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Skrog Productions

Joined: Jan 07, 2009 Posts: 1215 Location: Scottish Borders
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Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2025 1:40 pm Post subject:
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nice spring blue colours Phobos BalconyGarden looking great !! |
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2025 9:50 am Post subject:
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Thanks Dave, so far I am really glad I decided to plant some spring bulbs. Haven't really worked out what to do when they're done flowering
since I will need the space for other plants but it'll sort itself out when the time comes. Here are some more photos from a couple of days ago.
There is more growth now and if all goes well a lot of flowers within a couple of weeks. I think the daffodils might be the next to flower.
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right planter with Tulipa 'Sweet Sixteen' + Narcissus 'Anfield' |
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left planter with Tulipa 'Sweet Sixteen' + Narcissus 'Anfield' |
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planter with Anemone blanda mix + Tulipa 'Scarlet Baby' (and 1 Narcissus 'Minnow') |
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_________________ "My perf, it's full of holes!"
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2025 12:11 pm Post subject:
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PEPPERS
I'll be continuing from what I did last year*
The peppers will again be planted in the 2 large planters at the edge of my balcony and I won't sow a lot of different varieties.
I've collected seeds from 3 of the plants that I grew last year that had some nice peppers on them: Early Jalapeno, Fresno and
another Fresno that had some spicier than usual peppers, I labeled those as Fresno+ . My initial idea was to only use those Fresno+
seeds but I used some of the other Fresno seeds as well as a backup in case they wouldn't germinate.
but,..
a couple of super hot ones would be nice and I've had great success before with Ghost peppers. Also, I can place a total of 10 plants
in the 2 planters, maybe even 12, and if those are all Fresno peppers I might end up with more than I can consume while they're fresh.
I didn't want to order too many varieties though, which can be tempting as the shipping costs are often higher than the costs of the seeds,
but after looking around a bit online I found a nice seed mix that contained: Naga Jolokia Ghost Pepper, Carolina Reaper and Trinidad
Moruga Scorpion. Those are 3 of the worlds hottest varieties with Carolina Reaper and Trinidad Moruga Scorpion currently at 2nd & 3rd
place resp. I also received some free Habanero seeds with the order which is great because the Habaneros I've been growing the last
couple of years did produce peppers but were about as spicy as an ordinary bell pepper.
The seeds were placed in cups with water on Feb 28 and soaked overnight. The next day (1st of March) I put them in damp coffee filters
which I placed inside my heated jar. The first ones to germinate were the Fresno+ seeds only 2 days later (3rd of March). I've been checking
the seeds for signs of germination each day and unlike previous years I now put them in the ground as soon as I see just the hint of a root,
instead of waiting until it has grown a little bit. Another thing I've been doing different is that instead of poking a hole in the soil and dropping
the (pre-germinated) seed in with the root pointing down I now slightly tamp down the soil to get a firm and flat surface, lay the seed(s) flat
on top, add a bit more soil and tamp it down again. This appears to have worked great to prevent so called "helmet heads" which is when the
seedling gets stuck inside the seed hull and dies if you can't get it removed in time.
As of today (the 10th or March) I have 12 Fresno+ seedlings, 4 Fresno seedlings, 4 Naga Jolokia Ghost Pepper seedlings (seed 5/5 germinated today),
1 Carolina Reaper seedling and 1 Trinidad Moruga Scorpion seedling. No Habanero seedlings yet but I am already very happy with having 1 of each
of the super hots. Let's hope they all survive.
*you can read more about it in this post.
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Tagetes seedlings at the bottom left |
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Fresno+ seedlings were the first to sprout |
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Tagetes seedlings at the bottom left |
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SoundCloud BandCamp MixCloud Stickney Synthyards Captain Collider Twitch YouTube |
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2025 1:38 pm Post subject:
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Last year I tested a couple of LED grow lights by trying to grow some coleus inside which worked surprisingly well.
I've since mounted all 6 of the lights inside a cabinet and made a cover for it using a piece of an old reed mat which dims the light but lets air through.
On March 2nd I've sown Coleus 'Flame Dancers' and Coleus 'Wizard Black Dragon' in seed trays which I placed inside a propagator under the LED strips
and they are doing really well so far. I already had to cull them so I will end up with only 1 seedling per cell, which is still 24 in total.
