M & Co

In the greenhouse

Top: Burberry.com, From left: Coach.com, Pietdesign.nl and Ken Marten

Everyone seems to be in the greenhouse these days, and suddenly casual gardening is fashionable again. I love Burberry's new ads with models in a casual and quite messy English greenhouse! The styling is quite eccentric and with a very British, upper class country look. Also Coach are doing casual, "homegrown" flowers in their latest ad, and I love the cute little matrems. I'm growing these from seed in my basement this year, and think they will be a supercute addition to my garden, and also quite nice as I remember my grandmother growing these here when I was a kid.

If you like me have no room for a greenhouse, the cute mini greenhouse from Pietdesign would be perfect for the window sill.

Oh and you have to check out the super talented design from florist Ken Marten, using the Primula elatior Gold Lace, for a stunning decoration at The Connaught Hotel. So cute, and I love the contrast of the formal and elegant with the casual Primulas in terracotta pots. Stunning work!

Currently, I'm using my basement as a greenhouse and I have installed greenhouse lights to better the conditions for my seedlings, but one day I hope to have my own little greenhouse...how about you? Any garden dreams? ;-)

Sowing seeds

Image: Allposters.com

During the last 2 months I've been preparing for summer sowing both annual and perennial seeds. In my basement I have a craft room where I've installed plant lights to give my plants a head start in the spring, and I've also sown some perennial seeds outside (In plastic boxes covered with snow) So far I have trays with seedlings of white Viola wittrockiana, pale yellow Viola Cornuta, Petunia Baby Duck (Its super cute!), white pompom Matrems, Artemesia and Primula Auriculas.

Especially the Primulas I'm quite excited about (Not that they will flower this year), and especially after reading about them in Country Living, and seeing the incredibly cute Auricula Theatre!

A new year! :-)

Ok I'm a bit slow, but I've finally noticed that 2009 has arrived, and got my head out of work and my plant encyclopedia, and are ready to start posting on a regular basis again :-) Thank you for all your sweet comments and mails while I was "away"!!! I'm in the progress of answering you all now, and updating myself on what has been going on in the blogging world for the past month!

Oh, and the picture..(I know its way to late for amaryllises..but they've been blooming until now ;-)) I've fallen in love with a cheap vase and I'm thinking of buying several more, and in different sizes, and painting them yellow ? What do you think?

Tidying up in the garden

 

Today I spent the day outside in the garden, tidying up after the summer. I also managed to plant the last of my bulbs..finally ;-) 

   

Also I brought in the last of the roses from my garden. The picture turned out quite fuzzy since I was trying out a brand new lense (belated b'day presents from my parents ;-)), but I kind of liked the softened look of it.

The signs of winter

 

The past few days winter has really arrived in my garden.. first we had 10 cm of snow, and today we have -6,5 C. I still have lots of bulbs to plant, so I'm hoping for some milder weather in the week to come, otherwise I'll have to plant them indoors in planters, before placing them outside later

Most tulips require a period of cold weather to be able to bloom in Spring

Right now I'm enjoying my sofa, duvet and a cup of hot chocolate ;-) Mmmm...I really like doing nothing for the whole day!!

Forcing bulbs - Start now

 

 

Today I planted some of my bulbs for indoor forcing. In the paper bag I had some white amaryllis bulbs, to the left you see some prepared Hyascinth bulbs and in the old cake mold I had some white narcissius bulbs. Usually it takes 8-10 weeks for them to bloom so I've started now to get some early Christmas flowers. The rest of my bulbs are stored in a cold, dry place in our basement, and I'll wait a few more weeks before planting those. If you plant a few every week from now, you'll be able to enjoy your Christmas blooms for a much longer period, and if you start early like me, you'll even have some blooming the first weeks of december ;-)

When buying Hyascinths, look for the prepared ones (Usually labled Christmas Hyascinths). They require a much shorter cold period, than the ones you plant in your garden.

Hippeastrum cybister Chico

 

Hippeastrum cybister Chico - Photo courtesy of Sue Taylor 

I know its a looong time until Christmas, but if you want some striking looking, untraditional flowers for Christmas this year you should start planning ahead now! Hippeastrum cybisters hybrids are a part of the Amaryllis family, but quite unusal looking compared to the traditional "Christmas Amaryllises" widely avvaliable. You can buy these from mail order catalogues, and well stocked garden centers around this time of year. Usually the supply of the rare varieties are scarce, so don't linger too long before getting them...

Last year I had a Hippeastrum cybister papilio, and impressed by its fluttering green and mauve flowers I've decided to grow more Amaryllises this year. Especially I'm looking forward to the striking looking Chico! ;-)

Amaryllises usually takes about 8-10 weeks to bloom after potting, and some of the Hippeastrum cybisters will require a couple of weeks more, so after receiving your bulbs store them in a cool, dry place until ready to pot. This is how I do the potting and caring:

• Use a small pot, or plant many bulbs closely together in a larger pot.
• Place a layer of lightly moist soil on the bottom half of the pot.
• Place bulb on top of soil.
• Add dry soil on top. Make sure the top third of the bulb is exposed.
• Place in a light and warm place.
• Wait.
• Water lightly to prevent bulb rot or diseases.

Please disregard the instruction on the package....

Just a quick bulb planting tip this evening! For the best looking Spring garden be sure to mass plant your bulbs this autumn. Don't follow the instruction on the package, instead plant as many bulbs you can fit in to the designated space without them touching each other. And don't do the row thing either ....it looks much more natural if you just plant out your bulbs randomly.

Look for online retailers who does 100 single variety bulb packages for a cheap prize.

Image: Bulbs.com

Remember...

Photo: me Pinte: Panteek.com 

The perfect rose!

Winchester Cathedral from my garden ! Just had to show off a result from my organic rose growing!  Who ever said you need pesticides to get perfect roses?! :-)