Andrea's gardening

Andrea that is really sweet, and if i had room in my green house i would defo take you up on that grew one few years ago, they really are amazing plants! it was about a foot tall when i bought it in the sping and it grew to over 6 foot in that one season. and at the time i was living in a masionette so i only had a small garden and no green house, so when the weather turned i brought it in the house! oh dear what a mistake that was. i had no idea but the scent is really strong and it made both me and my flatmate feel really light headed. aparrently the scent is toxic, so needless to say it took its chances outside after that and i lost it. i am one of the people displaying it on my favorites page by the way - it is a really good picture, and a beautiful plant - well done!

Hi Majeekahead, thanks for your comments. Just to let you know that if you cut it down to about 6" in the Autumn and cover it with a Bell Cloche and stuff plenty of straw, bark chippings and fleece around the stem, you should be ok to leave it outdoors in a pot which is over about 12" wide. As for the toxicity. The scent is not toxic but the plant is a genus of Deadly nightshade and all parts of it are toxic so wash your paws after touching it. When you cut it down in the Autumn, take plenty of cuttings and pop them in water to root then pot them in Multi purpose compost mixed with grit. Keep them on a window sill and water sparingly over winter so they don't rot, then you can give them away or start again if your mother plant doesn't survive the Winter outside.
Are you sure you don't want one?

hi Andrea, thank you but i think i will pass, i thought they were toxic as i remeber reading about them when i had one before - but i did'nt have very naughty and nosie two year old then. and it would'nt matter if i had it inside or out she would find it, and no doubt eat some of it. i like to consider myself a responsible mum, but she managed to get into the shed in the summer and spray weedkiller in her mouth! i usally lock it and keep anything like that up high out of her reach, but on this one occation i had just finished using it and been distracted for a second and she saw an oppotunaty and grabbed it, luckly it was'nt a really nasty one and she had'nt swallowed any so she just had a saw mouth for a few days, but we did end up in casualty all day to find that out! trust me she really is in a class of her own when it comes to getting up to naughty tricks! just this afternoon while i was on here trying to sort something out on ebay, she managed to flood the downstairs toilet. - she thought it would be a great laugh to push the pug down so far i could'nt get it out and then turn the tap on full blast - highly amusing! she has also had out all of the breakfast cerials on the kichen floor - making pretty patterns! and i caught her just about to draw all over my nice newly decorated cream walls with a red biro - all in the space of a couple hours! having a toxic plant anywhere in our home or garden would just be asking for trouble. but thank you for your kind offer, i would have snapped it up under different circumstances. hey why don't you sell some on ebay? i would imagine they would do quite well on there, but if you do i would list it as toxic and make sure you keep postage reciept, you can get some right weirdos on there, but most are ok. you never know you may be able to make a few quid!

I can sympathise with you, my 3 year old went through the discovery stage, discovering just how cross they can make Mum. I am pretty responsible and I take her outdoors when we are gardening and I tell her that some things are good and bad and she is very switched on now with plants. If I can't offload them on this site, I may consider ebaying them

Hi Andrea, welcome to the site! Don't think I'm ready for a brugmansia just yet - if you look at my mistakes this year you'll understand ;o) Looking forward to more great photos.

Hi and welcome to GOY , I love this site and met lots of new online friends , hope you enjoy it as much as I do , Ive had a go at growing Datura this year ( Blackcurrant swirl ) mmmmm wasnt very sucessful , ive brought 2 indoors because its been very cold up here in Central Scotland , all the leaves fell off them but they must have forgiven me and are starting to grow again , ive got a Greenhouse that il start to heat in Jan so il get them back out then and hope I do a bit better next year , any advice you can give me I would appreciate !

