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Your dear Lottie meant so much to you Janey, and it’s great to read so many heartfelt messages of sympathy for you. We all know that it’s like losing one of the family, and particularly hard just before Christmas. I’m afraid the crying doesn’t stop, but I’m thinking of you and sending you a rather damp hug. xx

Hello Janey, I haven't been on Goy for quite a while now,but always look in now and then,so I've only just seen your sad news about Lottie.
So sorry you have lost your little soulmate, but she couldn't have had a better life in her 14 years than with you.

I can understand how you will be feeling,we had a Yorkshire Terrier for 16 years,and it's like losing one of your Family which they are .
Thinking of you with love. xxx

They are all so beautiful! So many!

So sad for you as I know how much she meant to you.
You have some lovely memories and she had a lovely life with you. xx

Absolutely stunning collection.

So sorry to hear your news. They truly are family members and we feel their loss so keenly.

Both are absolutely gorgeous when flowering.

Lovely to see it blooming.

Fabulous.

They are fascinating flowers! Not commonly seen here.

Love Begonia blooms.

Balcony, I always view the challenges here as opportunities to learn. The technique you described used in Spain for growing vegetables is very similar to practices used here in some areas of Australia. We are always looking for ways to use water efficiently and effectively. It's such a precious resource.

I found a site that had over 100 different Hippeastrums on offer (in the Netherlands). They also have a large collection of lilies (so look for a blog this summer on the ones I have reserved).

While all of these have flowered, there are additional spikes that are still coming up and flowering, so the season of flowers is about 3 months long. There are also another group I have drying out and waiting for spring. Then there are those I have grown from seed that are still growing to the flowering stage.

I like them all but fave I think is the variety that has a cat in one photo. Is that Gervase? My Hip is shooting up nicely, a red one I believe bought for me for Christmas. The one from last year I haven’t started to water yet.

I liked that those little back passages had been cleared & each house had made their own little garden there, such an improvement.

Karen, this is a beauty.

that is so pretty Cottage Gardener.

I am hoping Morrisons will be getting theirs in soon.

Oh Shirley_tulip, that is an incredible bargain in comparison what it would cost here. Looking forward to see it in your garden.

They are beautiful, I didn't know there were so many different types.

David, that's where I bought mine from!

Thanks for posting these photos of your Hippeastrums (Amaryllis) Wylie. They all look wonderful!

I have 2 bulbs in the kitchen that I started off a week or two ago but I have a lot more that I haven't started yet.

I also have 3 pots of Clivias. One is a small offset that probably isn't big enough to flower this year but should do so next year. The other 2 pots have several flowering size bulbs in them but as they take up too much space in the flat I've left them out on the balcony.

I did bring all my bulbs in when we had that week of temps below freezing as they wouldn't have survived otherwise.

A great bargain there, Shirley! They look to be the same as in Sainsburys.

One of ours died from Cushings as well.The others from heart failure. The vet told us it is a very common occurrence with small dogs.

We went out as we felt it was too gloomy to stay indoors!

:) x

Julia, we had done the grocery shopping, paid and were on our way to the lifts when the bulbs display stand caught my eye! £20 for this lot seemed too good to miss ... :o))

Oh Shirley those GC owners should be more careful with their display shelves!!!HaHa...Great selection you have there !

Summer brights collection:

15 Liatris Spicata 10 Freesia Single Yellow
4 Gladiolus grandiflorus Peter Pears 1 Dahlia Mignon Pink

Cut flower collecton:

10 Anemone coronaria Sylphide
1 Dahlia decorative Wittem
5 Gladiolus grandiflorus Passos
14 Ranunculus asiaticus Orange

Pink & Purple collection:

18 Liatris spicata 30 Oxalis deppei
10 Freesia single Blue
1 Lilium oriental El Capitan
10 Gladioli grandiflorus Purple Flora
30 Ranunculus asiaticus Pink
1 Phlox paniculataLaura

I hope these plants will encourage pollinators into my garden.

