Shutting down and planning for 2011

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Most of my main Begonias have gone down for the winter now.
I have started to put the plastic down and tip them out of their pots to dry the compost out. I am hoping to make enough room in the main (1st) greenhouse to get all the plants from the 2nd greenhouse into the 1st greenhouse and close down the 2nd greenhouse, save some electric. 1st & 2nd greenhouses are at 40 F, perhaps slightly lower.
The smaller (3rd) greenhouse is still at 50 F with 2010 cuttings in, which are going down now and will also need moving up to the 1st greenhouse. There are also my Begonia Rex in the 3rd greenhouse, and some Fuchsias that are still fairly small so i tried to keep them going longer, as i always do wth the Begonia cuttings. I have a few cyclamen that have some striking colours that i am going to try to fit into the warmer, 3rd greenhouse, they don’t look too happy in the house. It is probably warmer in that greenhouse than in the flat, most of the time.
Managed to work out / look up the dates for The 2011 Shrewsbury and Roden shows – the date is on the internet for the Shrewsbury, and the Roden always seems to be the 2nd week in September. Minsterley show seems to vary, and there isn’t a date for 2011 on the internet yet (only 2010 details). So i’ve got my holiday requests in for 2 shows for next year. I shall have to see whether i can work the Minsterley show in as a request or something. Might not bother with Pontesbury show next year, i will see what happens. Always seems to take a lot of organising to get the right time off for the shows.
Once all my main plants are in the 1st greenhouse, 2nd closed down and cleaned out, i will clean off the white paint from the roof and get some green mesh up in there, it seems to have worked well in the 1st and 3rd greenhouses. I ran out of time to get it up at the start of this year.
I also want to try and create some shelves in the 3rd greenhouse to make some more room for the plants in there – they have been a bit too close together this year, which doesn’t help with things like mildew when i’m trying to find a good plant to take to a show.
Still experimenting with the Fuchsias, have incresed the number of varieties i have and sill looking, but have to bear in mind how much space i have as i still have to find room for the Begonias.
This year i have a few Dahlias, not sure what i’m doing with them really, but i have left them to go down with the main Begonia plants. Hopefully i can start them off with the Begonias next season.
Have ordered one or two new Begonias, havent really got room, but couldn’t resist. I will have to have a good hard look at them again next year to see if i ought to stop taking cuttings off some varieties and phase them out.
I know i spotted a Fuchsia called pink Fantasia that i am looking out for.
I have also been planning to visit Malvern spring show, and Tatton park RHS show for a look around.

• 28 Nov, 2010
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