Spider Plant in Flower

A Late Sunday post. My spider plant has got a single white flower on it. I do not think i have ever seen a spider plant in flower.Its sat by the front room window, happily growing mad.It is an heirloom plant, that was my first encounter with growing a living thing many years ago.I hope it has baby plants too to make Volunteer plants :)

Has anyone else seen their spider plant in flower? It is a small six petaled white flower with golden yellow anthers.

Flowers and Thoughts

The Streptocarpus Happy Snappy nearly opening today. It is red flowered with a white throat and darker stripes. I will photograph it when its fully open. The Dark purple Black panther is out of focus behind it.
Streptocarpus Ruby has a flower bud too, so another one to photograph.I want to be planting seeds but I will wait untill I find out about the house.I have about thirty packets of seeds that have been bought, collected, or given to me.
I have been thinking about what I would actually want to grow in a new garden.I have been given so many ideas from my garden visits and the Blogs I have read.
Sundays are a day for reading flower catalogues and other Blogs, for relaxing before my seven nights next week.I might have to start packing soon everything into boxes!

Temptation

As the Summer Draws to a close thoughts turn to next years plants and flowers.What you can try to grow for first time, or what can be grown again. I have lots of Glossy brochures with seductively gorgeous flowers.These are model flowers photographed to perfection.

The Flowers we grow aspire to look like these catalogue pictures.

Sometimes ours fall short of the glossy pictures. The soft focus, every petal perfectly formed.

I find it Therapeutic to look through each new book as I get it to see what they are selling.

David Austin Roses, Gardening Direct Autumn Planting, Fothergills, Thompson and Morgan Lillies, Van Meuwen Spring Bulbs, and the Organic Wiggly Wigglers with wild flowers, bird feed, composting bins, and of course Wormeries...

I arranged the books like a Mosaic to show the bright colours and bold lettering. It is tempting to order lots then think where they can be planted later.

As Angela from Northern California Says Never ask where they'll go. Just give into the temptation of buying plants and seeds :)

Happy Snappy

Two Happy Snappys..

The Streptocarpus plant Happy Snappy with crimson Flower buds, nearly in flower, and I'm happy too. I went to the Estate Agents today to drop in the application form, for the house I looked at yesterday.

Its close to work, and town, is on a quiet street away from the Busy road.

The Garden is rectangular, and faces back onto a Tree lined Alleyway.

I saw lots of Brambles, weeds, and a large Blackthorn bush I think.

It has an outhouse, an old fashioned dwelling. The Kitchen window faces the back. I saw a Window box and Large Pots. Parsley was growing in the windowbox between weeds...

Fingers crossed now that it all goes to plan.I can look now at Flower Catalogues about what to buy. The Autumn and Winter project will be to find the Garden below the Slabs and brambles!

Changes

I went shopping earlier for food, and on the way back I picked up three random leaves that were blowing across the pavement.The Seasonal changes are nearly upon us.

The Trees dropping leaves means to me we are in Autumn. The leaves falling along With the blustery wind, frequent clouds and rain, and that its cold at night.

I looked at a house today, and with luck will be able to move there.

What i looked for most was a Garden, I need to feel the earth on my fingers again.To use all my planting ideas in bare soil.

I have my fingers crossed now...

I love the colours of these leaves, changing their coats like Joseph and his technicolour dreamcoat. My plants need a change of environment, new windowsills to sit on.

I have an application form to fill out tonight. I will dream of the new garden. It was overgrown and messy...A perfect Winter Project.

The rest of the house was seen, but peripheral to my greatest need: a garden to develop from the overgrown state its in currently.

Foxes on my Desk

This image was taken off Ebay..The same Ornament I bought Mum for Xmas a few years ago.I think she still has the Ornament back home in Cheltenham....

Inspired by my Fox Picture on the sidebar to the right I thought I would blog my small Fox collection. I bought the white pot at the Harrogate Autumn Flower show.They had a pheasent on one, and this fox on the other.I had not bought anything up to that point, but the desire to buy a souvenir overcame me!

Fran knew I bought a Fox in a Box, and when she went to the Carboot Sale she must have found the Fox and cub. An ornament made in Scotland.A small collection has begun...

Foxes have been part of British Wildlife for thousands of years. The strange practise of fox hunting still polarises the country now. I love them, as noisy as they are at night. People with poultry do not like them.

They are part of the landscape, and have moved from the countryside to the city. Like updated town and country mouse, there must be Rural Foxes, and Urban Foxes.