For people that aren't sure the Brugmansia and Datura are plants that constantly get mixed up or named incorrectly. The rule of thumb is that Datura flowers point upwards and Brugmansia flowers point downwards, apart from that the plants are very similar.
As far as advice goes, i'll take it from the beginning...............
Plants that have been grown from cutting or bought from a supplier should be potted in John Innes No 3 and a couple of handfuls of grit in a pot which is no smaller than 12" diameter and cover the surface with horticultural grit to keep the weeds and slugs away. I put mine outside in a warm sheltered spot in April, depending on the weather, in Scotland I'd wait until May. Give the plant a feed and it should start to grow. If there is any chance of a frost wrap some fleece around the stem for an insurance policy.
The plant can reach about 8' in a pot with the right amount of care. In the warm weather it will need watering twice aday and feeding once a week, it will tell you when it's thirsty as the leaves will droop, remove any surplus leaves from the trunk so the plants energy is concentrated in flower making. The plant should start to form a 'Y' from the main stem. the end of the 'Y' branches are where you will get your flowers, remove any surplus large leaves from there (I have a picture of the plant with my eldest in "photos") and the side shoots from all over the plant, these can be cuttings for an insurance policy in case the main plant doesn't overwinter.
The flowers' smell is very heady and is stronger at night to attract moths, etc. Depending on where you are in the country regarding temperatures the plant should be put into Winter rest. You can attempt to take the plant into a heated greenhouse/shed where it will survive the Winter and maybe still flower, but moving a monster like that can be back breaking.
I have left one of my bigger plants/pots outside this year. I have cut plant down and left 6" of the stem(sounds brutal!!), I have wrapped this up in a heavy fleece, packe straw, bark chippings and covered this with a bell cloche which is firmly secured with metal grips, I have then wrapped more fleece around the pot and half way up the cloche to ensure the soil doesn't get too wet. I have only tried that this year so I won't see if I have helped it survive or murdered it until next Spring. I hope this helps........ I still have 4 cuttings to send out if you want to try a Brugmansia as well as a Datura, send me a personal email with your details if you do.

Well, I've orders loads of different seeds through several websites. I have sown the Lemon grass, Chilli peppers and Echium Wildpretti, the Echiums have started to grow but no sign of the other ones yet. I have datura, and vegetable seeds to sow a bit later in the New year to get my toddlers pre-school garden up and running, I've been helping them design a garden out of recycled and reusable things. The big blue IKEA bags are fantastic for growing spuds and other root veg. We have already put in Autumn fruiting raspberries a desert apple and Victoria plum and they are busy making their own compost at the moment. Looking forward to Spring to get them into action planting veg and wildlife seeds.

Well I sowed the lemon grass, echium wildpretti and capsicum all in heated propogaters with damp soil and vermiculinte and all of them have died! Told you I was crap with seeds!!
Think I'll stick to plugs and cuttings from now on!

Probably a good thing in hindsight, but very frustrating. I have too many plants to take down to the Isle of Wight when we move later this year, i'll stick to cuttings and plugs in future although the echium will grow if I just chuck the seeds in the soil on the Island so I'll try that!

Such a shame about your seeds Andrea. Maybe once you've made the move you can try again? Shame to let this deter you (says me who has exactly the same problem lol) But if you try again so will I!!

Not much flowering in my garden at the moment, I have a couple of flowers on a random pulmonaria and a few left over on a Christmas box, can't wait until Spring, there are lots of bulbs popping their heads up, no idea what, I didn't label them so I hope it will be a nice surprise

It's been really lovely in Nottingham over the past couple of days and I have taken advantage of the good weather. Yesterday I gave my Wisteria its Winter prune along with some other shrubs and things, all the perrenials are cut back and the new growth has started to shoot up, the garden is covered with bulbs and some cuttings from my Paulownia and a purple shrub rose have taken so I am pleased. I have sown my first carrot seeds today, a variety called Amsterdam and they will be given to the Pre-school garden when they have taken, I am keeping my fingers crossed because my ability to grow plants from seed is virtually nil!! I have put the last of my strawberry plants into pots and have put them in a cold frame. I have some upright sleepers in my back garden where we have our hammock and I've put some heavy duty pot holders over them and the strawberries will go in there. Everything is slowly beginning to wake and I have a busy few months ahead tidying things up to put our house on the market. I have had some great advice on various things from you all and I will be putting it into practice.

Today the weather was fine again apart from a quick shower around lunchtime, I have been planting euonymus, 18 different varieties to be exact around the garden where I have found gaps in difficult growing places and along a very long informal ceanothus hedge which was pruned last year and has become very leggy. The Euonymus should cover the underside of the hedge and add an interesting colour change. I have also pulled a 20ft x 20ft passiflora off the side of the house. I have cut it back hard and have left a few healthy shoots, but I'd rather expose the side of the house as we are putting it on the market and some people are put off by plants clinging to the brickwork.
I am going to start some tomatoes in propagaters this week and we will have o see how that goes, wish me luck based on my previous experience with seeds!!

Weather has been gorgeous again apart form the wind, but the plants I ordered and forgot what they were arrived today and I have put them in already! 6 Perovskia, loads of dahlias, which I haven't planted yet, 3 Clematis Nelly Moser to brighten up a long dense fence, 10 free Rudbekia purpurea and about 100 free gladioli. I got them from J Parkers which is a really good website and very good value. I am keeping the bulbs and dahlias in the shed until it is time to plant them. I have just ordered some Santoina (cotton lavendar) and that should be getting here soon along with some black and white oriental lillies and some Astilbes for a shady spot which were a special offer from J Parkers and they have given me 10 free Rudbekia just for placing an order. That will keep me buy for the next few months anyway.