at least 10 days. Normally a late October/early November bloomer, Nerine flexuosa 'Alba' is also about to open and I'm very much looking forward to its glistening, crystalline white flowers with crisped and wavy petals and sepals. |
Winter cometh
Judith in France wrote:
It's lovely here during the day, quite hot but the evenings are a bit cold. We had the log burner on a couple of times this week. My outdoor tomatoes are starting to suffer a bit with the cold nights. Spouse will be pleased when they die - I suggest tomatoes for lunch every day and she's sick of the sight of them. I grew the small tomatoes "sweet baby" variety. Supposed to grow between three and five feet high. I just noticed one has escaped and is competing with the virginia creeper on the house and is around ten feet high. It optimistically has flowers on top. -- David in Normandy. To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the subject line, or it will be automatically deleted by a filter and not reach my inbox. |
Winter cometh
On 2009-09-25 18:18:19 +0100, DaveP said:
I work a few miles inland, close to a river and tidal marsh (AKA Soggy Bottom) and although there was no indication of ground frost this morning, grass temp was just 3C at 7am. Here the min was 10C so no great chill here on the coast. I've noticed that the intensity of the sun seems remarkably fierce so late in the year. I'm used to being out in the sun all of the time, but the strength surprised me both yesterday and today. As usual it clouded over this afternoon, but seems to be clearing at the moment. Just looking from our bedroom window we have Romneya, Cimicifuga, Fuchsias, Dahlias, Helianthus, Crinums, Salvias still flowering well. A big clump of Crinum moorei 'Album' is carrying about a dozen 5 foot stems laden with 6" wide flowers, Hedychium 'Tara' (nudge, nudge) Oh, shurrup! ;-)) is flowering again on secondary stems that shot up in August and H. sp. Forrestii (hort.) is still out, spilling its faint, narcissus-like scent into the air. Jasminum polyanthum is again smothered in red- budded, large white flowers and the fragrance from that is almost overpowering. I much prefer this to the more reliably hardy J. officinale, which has much smaller flowers and a shorter flowering season. Here it gets everywhere and roots into the ground whenever a stem touches the soil. In a way it's a rampant nuisance, but it really pays its rent and then some by being almost permanently in flower. Nerine bowdenii seems rather late this year and the sugar pink flower buds are only now beginning to open a good month later than usual It's been soundly beaten by a stunning, brick red sarniense hybrid that has been out and looking very good for at least 10 days. Normally a late October/early November bloomer, Nerine flexuosa 'Alba' is also about to open and I'm very much looking forward to its glistening, crystalline white flowers with crisped and wavy petals and sepals. It all sounds luscious but I like the sound of that white Nerine, David. -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.com Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics. South Devon |
Winter cometh
"Sacha" wrote in message ... Very slight whiteness on big the lawn this morning, where there is less tree canopy and shelter from the house. But it's another beautiful, sunny, crisp day - just the sort of autumn day that is perfect. Just looking from our bedroom window we have Romneya, Cimicifuga, Fuchsias, Dahlias, Helianthus, Crinums, Salvias still flowering well. -- Sacha Err....planning to go swimming in the sea next week. The outdoor tomatoes are still growing and flowering and cropping like mad. The lawn is still pretty scorched. The bottom right hand side of the country seems to be in a completely different climate at the moment - perhaps related to the jet stream? [However, up in Derbyshire for my birthday, near where we used to live, and it has been a glorious day :-) ] If the hot weather would just last another month or so I might just get a second crop off the fig tree (strangely, the first crop of only one fig disappeared over night without trace). I know autumn is looming because the trees are starting to change colour but we are hanging on to summer like grim death and refuse to accept that it may be over any time soon. The only change seems to be that the mornings are a bit cloudy and the heat doesn't come through untill mid-day. Strange, because a few years back we spent a glorious holiday in November in St. Ives and the Lost Gardens with sunny days and clear warm nights, so I don't know why the south west is having worse weather this year. My current problem is the lawn - usually this would be the time to seed any bare patches and do the autum weed and feed but is is not yet growing strongly enough. Oh, well - no doubt all will be gray and soggy soon enough. Treasure your autum frosts and mellow fruitfullness, but NIMBY! Cheers Dave R |
Winter cometh
Sacha wrote:
It all sounds luscious but I like the sound of that white Nerine, David. It came from your nursery originally - Ray gave me a couple of bulbs a few years ago. Come to think of it, so did the sarniense hybrid. Oh and a surprise for me today was that I noticed Justicia (Jacobinia) carnea (smooth leaved form with purplish leaf undersides) is about to flower. That it came through last winter albeit with some damage is surprising, but for it to recover enough to flower just a few weeks later than normal is quite remarkable. |
