Spending too much (again)

ooooooh you naughty girl! lol they all sound mouthwatering tho, - i already did mine a couple of weeks ago tehehe. i got them last week, i can't remeber them off the top of my head, - so many of them! lol but i have already listed them on the my garden bit, and set reminders when i need to sow, i'll go back into it and make a list for you!

Right here goes, i have treated myself to the following:

Centaurea 'The Bride' - white cornflower
Night Scented Stocks (always a must for me near the house!)
Papaver somniferum 'Applegreen'
Centaurea 'Frosted Queen'
Emilia coccinea 'Scarlet Magic' (Tassle Flower)
Godetia 'Amethyst Glow'
Phacelia viscida 'Tropical Surf'
Californian Poppy 'Champagne & Roses'
Calendula 'Sherbet Fizz'
Centaurea 'Dairy Maid' (yellow cornflower)
Amberboa muricata
Bellis Daisy 'Tasso Strawberries & Cream'
Sunflower 'Claret' - these are for Brooke to grow around her play house.
i also have some Lilium regale that i swapped with AndrewR
and about 6 different types of Sweetpea - but not sure if i will use all of these as the peas are toxic and i won't fit them all in the front garden, as i have also bought some veggie seeds to do with Brooke including garden peas, though it would be best to leave the sweetpeas out of the back garden, so they will proberly end up on seedswap once i have sown what i can in the front.

the veggie seeds i have got to do with Brooke are as follows: Tiger Tom's (stripy tomartoes)
Radish
Carrot 'Parmex' (cute little round ones)
Garden pea 'Canoe'
Spring Onion 'White Lisbon'
not had much experience in veggie growing but i thought it would be a good way of introducing Brooke to the wonderful world of gardening - also might help to get her to eat more veg! lol.

...... not to mention the slate blue bare root David Austin rose i am waiting on, and the deep burgandy lily bulbs.....and the narine bulbs that should be coming any day now......and...... the 'Apple Blossom' Geranium plugs... oh and the bargin selection of Fushia plugs.......ect!

need i say more!lol

Wandered into our local Woolworth the other day and found they have packs of some common plants and bulbs at £3.99 each and a special offer of BOGOF. One of their packs was 25 Acidanthera bulbs - sorry spritzhenry, hope this hasn't spoiled your day

No, not really, because I am going swimming at Minehead this morning - there is a Woolies there so I shall be straight in! Thanks for the tip-off. May not be lucky but you never know.

I went through my seedbox this morning, hoping to find one wee thing I could sow now, but no. Will just have to be patient. At the mo, we have bought 45 packets of seeds, 122 plug plants, 24 plants from garden centres and nurseries online, a rambling rose, and seed potatoes (which arrived this morning) - and still more to search for! I want to tote it all up, but can't bring myself to do that yet.

Well, I went for my swim via Woolworth's and found the BOGOFs. There weren't any Acidantheras (luckily) but I got 2 packets of dwarf Gladioli 'Nymph' 2 of 'Ismene festalis' and 2 of 'Leucocoryne andes' - all for a tenner - I am not familiar with the second and third bulb species, so that will be interesting! There were also some saplings - Poplar and Willow amongst others - and some poor pathetic roses done up in plastic sleeves with their pale and wan feeble shoots poking out :-( Oh dear, it's lucky I really haven't got space for them, or I would have rescued them! Quite a lot of perennials, too, but all done up in packets so you couldn't check on their condition. But TREES in plastic sleeves! Whatever next!

They've been selling stuff like this for years now. Several years ago (1996 to be precise), I bought two hibiscus shrubs there and they're both thriving. One is 'Red Heart', the other was supposed to be 'Bluebird' but it isn't - it has double flowers that open pink and then change to blue.

I took some samples down to the RHS at Wisley but they were unable to identify it and thought it might be a new variety. They suggested I contact Notcutt's as they breed hibiscus. Notcutt's asked for some material to propogate and grow on. After twelve months they agreed it was a new variety but said it was too similar to one they already had to be worth selling. I got them to send back the material they had been trialling and gave it to some members of our Garden Club so now there are five plants of it around the town. What have we called it?

Lady Bracknell - what else?

YES! Well done! Now that is what I call 'proper' gardening, sharing plants around! Shame they wouldn't name it after you. Hibiscus 'andrewii' has a nice ring, don't you think? I never thought of buying plants from Woolworth's before. I shall be watching them from now on.

good for you Andrew, i too have had some good plants from woolies in the past, but it is pot luck, they are not always what the label says and often in poor condition because of the way they are packed, but i currently have growing Acer 'Bloodgood' which was bought last spring from woolworths it was i tiny dead twig, it is now nearly 5ft already! i also have a tamarix, which again was i tiny dead sprig - that has also flurished and is now bushy and about 3ft tall. i bought some queen of the night (black) tulip bulbs a few years ago, but gues what? - yes they turned out bog standard red, and i bought a magnolia with the Acer and Tamarix, and that died. but when you work out what i paid for them all on BOGOF deals it was well worth the plants that i have got from them.

I have ordered stuff and I can't really remember what it was, I'll have to look at my e-receipts to work out what I've ordered! I love going to places like Woollies and garden centres to trawl through the BOGOFS and the reduced sections, I've brought plenty back to life from sticks and twigs and it's really satisfying.