Scottish Rock Garden Club

They sound very interesting shows. Too far for me but I hope they will be well supported.

Pity it's so far. I think I'd be interested in rock garden plants.

Sadly, it's too far for me as well, but I hope they go well.

Taking anything with you SG?

The weather is so awful at the moment and I am still feeling pretty drained but if any of my pots are suitable to put in the display (it is not a competitive show) I will take them along. We got a shock yesterday when we discovered one of the chimney stacks had a split down it for about 10' and the south end was leaning outwards. After several phone calls and explaining the problem (we live in a listed building) they are now sending a loss adjuster, I expect that will be a structural engineer, on Monday morning to assess what can be done. It never rains but what it pours lol. Before Christmas we had to get the slater out because we had water coming in from the flat roof above the stair. He did a temporary repair and will be back to fix it when the weather is better. The high winds have obviously undone some of what he did because the water did come in again while we were away at Christmas. The wind reportedly reached 92 mph at the Forth Bridges recently and it hits us on the higher ground before swooping down on them. The fields around us look like lakes and we see all kinds of birds not normally near us. I dk if I told you I got interested in heritage varies of daffodils and set out to research mine. It is a fascinating study. I do not feel like gardening at the moment as it is very cold and wet underfoot. Thank goodness the days are stretching out now. Once the flowers start in earnest we will forget this miserable time. If I do take anything along I will post photos for you to see.

Sorry to hear that you've had such a bad time of it. Hope the rest of the year goes better for you SG. I know what you mean though about a graded building as we used to live in one and everything has to be mended just so with the correct substances and stone etc and the men doing the work have to know what they're doing too. We had to have work done on the chimney stacks and have the stonework rendered properly. (The chimney pots were large and had copper bands around them to hold them together.) We had to have two windows replaced and they were thin metal paned ones set in the stonework.
Any work done had to be approved by the council first.
You'll soon be working in the garden again.

SG - I'd be interested to hear more about your heritage daffodils. After watching The Great British Garden Revival episode about them, I am inspired to plant some in my own garden.

Lindak we have had another "event" since I posted last. I went out one day and noticed a big crack down one of the chimney stacks. The insurance will sort it out but the weather and the fact that there is a mezzanine floor roof between the chimney stack and the ground makes it impossible for anyone to properly inspect the damage. Thank goodness they will do all the liaising with the planners. Many photos have been taken and the chimney pot on the part that is leaning outward is sitting at a very odd angle. It is going to involve an awful lot of scaffolding to take the stack down before it can be rebuilt. We have been warned we might need to wait for better weather. I will never buy another listed building. This was listed after we moved in.
Andrew there are so many and different sites tend to treat the 'heirloom' title as belonging to a plant registered or blooming before specific dates. as you can see from this short list they have been around from as far back as the 1600's. I have some modern ones too mainly bred in America.
W.P. Milner, pre 1869
Double campernelle, pre 1900 (Heirloom) (Miniature)
Rip van Winkle –Dwarf pre 1884 Irish N. ‘Rip van Winkle’: Division 4 daffodil flowering in early spring with greenish-yellow spidery blooms, 5cm (2in) across, with irregular, pointed petals
Hawera – pre 1928
Thalia – pre 1916
February Gold – 1923
Little Witch This cyclamineus hybrid was bred by Mrs RO Backhouse herself pre 1921
Sun Disc – pre 1946
Sweetness – 1939
Narcissus 'Geranium pre 1930

Poeticus var. recurvus - pre 1700 syn. Pheasant’s Eye, division 13
Narcissus canaliculatus circa 1800
Narcissus x odorus 'Single Campernelle 1600’s
I will try and get photos of each of them this year and do a blog on them later.

Thanks - that will allow me do some research.

In May 2012 Teegee did a blog full of information on the 13 divisions under which narcissus and daffodils are registered. You might find that interesting too. Find it in goypedia under both daffodils and narcissus. Try asking for recommendations in Questions and I'm sure there will be serious growers wanting to share info with you.