Not a very good day, even though it was sunny....
By spritzhenry
14 comments
Yesterday the sun shone. It was great to see it and I had a lot to do in the garden. While I had my breakfast, I looked out of the windpw at my corner flower bed. it is planted in pink, white, mauve and ppurple with some lime green and pale yellow. WHAT was that orange flower doing in there?
I went out to have a look and found that the red Cosmos I had grown from seed and planted all over the place had flowered. Now tell me, am I colour blind or is that bright orange? Hmm. I don’t think much of that! Things didn’t improve. Later, while weeding in the wide border, I took a look at the Dahlias I had planted earlier this year. I had chosen ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ to go at the back of the border and contrast happily with the Heleniums with its dark red flowers and dark foliage. Where was my tall group of Dahlias? This is what I found…
A small pale mauve wishy-washy Dahlia hiding down behind the tall flowers – only about 18 inches tall! Bishop of Llandaff? I don’t think so! Out it came and into another border – now I’ve got a gap. What a pain! I trundled up to the compost bin with my full wheelbarrow and emptied it. Then I had a surprise!
Poor little Mr. Toad – I don’t know where he had been hiding – but he certainly didn’t appreciate being removed with the garden weeds and dead flower heads and taken for a bumpy ride in a wheelbarrow! My kind husband took him off to the stream and put him gently under the Gunnera in the shade. I haven’t seen him today. I hope he’s all right! Not a good day for me, or for my new little friend. I did get a lot done in the garden, but I haven’t decided whether to up-root the disappointing orange Cosmos yet…
14 Jul, 2008
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Comments
Do hope your little friend will be happy.
15 Jul, 2008
Great photos Spritz. Its a dull day here today but out in the garden later.... Yippee!
15 Jul, 2008
I bet your new friend is enjoying the weather though!!
Left with a gap? Hmm, how about some spinach, or maybe some tasty runner beans? :D
15 Jul, 2008
Now what do you think of Peter's suggestion of veg in your flower border Spritz?. Its like lighting the blue touch paper on a firework!
15 Jul, 2008
I do like the orange cosmos, its a lovely colour, makes a change from the pinks and whites I usually grow.
15 Jul, 2008
These spy toads are getting everywhere ! We could arrange a meeting for my toady and yours Spritz.Regarding the changeling cosmos.Will it annoy you everytime you sit looking at that border? If the answers yes then out it comes.Gardens are for relaxing.lol
15 Jul, 2008
Hi Susie - there are lots of orange Cosmos planted all round the garden because I grew them from seed! I also passed some to my friend who also would have liked them to be red...OOOPS! You are right, though. The ones in the wrong place will have to go. Toady has vanished, but I found a deep hole dug by the side wall. An escape tunnel in the making? Andrea, I wish I could give you the orange Cosmos...Peter, the gap is far too shady for any veggies - but a nice tall dark flowering plant would fit in just right!!!! A bit like a certain Dahlia I once knew...
15 Jul, 2008
Your blog, Spritz, allows me to make a point or two - and a confession. I see that you have had the same trouble as me. Buying plants/flower seeds with the promise of a certain colour is like trying to buy paint using colour cards or the tin labels. You never get what is promised. Blue gladiolae (yes, I tried these) which were purple, and, more recently, our "Ruby Cascade" trailing lobelia - claimed to be the 1st true red, but is in fact deep cerise/purple, also nasturtium "Ruby Kisses" in the Alan Titchmarsh brand. The pic on the pack shows red flowers, but they have turned out a definite, traditional orange! I've been "had", too!. I now find that all this flower colour matching can be a gr8 waste of time, and not worth the effort. Also, they are increasingly flowering at all the "wrong" times! I must admit to loving edibles much more. I sometimes dream of covering the entire garden with a giant polytunnel, and simply grow and eat!
15 Jul, 2008
OMG David! Have you been brainwashed by Peter? Help! Help! Where's Grenville?
15 Jul, 2008
It's O.K Grammazoo..... Spritz and myself are keeping a very close eye on Peter and his desire to just grow fruit and veg at the expense of not growing many flowers in his garden. He has also recently eaten some of his edible flowering plants.Peter has promised us faithfully that he will not to eat any more, at least for a while, and we suspect that he will 'weaken' and eventually will allow more flowers to appear in his garden!
On a serious note--- Sorry to hear David that you have had problems with plants turning out the wrong colour. I've heard this is happening more frequently now.Is it because more seeds are being packed by machine, or are the seeds and young plants not being manually sorted as carefully as they used to be before they are distributed to the various outlets?
16 Jul, 2008
Ha, ha! I went off to find out what you were talking about, and found Peter's blog. Of course, I'd still need flowers to attract beneficial insects. I couldn't live entirely without them. My garden under cover will always remain just a dream.
16 Jul, 2008
Great to hear the news that all your flowering plants will not be disappearing after all David.I guessed that it was all a dream. We can put Grammazoo's mind at rest!
16 Jul, 2008
However......will soon post pics of my "dream" (nightmare to some of you), hehe!
16 Jul, 2008
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I do hope the toad is going to enjoy living under the Gunnera. I had one down by my garage all last summer but I haven't seen him this year.
14 Jul, 2008