I've got spring in my step.And spring in my propagator - or perhaps it should be classed as late summer, as the payload at this particular point is my nascent crop of dahlias. (Very exciting as its the first time I've overwintered them successfully). I've been staring at the knobbly tubers for the past week and a half, not quite being able to believe that they've made it through - but hallelujah, small green bumps have appeared, and some have even sprouted leaves.
What's more, this morning I've had a consultation with a bride-to-be who wants to put their blooms to use for her August wedding. So now I'll be glaring at them daily, willing them to put on a good show and to defeat the attentions of slugs. That's a very long period of watchfulness ahead of me….
Craspedia is growing in my attic room and snap dragons are hatching on my windowsills and it feels good to be sowing again. In the greenhouse, muscari are being very well behaved in their teacup homes, sweet pea shoots are poking forth and my pots of dwarf tulips look like they might put in an appearance in time for my first wedding, in April.
Things are getting busier on all fronts: in the Tuckshop Garden, the other gardens I tend and in terms of flower orders - all of which accounts for my blogging absence over the past couple of weeks. This week saw me providing flowers for a Green Brum meal at Birmingham's Council House - a rather grand venue, but I reckon the Cornish narcissi did themselves proud in their recycled vases and weren't overawed by the event. It was lovely to get a message from the organiser saying how happy she was with the flowers - hope I've managed to increase the fan base for British grown blooms in the process.
So I'll leave you with this taste of spring and get back to pricking out seedlings in the greenhouse between showers.
Congratulations on your dahlias, hope you get a good flower display for your wedding. I have never dug up my dahlias, mine are staying in the ground over winter, the oldest I have are 10 years old, I have nowhere to store anything and no greenhouse or garage or even a shed so what survives survives, and what doesn’t can’t be helped :-)
ReplyDeleteLoved your daffodil posies, absolutely beautiful.
I think we are probably colder and wetter up here in the West Midlands but I'm doing an experiment this year as I dug up only treasured dahlias and left less precious ones in ground to see if they will make it through. With all the rain we had this winter, will be amazed if they haven't rotted away to nothing.
DeleteCould you pop over and glare at my dahlias sometime? Maybe I'm expecting too much too soon, but I've yet to see any signs of growth from mine yet.
ReplyDeleteYour Green Brum display looks lovely - and all the better for being British-grown I reckon!
It must be the ex-teacher in me that me so good at glaring. Mine always look like nothing is happening, but the after a couple of weeks in pots I stick the in the heated propagated and .... Bingo.... They usually sprout within a couple of days. Magic.
ReplyDelete