It's been a long time coming

but the cold frame can finally be taken down.  I nearly took it down back in the warm patch we had in March, thankfully I didn't as we had the wettest April on record and then a cold start to May.  Well that seems to be behind us now, so it was time to take get the majority of plants out of their winter storage and into their summer spots.

Normally I would spend ages deciding what goes where, but this year with the impending move I have been more lax and just fitted plants in where I can.  This is the main collection of larger pots,

 

Now I can just sit back and watch them grow. Oh and figure out how I am going to move them all!

Finally

The wait is over. I have yet to have a flower on any of my more exotic plants, like the yuccas, agaves or manfredas. I see them in everyone else's blogs, and was beginning to take it personally. Then looking around the today, I found the start of the first flower on a manfreda chocolate chips. It's only small but should grow quickly, especially if this hot weather continues.

Plus it has been a lovely sunny weekend, so all if good in the succulent garden.

A merry little dance.

I have mentioned before that I like re-potting; it gives me an opportunity to check on the plants health and to take the annual progress photos. The only problem with the constant upgrading of plants into larger pots, is they take up more space.  Given how limited my current garden is, I try to minimise the amount of extra space and re-potting has become a sort of dance. The first stage is to group the plants into sets, going from small to large pots.

In this case the large echeveria setosa has got leggy and doesn't warrant all the space, so it was for the chop:

Now the largest pot if free and the agave ferdinandi-regis could be moved up a pot:

Next was the little aloe:

Then agave lophantha:

Maybe a little bit over-jealous with this one:

On the plus side it can go in a smaller pot, and next was agave parrasana meat claw:

The one the agave ovatifolia:

Finally the largest echeveria setosa cuttings could be rooted into the smallest pot.

And we're done.  All plants potted up (or down in case of the accident) so they don't take up any more space. Of course it would be considerably quicker and easier just to assume I am going  to have more space in the next garden.

Echeveria agavoides ebony: 1, 2, 3.

This is the third year I have been growing these plants and strangely I have got three sets of plants with pretty much equal gaps between them.  The first was take from leaf propagation in July 2010, the second was also from leaf propagation in April 2011, while the third was from seeds in November 2012. Growth has definitely been slower than I would expect due to the cold summers we have been having, they have also not coloured up anywhere near as much a I would like.  The stronger the sunlight the darker the colour. They do however show how the plants develop from year to year. I will be giving them as much sun as possible this year to try and get them as dark as possible.

I quite like seeing them all together, it is time lapse photography in one photo.

A sunny morning in a woodland garden

I know woodland gardens are not the normal topic here, but a couple of times a year I visit Savill Gardens. While the gardens have different sections by far the most interesting are the woodland gardens, which at this time of year are stunning. With the cold wet April, the gardens are a little further behind than usual, but the rhododendrons are all out.

 

 

The paths wonder between the trees and every now and then you come out onto a larger patch of grass allowing you to take in the views from a distance.

They also have an excellent collection of acers

With everything being slow this year we got some different views to usual. The ferns are usually well established by now.

The difference was even more marked in the gunnera

I like this hosta 'Great Expectations'

The blue poppies were at their best as well

 There is an alpine section which is always good for some little plants

One of my favourite parts of the alpine garden is a little garden shed, it has a slate roof with a few sempervivums attached.  I was surprised to see a lot of almost white ones this year.  I have never seen that before.

Finally the gravel garden which was looking at bit tatty at the moment. The main group of plants dominating the views were the euphorbia. You couldn't really get close enough to get a decent photos but this e. griffithii fireglow is one I will be looking for.

It was a lovely day with friends in the sun. It only seems fair to end on a rhododendron

Still going strong

It was over a year ago now that I last did a post on my cristate aeonium sunburst (here). At the time I was wondering how long that skinny trunk would last, it looks even more ridiculous today.

 

As the cristate heads have grown, they have branched forming some interesting shapes

It will be even more spectacular if it makes it to this time next year!

Beheading the medusa

One of my recent purchases was this euphorbia pugniformis

Also known as a medusa euphorbia for obvious reasons. You probably know by now that I can't help but try to propagate my plants, the more difficult it is suppose to be, the more I want to try it.  This is one of the euphorbias that wont come true form simple cuttings. Apparently if you cut a branch off and get it to root, the branch just keep growing and never splits.

So how to increase your stock?  It is far to nice to top cut, I am not that brave.  A bit of research online suggests there may be one sneaky method that works.  It is a two step process, with stage one being to root one of the branches.   Once rooted you cut the the top off just above the roots.  You have effectively carried out a top cut and this should (fingers crossed) force the offsets you want.  So I have take a few branches to try rooting them in different ways.

 

Now I just need to be patient, not one of my strong points. The good news is that if it works,  you can start again with the top of the branch, re-rooting it for a second attempt.