Ok just one more

Echeveria 'Rainbow'

Spontaneous end of year purchase. Echeveria Rainbow one of few variegated echeverias you will actually find for sale. Still not widely available, but you will at least be able to find this one if you look.

No one is exactly sure where it came from, it could be a variegated form of e. perle von nurnburg, and I can see definite similarities. A lovely little plant, although annoyingly it has a tendency to loose the lower leaves very easily, as proved when mine turned up with a few loose in the box.

Echeveria 'Compton Carousel'

Normally I wouldn't buy this late in the year, but I have been after variegated echeverias for a while with little luck and when I saw this one I though why not.  Given how easy it is to propagate echeverias I am amazed they are not more widely available. Instead there are only three that you may find readily: e. 'compton carousel', e. 'Bess Bates' and this one. There are others but these demand really high prices and you almost never find them for sale. 

Echeveria ' Black River'

One issue is that many are not stable, so even if you start off with a variegated plant it may not stay that way.  I had it recently when a friend finally managed to get a variegated plant from leaves on his e. 'black river' (another e. black prince variegate). Within a few months the plant had reverted to normal, much to my frustration.  The result is that instead of using leaves, you have to grow them form offsets and few people will risk their valuable plants to top cut them to produce more. 

This leaves the market wanting for more; very frustrating when you're looking, but very rewarding when you do finally manage to get hold of one.  It also makes for a lot of envy when other collectors turn up to see your plants.

I can't help it.

Ever since I was very young I have enjoyed drawing geometric shapes,  instead of using colour I would pick up my ruler, compass and pencil. It was a major reason I went on to study civil engineering, with the surveying and technical drawing being my best subjects.  So getting to design a garden (and working with an architect on the extension to the house) is very exciting.

I have been trying not to think about it as we are nowhere near ready to start any real planning, but it doesn't work.  You lot don't help, yes you readers who have blogs with beautiful gardens, photos and lots of creative ideas.  It seems I can't turn on my computer at the moment without someone showing something that gets me thinking about what I want in my garden. Perhaps the ultimate was a recent post by A growing obsession, on the amphitheatre created by Sue Dadd and James Griffith. I will leave the description to them, here, If you have not seen it go and read it now! They have kindly said I can show one of the photos.

Photo by MB Maher (www.mitchellmaher.org/)

What is not to like about this, it ticks every box I want in the new garden: different levels, seating subtly incorporated, various routes through the area, using available materials and lots of succulents.  There seems to be something about amphitheatres and succulents that go together.  I first saw it at Minac Theatre in Cornwall.

If you are every in the area it is a must to visit.  The question is how to incorporate these elements into our flat garden.  I am wondering about using raised beds to form terracing around the edges of the garden, leaving space in the middle. Maybe even digging out the centre to create further height difference. I can work different seating and paths into this, plus of course there is plenty of space for my plants.  It would also allow me to incorporate a bank into the garden making the most of the south facing aspect.  I could also re-use materials from the various walls / building as we do the other work. The ideas are starting to form, but fitting them together into the space in a way that really works is going to be the hard bit.

This is where the garden designers earn their money, to take an idea like this and turn it into something unique without just copying someone else. I have nothing but respect for them and other artists and creative people, if I had the money there is no doubt I would use them more. This time I will have to do it myself, I hope I will be able to come up with a design that works, but they would add those little extras that turn a garden into something special.

On the plus side I will make the most of the fact that I get to get out my surveying stuff again, draw lots of scale drawings and see if I would have been any good at the design side had I gone down that path.

Look what I've got.

Yes a greenhouse!

Having visited my friends house to see his new greenhouse last weekend, he commented that he was going to be taking down his old one and storing it for a year. So did I want it? Not being rude, but I wasn't too keen at first; I would have to find and clear someone for it, sort a base, and the greenhouse itself was bashed about, with several twisted struts.  It is also cobbled together, as he was given the frame and cut some polycarb sheeting to fit.

Then having thought about it, I decided it was too good to turn down.  I could find somewhere for it, and it would give me a chance to test the size and also start on some shelving for when I get my full sized one. 

So today I invited my nephew over to play with some power tools and he jumped at the chance.  Although I was given strict instructions by his parents to bring him back with all his fingers still attached. First we cleared part of the flower bed on the road side as this was the least likely to be used for any building stuff next year. In no time at all we had the base knocked up as a 2.4x3m deck.  I know stone or concrete is better, but I wanted something I could re-use and wood was the only thing I know for sure I can use (even if not as a deck).  This should be a good location in that it will get sun on everything above the fence all day, so will heat up quickly.  I doubt I would use the same spot for the final greenhouse as you can see we are quite overlooked from that side, so I will most likely want to plant some taller plants in that bed to give us some privacy, shading that side of the garden.  But for this year it will be fine.

