Monday, June 22, 2009

Back from my holiday(s) and new pond.

After a little break, I'm back to blog another day. My holiday started off in North Wales a couple of weeks ago. We had some beautiful weather, and I was away from the Monday to the Friday. The next day I was due to go on a cactus and succulent tour of the Netherlands with Jan Kolendo and Paul Spracklin. So after a bit of a dash around, we returned back on the Sunday with plants in tow.

The very next day (Monday), I flew off to New York, and stayed with a friend in the Upper East Side. Had an amazing time, and I have to say, it has been the most amazing two weeks I can remember. I returned back to London on Friday, and spent the weekend visiting friends and open gardens. It's a hard life!

Today I spent a bit of time on my new pond. My new Lemon Goldfish were released into water, and it looks like they love it. The waterlilies were placed at the bottom, and several new marginal plants were set in place. I had been planning to put my Zantedeschia 'White Giant' (picture below) in also, but it would have meant planting into a much larger pot. So I made the decision to just plant a couple of cormlets from the main plant.  

A bit more on this one, as it has to be my plant of the year. I had always loved Zantedeschia aethiopica, but could never really keep it happy. It always seemed to go into decline after I had managed to get it to any decent size. 

A gardening chum of mine, Mark Everson, has been growing this form of Zantedeschia for several years, and always held it in high regard. After seeing his plant, I knew I had to have it. The flowers were fully 6' tall, and the entire clump almost the same across (leaf tip to leaf tip).

When it became available at Pan Global Plants, I snapped one up. The plant was about a foot tall in July/August last year. With good watering and regular potting, nearly a year later, I have a plant that is several feet tall, and currently onto its third flower.

I can see the plant being a big hit in the next few years. I didn't mention the nicely spotted leaves, and its hardiness to -8C, did I...?

I'm going to let the pond settle down for a few weeks, but sure as Federer will win Wimbledon, photos will be posted.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

So much to blog, and so little time...

Time for a mid-year sabbatical.

Today saw the installation of my new pond. It all actually happened very fast, but I'm so pleased with it - it's pretty big!

Tomorrow I'm off on a jaunt up to North Wales, with plenty of nurseries and gardens to see, indubitably.

Then it's Belgium and Holland for an intensive cactus/succulent/garden/nursery/plant collection visit over Saturday and Sunday. 

Who knows where I'll be next Monday, but I'll be sure to have my camera to hand.

Over and out, for now.