You sound a little more positive too. Only 3 degrees with thick cloud today so it's a 'stay indoors' day for me.

Janey, I am reading Carol Klein, 'Hortobiography' at the moment, very surprising reading of her younger days! I shall say no more.

I keep referring to Rachel de Thame, 'A flower garden for pollinators' as it has so much information on the insects, not just Bees, and the plants they are attracted to.

Your book from Jim sounds wonderful.

these are wonderful flowers. I only have 4 and they are lovely and always bring me joy too.

Crows 🐦‍⬛. 😂

There’s also lots of different species of parrots 🦜.

It’s actually considered a shrub. It can grow pretty tall, though.

The thickest trunk of any palm. Sorry!

Redwoods and Giant Sequoias have absolutely massive trunks.

We dodged another bullet, luckily.

It’s still extremely dry here and expecting more Santa Ana’s next week Monday. Ugh 😩! I don’t think we’ll have any rain in January. Very crazy! After February we don’t usually receive much rain.

Sounds like a good strategy.

Lovely Karen! It's from the same range as my Ice N Roses Early Rose, I bought in October. It's been full of buds and flowers since then. When the thick frosts came it hung it's head as it was frozen in its pot.
With the milder temps, up it came all buds and flowers intact.
Yours looks to be a deeper pink than mine. They really are worth having..

Wow you've done well Shirley, too cold here yet. Sounds like a very good idea, and these plans we make right now get us through the winter days. Are you enjoying your new garden book?
My son Jim sent me a lovely garden book too. It's all photos of paintings of gardens, very interesting and unusual.

Karen their warning chatter is so loud! In spring when Pops is about, off it'll start, but of course the Wren probably has nestlings, Pops is too old now to bother..:)

Keep warm and snug, we'll soon be through January.

Yes Karen, so full of bounce and joy. She had Cushings though, and after a year the treatment wasn't working.
Such characters! And such sidelong looks when they don't get their way, which isn't very often!
Oh Molly, she was a monkey wasn't she. 😏
I remember when we first brought Lottie home, she was so tiny and Poppy and Teddy washed her face. I'm sure she grew up thinking they were her mum and dad!
I was blessed to have her like you were with Molly..x

I am Shirley, thank you. It was her time bless her. She'd been so much fun over the years. I remember when she was quite young, the tree surgeon who had a JR himself, was throwing the ball for her and she caught it every time. Mmm he said clever little b----r isn't she..😁 and she was..

Wow! You have so many! They are all stunning. Mine gave me a lot of joy over Christmas. Now let me see…which do I like best? I think Gervase, especially with Krull!

Oh Janey..I remember when she came to you. Our Molly was the same age when she died of heart failure. They seem to use up their little tickers with all the chasing. JRTs leave us with so many joyful, funny memories. They are such unforgettable little characters. And I agree, it’s horrible at the end when all you do is worry and you know what’s coming. Molly was my nemesis as you know. She had the last laugh as she peed all over me when she passed away. I had to laugh at that, it was so much her way to get one over me right up to the end. I know she is with Grandpa now. He was very fond of her. Sending love x

Hi Shirley! Thank you for asking! I am definitely getting better but my head is still feeling like it’s full of cotton wool! I’ve just come in from the garden, but brrrr!

Yes! Very loud. They are great singers!

Oh Janey, this is very sad news for you. Take comfort in the fact you gave her a loving home for so many years.

Thanks Lindak, they are a source of amusement on the feeders at times!

Now that is exactly what happened here, in fact I thought it had rained overnight but it was simply the heavy mist. Much better today, cloudy but no wind blowing.

Janey, I have managed to do some gardening yesterday and this morning, chilly but no wind blowing. I am removing many Sedums, along with a huge Carex grass, and plan to plant pollinators in their place. My 'Wish-list' grows longer ... :o)