Artists use the natural world as inspiration for their art.I have not seen foxes as ornaments, since I bought Mum one years ago, A fox dressed as a country lady complete with dress and Royal Ascot Hat. (I added the top image from Ebay after i looked on there)

Badgers, Foxes, Owls, Garden birds, and Hedgehogs have all crossed over between the natural world and the artistic representation of them.I am looking out now for more Foxy ornaments or pictures :)

Magic Beans

Magic Beans. The seeds from Pats Runner beans are drying on the plate.they are the most amazing pink colour fresh from the Runner bean plant. Picked and cut open along one side.

The Seeds lie entombed, like a mini Parisien Catacombs. Pink and Black/Blue Seeds at the moment. They Darken to a nice purple colour.

They are like an art work, with dark swirling colours on top of the pink outer seedcase.

The Fairytales talk of Magic Beans that grow into Bean Stalks upto the Clouds, where Jack climbs to meet the human being eating Giant. Jack had traded his cow on the way to market for some magic beans. I wander if they were like these runner bean Seeds here. Magic in the Colours within the Green beans.

Three Cyclamen...

In flower yesterday.I have done my extra set of three nights. I like the three flowers hovering above the variegated leaves. More posts later today after I have slept a while :)

Morning Light

The Geranium Flowers today.The peach colour is sort of diluted with pink, and I love the lime green eye in the centre. Morning light is great for highlighting flower petals and making colours stand out. It looks vibrant and alive.

Healing Circle

Another morning after a night shift.I can just about write one post before bed...

I got a nice comment from Dorothy about her liking the photographs, and the mixture of colours on my Blogs page.

When I switched to the New Blogger I played about with the colours to match the Astrantia photo that is now the header with Snappys gardens Blog written on it.It was more mixing the pallet untill i liked them subconciously...

I think the Flowers, plants, and Nature are all healing, and gardening is too. Like Monty Don says putting his hands into soil connects him to the earth, and heals his mind.

The Black Panther Streptocarpus shows its purple petals with daylight streaming through them.I love these colours of the Flower.

The front room Windowsill this morning as I sit at the computer has a Dahlia with flower buds, the Peach coloured Busy lizzy carousel , Peach/pink Geranium flowers, a spider plant with a flower spike, the Streptocarpus Black Panther, and a Red Bergenia.

These Flowering plants help to heal me with their cheery colours after a long night. Its good to see things from new perspectives (like the blogs colours) and to know people have responded to what I have posted.I look at my blog daily so dont see it as other people do.

I always welcome and respond to comments :)

They are therapeutic too when you get them...A healing circle between the plants, me, the blog, and the Blogosphere Gardeners and artists.

Like A Pink Havana Cigar

Geranium Flower buds that look like roses, with the petals rolled up like a Havana Cigar. These will look good next to the Busy Lizzy Carousel who has two flowers now in bloom.
I rescued another Chilli Plant from work, joining the three I have grown, and the other rescue plant I got. Five Chilli plants are growing now....
Just finished first night shift of three, expect short posts between sleep.

Busy Lizzie F1 Carousel

After five months of growing, and me checking today what it was called the Busy Lizzy F1 carousel mix is in flower. Peach coloured double bloom, just the one at the moment with a bud behind it.

Gardeners need patience dont they?Having waited five months, and seen all the other plants keel over this is the survivor.

The F2's were much easier to grow, these F1's are beautifully flowered, but a nightmare to grow from seed.

Expect a few more photos as I enjoy the flowers after waiting all that time :)

Dahlia Snail and Photos

This cheeky Garden Snail was sleeping in a Dahlia in Frans Garden.

It rained heavily before I took the photo. Maybe he was using the Yellow petals as an umbrella.

I read an interesting post from Robin, about a subject I have been thinking of lately.

http://robinsnestingplace.blogspot.com/2007/09/cleaning-up.html

The post was about how Garden Bloggers organise their photos on the Computer, and whether they deleted them.

My Computer is getting fuller of images I have photographed. They are organised simply by Month, restarting from March 2007. I need to move my monthly folders off the computer into some kind of Storage to free up the memory...

Also on my mind is will my Free Blogger photo album keep me going in the future. The free space i have is 28% full already. Thats Just from March 2007 over 900 photos!!

How do people store their photos on the Computer? If you take a hundred photos at a time your computer hard drive will be filling up. Do you use disks, Flash cards, or something else? Or do you delete the photo's that you dont post?

I love posting almost Daily, and using my photographs to make the pages stand out. The words are poetic, and the images Artistic.

The use of my Camera has increased with the Blog, I hardly ever photographed anything before Snappys Garden. Now I feel lost without my Camera, ready to photograph Nature in all its guises, and Beauty. When I do have a Garden it will be photographed as a work in progress, to share with others, and to record its natural life.

