Crassula ovata (Sorrento)

My Crassula ovata tree, grown from a single leaf cutting I took from a street plant in Sorrento:

 

x2 Mandrake Seedlings

Continuing on from this past Mandrake post, I was chuffed to see two of my 5 sewn Mandrake seeds had germinated today :)

My First Gardening Challenge of 2022

 I have set myself my first gardening project of 2022 - to bring these poor Haworthia plants back from the brink and to transform this old tin container into a brimming mound of green...

My Eldest Crassula ovata (Amber - 27 Years Old)

I give my eldest Crassula ovata a pot change and bit of a pruning today.

I potted it a fair bit higher in the soil as I am hoping to start revealing more of its upper root structure soon.

I will do another pruning of the plant in the Spring to help shape it...

 

New Year Sowings

 

Mandrake Seeds & Giberellic Acid

I have kept this small package in the fridge for the last month or so to stratify them, ready for a mid-December sowing:

Opening the package this morning, I emptied the 5 Mandagora officinarum seeds onto some tissue paper and gave them a good soak in some freshly prepared gibberellic acid. Mandrake seeds are notoriously difficult and slow to germinate, so I am hoping this gibberellic acid treatment will help bring them to life :)

They are back in the fridge for the next week to soak in a little of the gibberellic acid and i hope to finally snow the seeds next weekend...

 

Snowberry Cutting

A few months ago, I took a trip to Norfolk to visit my daughter :) Whilst there, I took a walk across the Broads - in Martham to be exact. There, I happened upon a lovely snowberry bush, from which I procure a small cutting. Having just quenched my thirst on the dreary beverage, I dropped the cutting into the empty bottle to stop it drying too much before I got a chance to give it some water in which to root. And there it lived these past few months, half-forgotten and with scant few water changes.

For ages, I thought the cutting would fail, but its life-force was strong enough to finally push out a root: 

And today, I finally potted the wee little cutting:

 Please keep your fingers crossed that it thrives so I can plant it out in the garden next Spring...

Gourd Harvest

 

A conker from a psychedelic horse chestnut tree

I couldn't help myself but to pick a solitary conker from this almost psychedelic horse chestnut tree that made itself known to me in Martham, Norfolk, today. I hope it germinates...

Crassula ovata 'Glastonbury Speaking Tree'

 

Autumn rolling on...

 

Wasteland Crasssula Display

Now ,here is something alittle different, I believe. I am setting this pot display to look like a post-apocalypse scene. I will be trailing the Crassula to grow on one side only, to give the appearance that the other side of the tree has has been seared out of existence... It wil probably take a nother couple of years of growth for this thing to appear as I plan though, so watch this space...

 

Yard Art Update

One of our garden foxes has been digging at this pot

Anthurium bloom

 

Bee exploring my (Caldey Island Clone) fuschia

 

P-Pop

Yard Art Update

Penelope

There are two cats that keep sneaking into our garden - Tom O'Malley and this one - whom I have named Penelope. 

Mrs Magickal Gardener thinks Penelope is a boy cat, but ho-hum. 

Anyway, the other morning, as I was taking out young Monty, I saw Penelope was there nosing around at the birds in our garden. Usually, I try shoo the cats gently away from the birds, but they are belligerent souls and they always make me to go almost right up to them before the scamper (slowly) away. But this morning she caught sight of Monty in my hands and her little face lit up with interest. 

So, putting Monty on the grass, I sat down at his side and called Penelope over. And she came. And we are now good friends :)

Elf and Safety

Elf and Safety Officer keeping an eye on the hedge trimming:

 Sorry :)

Autumn Strawberry Leaves

 

Field Poppy