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2025 2:17 pm Post subject:
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Coleus isn't the only thing I have growing under the LED lights. When I planted the springbulbs I also did some last minute autumn sowing.
At that time it was already a bit late but I didn't have anything to lose apart from some seeds that I have plenty of anyway. I wasn't expecting
that some of the seeds would germinate within a couple of days and I had placed the propagator with the seed trays in a very shady spot
because I first had to make a bit more space for it. When I did move it I noticed the California poppies and Candytuft had already sprouted
and become very leggy so I removed those and sow some fresh seeds. The ones that sprouted still became quite leggy but they actually
survived the winter outside.
There were some other seeds that sprouted as well and most of them are now growing inside under the LED lights. I did screw up the foxgloves
by placing them too close to the lights which not only burned the leaves but also dried them out too fast. It's a bit of a shame because these are
supposed to flower in the first year if you sow them in autumn. Some of them are still alive though so not all is lost yet.
The Candytuft also got a bit burned but because they're leggy this might not even be a bad thing and has the same effect as pinching them.
Those can be sown in spring anyway. I also have a couple of Primula elatior seedlings now which I didn't have any success with before because
they should be sown in autumn.
As I mentioned this really was just a last minute experiment, but now that I know that it can work I'll probably try it again in autumn this year.
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leggy seedlings after being in the shade too long. I think it was only a week or so after sowing |
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some of the survivors, the 2 bella donna plants in the back were grown from seed last year and are now back outside |
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only 1 of these sprouted, but if I can keep it alive that's enough |
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finally a bit of luck with primulas |
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burned foxgloves :( they were doing so well before |
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:05 am Post subject:
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PHOBoS wrote: | I think the daffodils might be the next to flower. |
nope, the small red tulips are next. I wasn't expecting them to completely open up straight away but they look very nice and are very red.
The rest will probably open up tomorrow or at least over the weekend, fitting for the beginning of Spring.
Don't see much signs of life from the 20 Anemone bulbs that are also in that planter, I think only 1 has come above ground so far.
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this is how they looked just a day ago |
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1 spare daffodil bulb growing on the left side |
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2025 12:28 pm Post subject:
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pepper update with a little bit of science.
I bought some fertiliser sticks last year but didn't really use them for much and I thought it might be interesting to do a little test with them.
So a week ago (the 12th of March) I added 1 stick each to half of the pots with Fresno+ seedlings. At that time they all looked very similar
and they are growing under the same conditions. It's now about a week later and I think the results are pretty clear to see on the photo
the sticks have an N-P-K rating of NK 6-6 (no Phosphorus)
there is also a more detailed list on the packaging:
6% N (Nitrogen)
6% K₂O (Potassium oxide)
2.5% S (Sulfur)
0.5% MgO (Magnesium oxide)
I do always use a liquid feed but before I can use that I have to wait until the soil has dried out enough*. I can add these sticks earlier and
because they take a while to completely dissolve they will supply the seedlings with a constant feed. It is tempting to add the sticks to all
the other seedlings now but ehm,. something about not counting all your baskets before the chickens hatch.
I am not expecting that it will do anything bad to the seedlings but just in case. I do have 2 pots with ghost pepper seedlings and 2 pots with
'regular' Fresno seedlings so I've added a stick to one of each of those too.
*all pepper seedlings had their first liquid feed a couple days ago
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also one tiny Tagetes tenuifolia 'lemon' seedling on the left and a rather pale ghost pepper seedling on the right. |
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LEFT: with fertiliser sticks, RIGHT: without fertiliser sticks
note: the white edges are from being a bit close to the lights, I am trying to bombard them with as much photons as they can handle |
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_________________ "My perf, it's full of holes!"
http://phobos.000space.com/
SoundCloud BandCamp MixCloud Stickney Synthyards Captain Collider Twitch YouTube Last edited by PHOBoS on Sun Mar 23, 2025 3:03 am; edited 1 time in total |
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2025 12:19 pm Post subject:
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couple more photos
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the tulips got to enjoy a nice sunny day |
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Coleus is starting to show some colors,. I still have to cull the mixed ones but because it's a mix I want to wait to see if some interesting colors show up |
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most of them are Tagetes patula 'disco red' grown from seed I collected last year, but I also found some seeds from 2019 of the Tagets patula 'Jolly Jester' variety so gave those a try as well. Those are a bit more leggy but I am surprised they germinated |
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these were being guarded a couple days ago |
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These are also growing under the LED lights. having a bit more success with them than the last time I tried growing them |
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_________________ "My perf, it's full of holes!"
http://phobos.000space.com/
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2025 1:02 pm Post subject:
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so ehm,. I uh,.. bought a tree
a couple years ago when I got my plants back after the renovation 2 "trees" appeared.