Winter cometh
"David WE Roberts" wrote in message ... "Sacha" wrote in message ... Very slight whiteness on big the lawn this morning, where there is less tree canopy and shelter from the house. But it's another beautiful, sunny, crisp day - just the sort of autumn day that is perfect. Just looking from our bedroom window we have Romneya, Cimicifuga, Fuchsias, Dahlias, Helianthus, Crinums, Salvias still flowering well. -- Sacha Err....planning to go swimming in the sea next week. The outdoor tomatoes are still growing and flowering and cropping like mad. The lawn is still pretty scorched. The bottom right hand side of the country seems to be in a completely different climate at the moment - perhaps related to the jet stream? [However, up in Derbyshire for my birthday, near where we used to live, and it has been a glorious day :-) ] If the hot weather would just last another month or so I might just get a second crop off the fig tree (strangely, the first crop of only one fig disappeared over night without trace). I know autumn is looming because the trees are starting to change colour but we are hanging on to summer like grim death and refuse to accept that it may be over any time soon. The only change seems to be that the mornings are a bit cloudy and the heat doesn't come through untill mid-day. Strange, because a few years back we spent a glorious holiday in November in St. Ives and the Lost Gardens with sunny days and clear warm nights, so I don't know why the south west is having worse weather this year. My current problem is the lawn - usually this would be the time to seed any bare patches and do the autum weed and feed but is is not yet growing strongly enough. Oh, well - no doubt all will be gray and soggy soon enough. Treasure your autum frosts and mellow fruitfullness, but NIMBY! It is ok for some! I made chicken soup last week... O in North Yorkshire. |
Winter cometh
On 2009-09-26 23:13:42 +0100, DaveP said:
Sacha wrote: It all sounds luscious but I like the sound of that white Nerine, David. It came from your nursery originally - Ray gave me a couple of bulbs a few years ago. Come to think of it, so did the sarniense hybrid. Oh and a surprise for me today was that I noticed Justicia (Jacobinia) carnea (smooth leaved form with purplish leaf undersides) is about to flower. That it came through last winter albeit with some damage is surprising, but for it to recover enough to flower just a few weeks later than normal is quite remarkable. Yes but we're not growing it in the garden! The Nerines we do have are in precisely the wrong place, right at the back of the border under the kitchen and office windows. I'm hoping that border is going to be re-done this autumn and next spring because it needs a bit of re-organisation. Is that the Justicia carnea that we sell as the dark leaf form - must be, I should think. It's not something I can see surviving here but who knows, maybe it's another that's worth a try in a house border. We lost Salvia confertiflora in one of the garden borders last winter, not really surprisingly but I want to re-plant it because it's such a lovely late addition to the garden. And the Crambe cordifolia behaved poorly this year - one clump flowered but the other sent out huge leaves and no flowers, leaving a rather sparse effect. The Amicia zygomeris has grown and is blooming well, a bit to our surprise because we really thought that had gone for the chop in the frost. I think it must have been well enough protected by the house and the other things growing around it. -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.com Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics. South Devon |
Winter cometh
On Sep 27, 12:06*pm, Sacha wrote:
On 2009-09-26 23:13:42 +0100, DaveP said: Sacha wrote: Yes but we're not growing it in the garden! * Ray did say he thought it was a bit tender. I have it in a pot so I can keep it in the sun close to the house wall - too much shade for too long in most parts of the garden. *Is that the Justicia carnea that we sell as the dark leaf form - must be, I should think. *It's not something I can see surviving here but who knows, maybe it's another that's worth a try in a house border. * That's the one. It's a tropical shrub from Brazil and most commonly grown as a pot plant. There are two types of carnea, one with the smooth purplish leaves and deep pink flowers and the form with the rather velvety, greyish leaves and paler flowers. The former is more tender and I doubt it would survive on the edge of Dartmoor, so it is best left under glass. Back to that red Nerine, it's yet another gloriously sunny day and I've just had a really close look at the flowers. The sepals and petals have reflective, crystalline patches of glistening coppery red that I've not noticed before. Absolutely stunning! On the red front: the big Callistemon (citrinus 'Splendens') thinks it is spring and is about to burst into a mass of vivid scarlet 'bottlebrushes' again. |
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