Tried and True.

-
After moving from Toronto to Montréal last year, many of my plants have not been given the most tender of care. In fact, they've often been ignored completely and in particular the few pots of Cyclamen that I managed to move have had a tough Summer sitting outside in all sorts of weather and at the mercy of slugs and snails. 
I'm not sure what I've done to deserve this, however, as  most of them have survived to bloom indoor this Winter.  Some of them have out on an impressive display of both foliage and bloom that I am resolved to give them better treatment this year, a dry, shaded place to wait out their dormancy and repotting in July before they come back into growth.  



Comments

LauraH said…
Beautiful! You must have been good in a former life.
February 3, 2015 at 6:54 PM
Barry Parker said…
Well now that you mention it. I think you may be right!
February 4, 2015 at 11:49 AM
rochefleuriegarden said…
What a beautiful leaf colour the second one has!
February 4, 2015 at 12:06 PM
Barry Parker said…
Thanks Alain, I grew all these from seed from the British Cyclamen Society. I had huge numbers of seedlings and was able to pick out the best leaf forms.
February 4, 2015 at 12:15 PM
Anne said…
So pretty Barry. The colours really are welcome in the winter!
February 4, 2015 at 6:09 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sidewalks of San Francisco

-
Image
For a person visiting San Francisco from "The Great White North", one is struck not only the weather but also by the plant life that flourishes in this ideal mediterranean climate. I've just returned from a week in this lovely city, and again I was impressed by the quality, variety and creativity of gardening that I found there. In this post I am paying particular attention to the gardens I found in the front gardens which often  overflowed onto the sidewalks and boulevards. Many of the plants that I saw there are the same that I grow outdoors and have to move indoors from November to April. And since the San Francisco plants are grown in the ground they are huge compared to my container grown collection.
Read more

Rescue Plants

-
Image
It is so satisfying to liberate plants from the imprisonment of an uncaring Big Box store. This I did last Fall when I found three Agave desmettiana, a mature plant with two large offsets crammed into a two gallon pot. I managed to winter them over under lights in my basement and was further satisfied last week when on a mild day I was able to take them out onto the balcony where, with a little surgery, I was able to separate them and give them their own root space in new pots. I can't wait for the warmer weather when I can get them out of doors.  Agave desmettiana 'Variegata' and two offspring, crammed into a 2 gallon pot. Divided and repotted.
Read more
-
Image
Many succulents have bloomed for me this year, perhaps this is not so remarkable in more temperate climates, but here in Montréal these plants have to be wintered over indoors and live a life with considerable human intervention. This I believe might discourage their normal flowering cycle. So for whatever reason, this has been a bumper year for flowers on plants that I grow mainly for their foliage. The most recent to bloom is  Crassula rupestris sap. marnieriana, it has curiously beautiful foliage that forms chains of compact succulent leaves that take on the apperience of a bucket of worms as they snake out of their pot.
Read more