One of them was a maple which didn't last very long after I put it in a different pot and placed it in a shady corner.
The other was a Hazel which actually grew pretty well but I had to transplant it last year. Mainly because it had run out of space to grow
but I also wanted to use the space for peppers. It didn't recover from that, unless it miraculously comes back to life this year (trees can get
severe transplant shock) but I really doubt it will. However I was getting used to the idea of having a small tree on my balcony and now that
space is free so I started looking around what was available and stumbled upon something that might work. I did initially give up on the idea
because even though it's a small tree it could still get fairly large for my balcony.
Today I went shopping for some plants (more about those later) and there it was, or were, they had a couple but I am not yet used to the idea
of starting a forest on my balcony. Looking at it I thought to myself,."why the fuck not, I am an adult and I am allowed to do stupid things"
I mean worst case I'll kill it within a year as I do with most of the plants, but until then the bees will love it and compared to the price of groceries
these days it's actually pretty damn cheap. So anyway, yeah I have a tree now.
oh right I didn't yet mentioned what I got. it's a Salix caprea 'Pendula' better known as a weeping pussy willow
It's a small grafted one so not a full size tree but could still get quite large depending on how you prune it and how much space it has.
I am not expecting it too grow much larger on my balcony though. (it currently measure ±90cm from the base of the pot)
This also ties back to 2018 when I got some plants to create an Alice in Wonderland inspired "Garden of live flowers"
Back then when I listed the plants I wanted to get I wrote "a willow tree isn't an option of course".
I guess I simply wasn't mad enough yet,..
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behold! It already has a couple of cute fluffy catkins on it. |
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2025 10:28 am Post subject:
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I repotted the willow using the pot which had the snowdrops (and Hazel corpse) growing in it.
The snowdrops have been replanted underneath it. I wonder if I can find a suitable ground cover plant
to also have something growing there after the snowdrops have died back.
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I think that fits nicely there |
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yum, I'd definitely rub my face in it if I were a bee (which I am not) |
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_________________ "My perf, it's full of holes!"
http://phobos.000space.com/
SoundCloud BandCamp MixCloud Stickney Synthyards Captain Collider Twitch YouTube Last edited by PHOBoS on Sun Mar 23, 2025 11:59 am; edited 1 time in total |
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2025 6:30 am Post subject:
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it's working
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_________________ "My perf, it's full of holes!"
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Cynosure
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Joined: Dec 11, 2010 Posts: 998 Location: Toronto, Ontario - Canada
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Cynosure
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Joined: Dec 11, 2010 Posts: 998 Location: Toronto, Ontario - Canada
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Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2025 8:34 am Post subject:
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Update: Jan thinks that the flowers might be Winter Aconite. He is probably correct.
They are the first flowers to bloom here - about a month or more before anything else. _________________ JacobWatters.com |
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PHOBoS

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blue hell
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Joined: Apr 03, 2004 Posts: 24396 Location: The Netherlands, Enschede
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Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2025 10:52 am Post subject:
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PHOBoS wrote: | [...]small tulips[...] |
Oh nice, they look a bit more like the wild ones (except the color ..) - they are stinzenplants (no idea what the english name for those would be) too, like the winter aconites (and lots of other early blossomers).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulipa_sylvestris#Subspecies |
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2025 2:32 pm Post subject:
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Tulipa sylvestris is a nice looking tulip . Hadn't heard of stinzenplanten before but crocuses do look at their best planted that way IMO.
The other small tulips I got (Tulipa humilis 'Persian pearl') are starting to open up but don't seem to do as well as the red ones.
They do combine nicely with the muscari that are growing together in the same pots and are also starting to open up.
The largest of the red tulips have started to drop some petals so the timing works out nice.
The Alliums are also flowering now and add some playful movement when there is a slight breeze (as I hoped they would).