I hope Snappys Gardens Blog does not run out of space to post beautiful photographs of flowers and trees....

Sunday Cyclamen

I love these pink flowers with the darker mouth colour at the base of the petals. The RHS book calls them reflexed petals. They start growing hanging down then get stood up so they are like little pink light bulbs..

I bought this at the Autumn flower show from the Long tent with Plant Suppliers selling plants, bulbs, sundrys, and information for hotels or Scotland..

I wanted a souvenir from my visit, and had the idea of a Cyclamen in my head. After four hours of walking and photographing I relented. I only bought two things, The Cyclamen, and a Country Living inspired white china pot with a Fox on it..

My book says they are a genus of Tuberous perenniels, grown for their pendent flowers. They are frost hardy, and require rich, well drained soil. I dont know which species my plant is, but its flowering now.

These plants will be on my garden to grow wish list.

Streptocarpus Flowers Today

The Streptocarpus Black Panther. I bought this as a plug plant at Tatton Park from the Dibleys stall. The guy had to root around these trolleys laden with muslin cloth wrapped plug plants in little clear plastic bags. I loved the Darkness of the flowers on the display plant. Its almost black, or very drak purple. Its also hard to photograph a Dark flower.I took a lot of photos.I need a sunny day to illuminate the flower petals. you can get the idea of it though from the photos..

Black Panther In Profile, five petals at the end of the Tubular flower. The stems rise up from the Long, crinkly green leaves. They are easy to propogate. At the Flower show the Lady from the British Streptocarpus association showed how you can cut off a leaf, strip the middle vein, and lay the two long pieces into well drained damp compost. The Streptocarpus will grow baby plants along the cut leaves. You have an exact copy of the parent plant...

Nerys, bought from Harlow Carr in June. This plant has flowered prodigiously from June to September and is still going. The leaves are really long now, ready for some propogating...

The Unknown variety with lilac and white flowers, with the Egg Yolk centres. This has flowered for months too. The stems and leaves are hairy on this plant. The other Streps have crinkly leaves. This one is African violet like.The Flowering stems are covered in bright red, downy hair, like Red snakes. The buds are wrapped inside the brown covering which open then drop off revealing two to four flower buds. I love the colours of this unknown variety..

There are two more Varietys still growing. Happy Snappy from Tatton Park with Red/Orange flowers, and Streptocarpus Ruby which Hils Friend gave her to give to me.I guess it will have red flowers but I dont know really.

The Streps are giving me September flowers, when everything else is struggling.My only other flowers are on the Cyclamen I bought in the flower show.

Seed and plant catalogues are being perused now, for more plant ideas, and for purchases...

Pink Flowers

Saturday morning.After a few tired days I am blogging again. These beautiful pink flowers were being sold at the Autumn flower show.

I cant remember the name. Schizosanthus or something like that?

the Pink flowers were growing at the end of three foot strap like leaves. They are very peruvian lilly like in the flowers.

I am looking for a new house in earnest now.The contract here is running out.I have so many garden ideas to try out, new plants to try and grow.

My inspiration has come from trips to Harlow Carr, to Tatton Park, and to the Flower show. Other peoples gardens, and gardening blogs also keep me inspired.

My newest collection of plant is Streptocarpus.I have five types now with three in Flower, and the other two have flower buds growing on pendulous stems.

Streptocarpus Nerys, Ruby, Happy Snappy, Black Panther, and the Unknown one.I will post some photos this weekend. I am also trying to grow leaf cuttings from the New Streptocarpus Ruby....

Fruit from Show

From the Flower show the Fruit section looks like a buffet table. This photo reminds me of the old Dutch masters painting a still life.

I guess its the black table and fruit baskets holding the multicoloured fruit.

The poor summer meant the entrys were not as plentiful, the only exception being Apples.

The vegetables were sparse so maybe not as many people grew to the entry standard.

If people could see these vegetables and fruit, and go away from the show thinking I will have a go at growing that. Then it will have been a success.

How much sweeter is produce that you have grown yourself, free from any chemicals or additives hopefully. Picked, washed, and eaten fresh. I was inspired by the show...

Pink Angels in the Show

Fuschias from the Flower show. Like beautiful pink angels..mine have all died horribly this year so it was good to see some lovely plants. Enormous hanging baskets of pendulous flowers.I like the Angel/Ballet Dancer flowers the most, ahead of the tubular flowers.
I have been shrinking the photos to see how much quicker it is to upload them.It works pretty well. Do you all miss the large photos I normally post?
A garden would be empty without some Fuschias.I have seen them growing as shrubs and hedges almost, as well as in hanging baskets.
Last year I had a pink fuschia/White Petunia mix in a hanging basket which worked quite well.
I have Fuschia Alice Hoffman regrowing from its woody branches, and the unknown variety from Tatton Park for a Pound. All the others have keeled over, Sigh.
There is always next year to grow them...