The greenhouse went up in no time at all, it actually took longer to clean and dis-infect than it did to do everything else.  I was going to wait until it was complete and filled before posting pictures, but I couldn't wait.  Hopefully I will get time to finish it off tomorrow, I have washed most of the polycarb and just need to tape the ends and fit them.  So it looks like all my plants will be spoilt this year, but don't worry I am sure it will be back to the rough treatment again next year. I can't have them going soft on me.

A new photo spot

It is probably particular to collectors who have most of their plants in pots, but when I'm photographing pots I tend to move them to the same spot for the photo, unless they are too big to move that is. At the last house this was either on the table in the garden, for a more "I'm an actual gardener" feel. I was more trying to convince myself than anyone else.

Or if the photo was for my records then I would get out a bit of black card and put the plant on that in the hope of getting a better photo.  I love the way that I actual believe placing a bit of card behind the plant is going to improve my photographic skills.

So new house, the card seems to have got lost in the move, and I am having to experiment with a new spot. The table has moved with us, but the background is messy. Having built my cold frame it seemed a simple place to use for a start (although I may have to paint the wall one colour instead of the two tone it currently is).

I quite like the effect you get form the polycarb sheeting when taken from above, you can just make out plants in the cold frame.

A better photographer than me could probably produce some very creative shots of plants through the polycarb. I really should invest in a proper camera and maybe even do a course to improve my photography skills.  I am always very jealous when I see the amazing photos on other blogs, one that stood out for me recently was Rhone Street Gardens, post on Wind Dancer gardens. Mind you I could just as easily have selected countless other blogs which regularly feature amazing photos.  In the mean time, maybe I should just be less lazy and dig out the light tent my OH made last year, it definitely helped when trying to photograph this echeveria cante flower.

I guess I will have to continue experimenting until I find somewhere I like.

Beautiful but deadly

Today I took some time off to go and visit a friends greenhouse. He has a range of plants, but his big thing are the dyckias and he has built up quite a collection.  This is the main bench

The plants are amazing

 

 

Out of all the spiky plants dyckias have some of the most lethal spines, I wouldn't like to have to pull out individual pots from that lot.  But when you look at individual plants they are beautiful.

There were one or two dyckias scattered around on the other benches as well. Every now and then there are agaves and aloes mixed in. 

It's good to see the aloes in full flower and with lots of new plants forming on the old flower spikes as well.  Anyone growing the new aloe miniatures that are so popular, remember do not cut off your flower stalks!

That is a greenhouse I could cope with and the plants aren't bad either.

The long term forcast is in

and it looks like we are in for another cold winter in the UK.  I am always interested in these and how true they turn out to be.  Apparently the proper cold (by UK standards that is which is about -8C for me) is due to start around mid November and last through until January.  Could also be a good year to bet on a white Christmas.  Looks like we are also in for a warm patch starting next week which will be great giving me a chance to actually do some non succulent garden clearing as I haven't started at all on the garden.

These Indian summers are becoming a bit of a fixture, although they are a mixed blessing as often it goes from warm to very cold within a day or two.  It is not great for the plants as they continue growing and suddenly get hit by the cold and are not dormant which does more damage. 

I finally feel I am on top of packing things up, I spent a happy hour this morning re-packing the cold frame, this time properly arranging the plants to allow two layers.  The bottom layer are the slow growing plants like the agaves.  These can cope with the lower light levels without getting leggy. Then on top of that goes a second layer of the faster growing plants, that even in winter tend to get leggy if it's too dark.  These are mainly the echeverias for me.  It is always a bit sad packing them up as it means cutting the last of the flowers off, in some cases, like e. blue prince, there are still flowers yet to open and it would carry on flower for at least another month given a chance. But drying them out is vital and I still have the indoors ones to admire.

I seem to have managed to clear this area of snails finally. Having been out there every evening to check and dispose of any and checking for trails it seems to have done the job for now.  The cold frame is away form the rest of the plants so hopefully I will get away without any end of year damage on that front.

I also set up a table for the spoilt plants that are inside.  This will be useful to allow me to arrange them into groups to make the most of the available spaces.  I find almost as bad as loosing a plant to the cold, is spoiling the look of one because the light was too low and it got leggy.  As with the cold frame, I therefore try to place plants according to light vs speed of growth.

I have already move a lot off the table, which was full when I unloaded the crates. Sadly it wont be allowed to stay there once the decorating starts, but there is a similar bay window in the room below (which we are currently working on) so I will have to ask permission to set it up there instead.  It is fun having so many plants inside, I don't have to go out all at the moment to be able to fuss over them and with quite a few of the aloes and echeveria still flowering they are bringing some colour to all the bare plaster walls. Mind you it has been noted that my decorating productivity has decreased significantly since they have been set out. I can't think why.

I'm watching you