The photo I took of them was a bit of a happy accident. It was taken outside during the day but I was using a camera setting
for inside which used the >FLASH<. I think it auto compensates the brightness when it does, so now it appears to be dark
but the flowers show up really nicely. Usually it doesn't deal very well with white/bright flowers.
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the same set of tulips as in the previous photo but now enjoying some sunshine |
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blue hell
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Joined: Apr 03, 2004 Posts: 24396 Location: The Netherlands, Enschede
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2025 3:36 pm Post subject:
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20250328 - Allium zebdanense - 01.jpg is a nice picture indeed .. nice to isolate stuff from it's background that way
I had used it at night only .. pics with flash .. for plants.
And I would never have recognized those flowers as being alium  _________________ Jan
also .. could someone please turn down the thermostat a bit.
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2025 3:42 pm Post subject:
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a couple more early flowering plants.
The Pulmonaria is usually the first one to start flowering on my balcony and indicate the arrival of spring
The Pulsatilla vulgaris I got last year seems to have survived, or at least 2/3 plants, the white one might not have made it.
It didn't flower for a very long time after I got it but the foliage grew quite a bit and looked very nice throughout the year.
The birds (mostly jackdaws) trample on it so the flower grew a bit bend but at least it didn't snap.
Another Herb robert has found its way to a planter on my balcony so I placed it in a separate pot and today I noticed
that it has started to flower. It's a very welcome native 'weed' that keeps flowering for most of the year and is liked by bees.
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2025 4:52 pm Post subject:
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When I bought the willow tree I also got some plants that I did plan to buy.
Most of these are plants that I was considering to order but was able to get locally instead.
The first 3 might attract some butterflies to my balcony though I think they generally prefer open spaces to flutter around in.
They are all fairly compact (or should be) with a height of ±30cm, flower throughout the summer and can withstand dry conditions.
* coreopsis grandiflora 'sonnenkind' has yellow flowers.
* Scabiosa columbaria 'Flutter Pure White' has, you probably already guessed it, white flowers
* Eryngium planum 'Blue Hobbit' a dwarf Sea Holly and yep, it's blue.
(I ordered one of these last year but got what appears to be Erysimum instead. That happens to be a good plant for butterflies as well and is still alive)
* Aruncus aethusifolius (Dwarf Goat's Beard) I got one of these in 2023 and it did really well but sadly died at the beginning of last year.
* Dianthus 'Lucky Lips' Not specifically what I had in mind to order but I wanted a Dianthus and from what was available I liked this one the most.
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2025 5:12 pm Post subject:
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And 1 more plant that I didn't exactly set out to get but was familiar with.
* Brunnera macrophylla
If you look for lists of shade loving and/or woodland plants then this plant will show up quite often.
It flowers early and is an attractive plant for pollinators though usually it's not bought for the flowers but for the foliage.
That's also what caught my attention and the pattern reminds me of hyperbolic tessellations.
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2025 2:44 pm Post subject:
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PHOBoS wrote: | Made an alpine planter over the weekend and filled it up with Sempervivums, newly acquired Saxifrage (2 different varieties) and some sedums.
Now that they are no longer hanging on the outside of my balcony I can actually see them. They will get less sun this way but they're still
in a fairly sunny spot and it also keeps them out of the rain. I am curious how this will look in a year from now, some plants will probably die
but hopefully the ones that survive will fill up the empty spaces and it will become a dense carpet over time. |
well let's have a look shall we,..
ehm,.. oh dear
It might have gotten a bit too dry.
I was actually able to keep the Saxifraga alive longer than the previous time but I think they might do better in a less gritty soil mix.
At least the Sedum pachyclados still has some life in it and a couple of the Sempervivums survived. Not sure about the clump of red ones though,
they might spring back when the weather gets better. The Opuntia (cactus thingy) is probably fine, they shrivel up like that during the winter.
When I got the other plants last week I got a couple of sedums and a clump of sempervivum so I did a bit of replanting over the weekend.
I also placed one of the sedums in the small hanging planter. There is still 1 left that hasn't been planted yet but I know where it's going to go.
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PHOBoS

Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5797 Location: Moon Base
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Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2025 3:01 pm Post subject:
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here's something more pleasant to look at
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first leaves are starting to appear on the willow tree |
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