Toad in the Hall

After seeing Angies toad Lillys I had to blog the one good photo I took off this one.It was nestled on the edge of a Floral Display.
http://gardens-n-junk.blogspot.com/2007/09/toads-in-gardenlilies-that-is.html
Small but perfectly formed flowers with the beautiful patterned Petals. I must get some of these when i do finally garden!
The post title is almost like the traditional British dish toad in the hole, sausages cooked in a batter mix in the oven. yum yum, with Gravy...

Astrantia Major

Some Astrantia from the Autumn flower show.I love the pin cushion effect of these plants.They are at the top of the blog page.

Its a late post from me after a long day today. Thirteen hour day...

Im off for two days So I can blog the other photos from the Flower show.I have shown the flower competition, and some of the Vegetable competition.

It was funny to see beautiful ornate cauliflowers and cabbages displayed on the black covered tables.

These Astrantia were in a Nurserys display, with the plants on sale besides it.These were given medals too for Exhibitors Displays. Perennials, Acers, Carniverous plants, Alpine plants...

My favourite flowers that I discovered at Harlow Carr, and here again at Harrogate.More posts in the morning :)

Dahlia Heaven

The Dahlias were quite photogenic.I have four plants growing on the window sill but only one has flowered so far.

I love their leaves and flowers. They are beautiful, and have the most complex looking flower petals, arranged in circles it seems.

Bright colours, and soft colours abounded.I think people loved the Dahlias. Angela and Fran walked around with bunches of Dahlias. They kept being asked where did you get them.

My memorys of the Autumn Flower show will include the Dahlias.

Vegetables Galore

Look at these beautiful Carrots, like athletes lining up for the 100 metre sprint!

















Shallots, on the plate...














Cabbages, what a nice colour they are...














Marrows, very colourful











Tomatoes that would look good in my cheese sandwich...










Giant Heavy leeks, like heavyweight boxers in the Veg growing world. The first prize went on weight, and the leaves were so neatly washed and plaited...














Onions from Table eyed view.You can see the hall they were displayed in. Long black tables with various Veg displayed in their respective classes for judging.

I would love to grow all of these, but for eating with home cooked foods. They can be displayed like edible Art works!

Flower Competitors

Some Beautiful White/yellow Dahlias from the Autumn flowers show on Friday..

Dahlias looking very Anime like, they are wanderful colours and shapes...

White Chrysanthenum with yellow centres. Love these beautiful flowers being exhibited..

Mums like Cheerleader Pom PoM's....Ra ra ra...go flowers!

Gladiolus are well loved, judging by the impressive amount of entrys into the competitions..

The Carnations Are lovely.I have grown these flowers.They are great for cut flowers for the house.

This is a selection of the Flowers I photographed. They are like finely polished models of the Flower world. What the ones in your garden should Aspire to look like.

Its a traditional British competition the Flower show, and Veg show. Showing your horticultural prowess in growing beautiful works of living Art. More photos to come yet.....

Autumn Flower Show

I went Yesterday to The Autumn Flowers show in Harrogate, held in the Yorkshire Show grounds.

The last flower show of the year.I took a mere 150 photos only. This was my Fifth trip with Hils since June.

There were competitions for flowers, vegetables, fruits, Exhibitors displays, Honey and Mead, Flower Arranging, and a wide selection of Arts, crafts, Jewellry, clothing, Yorkshire Foods like cheese, Meats, pork pies, cakes, sweets, drinks, and even a Massage area run by physiotherapists.

It was packed yesterday with people, and the sun was shining.I will show a selection of photos this week. I worked today so my energy levels are low...

Photographed are some of the Gladiolus Display flowers arranged in Vases, with a Selection of classes. The winners got rosettes.

The flowers were all beautiful, but strange in the way that single Stems were displayed.I like my flowers in a garden, as part of a bigger display.

There were Carnations, Chrysanthemums, Roses, Dahlias, Gladiolus, Bonsai,....

Over ninety Nurserys and plant sellers were there.The funny wheeled plastic trolleys were there like at Tatton, for wheeling around all your new plants. There was a plant Creche too....

It was Sunny to start, then it became Autumnal with cloud, and a cold wind.It was a fabulous day out, but even I have become Planted it, after taking over 1200 photos :)

The Next flower show is in April, So I have time to recover from my frequent exposure to masses of plants and flowers.