The greenhouse is back up and ready for action
The big project has been to erect my greenhouse. It was taken down in 2019 to make room for an extension to the house. After getting a brickie to lay a foundation and level rows of blocks for the frame, I checked the aluminium frame and tightened all the nuts and bolts. With the help of my son, the frame was bolted to the block base and the glass refitted. Luckily there was only very light winds on the day we fitted the glass. The glass was washed to allow maximum light in. The staging is now back in place on top of a weed-suppressing membrane and a central path laid using paving slabs. The two side beds have been dug over and I’ve moved my winter-flowering narcissi (N. romieuxii and
N. bulbocodium) into the greenhouse where they’ll get more light than they did inside the plastic tunnel.
The turves removed to make room for the greenhouse were stacked at the bottom of the garden. As there were plenty of leaves about, each layer of turves was covered with a layer of leaves before the next turves were added. In a couple of years from now this should make some good potting soil.
My first daffodil ‘Mary Poppins’ is in flower. Outside, only the very earliest daffodils are showing their noses above ground. Cyclamen coum are in leaf with different leaf patterns. Those with silvery leaves are the most attractive. Their flowers will come this month. Iris foetidissima is still sporting its vivid orange seeds despite some recent rough weather. Sorbus reducta is also clinging on to the last of its attractive pink berries. The primroses that were divided and potted up in June have grown new leaves and some have even produced out-of-season flowers. They’re still in a shaded position at the bottom of the garden and will be moved to larger pots in early spring.
Inside, geraniums grown on from cuttings are marking time and still producing occasional flowers. Streptocarpus are still in flower and a few Christmas cacti are, too. Freesia corms potted up in September have grown leaves but won’t flower until next summer. A foliage begonia that sulked for months started into growth and has grown some nice new leaves.
When dismantling the greenhouse, I found a few small plants of a succulent clinging onto life. They were potted up in a clay pot using a free-draining compost mixture and placed in the conservatory window, where they’ve thrived.
From an internet search I’ve identified them as Sedum stahlii, also known as the ‘coral bells’ sedum. They’re easy to propagate as stems will root and beads that fall off will also produce new plants.