Signs of Growth
26/01/2008It lifts the heart to see signs of growth in the garden and to hear the birds singing after the sparse chirping of mid winter. This week [4th week Jan.] in our North East garden, Cyclamen Coum and the first golden Winter aconites are being joined by snowdrops and on milder days wafts of perfume from pink blossoms on Viburnum x bodnatense delight. Some perennials are showing little shoots, a few Alliums are nosing up, and many roots will be growing unseen.
I was excited yesterday to see green shoots in a little pot of Lilium martagon ‘album’ seeds sown over 2yrs ago, and tipped the lot out to find each weenie bulb sporting 2-3ins of root. It seemed a good time to separate them as they were in a growing mood and rather congested- I had sown too many in a pot- it is better to put a pinch into each. They were tucked lovingly into gritty compost with our own leaf mould, and a pinch of bone meal, 3 or 4 into each little pot, and put in the cold frame, but not for long as these ‘toughies’ have survived outside all their life. I guess that it will be another year before some of them flower, but hopefully I will then have dozens to plant out or give away. And time costs nothing, so this year I will be saving and sowing fresh seed from the purple Martagon lilies, to increase the colonies that we already have.
Have a go. Sow a pinch of seed into a suitable, free draining compost, a layer of grit over the top, and leave outside in light shade for 2 yrs. before re potting. One of the best, a really sensible book to refer to is
‘Creative Propagation’ A Grower’s Guide by Peter Thompson.
I think that it has recently been updated.
Galtonia, the ‘summer hyacinth’ grows tall spikes of sparkling white flowers, which freshen up summer plantings. My Galtonia seed sown 6yrs ago sat ignored in pots for 3yrs, until the mass of little bulbs were busting to get out and were lined out in the ground where I used to grow veg. There were a few flowers that season but last year the largest went into beds, flowering well in late July and August. I dug up the small ones that were left in the nursery this week, as I wanted to catch them before the roots started into growth. Harvesting a large pot full of bulbs, was just as exciting as collecting eggs as a child! Planted in 5’s the pots can be tucked into beds in the summer when I can see where the spaces are,
Some Regale Lilies bought last week are to put in next but I just know that wherever I dig, I will spike unseen bulbs!
