Thursday 25 February 2021

Of Reticulata and Rotas


 If it's good enough for Dinah and Ms Scarlet, it's good enough for me!  Yes, I'm back from an unintended mini-break from the blog.  Although, I haven't got much to say for myselves so, instead, I bring you the first small splashes of colour from the gardens of Hexenhäusli Device - just enough to drive off the doldrums until we get to Spring.

 Below, from the front of Hexenhäusli Device, we have the first daffodils 'Tete a tete' and species crocus 'Barr's Purple'.  And then, below them, just inside the gate to the rear grounds, a couple of cyclamen.


 Next, my shady garden behind the garage.  While there are plenty of daffs coming up, the only colour is provided by some 'Painted Lady' iris reticulatas (which are more insipid than I had hoped for), a few violas trailing out of a pot, and a lone snake's head fritillary (which is only flowering now because I'd forgotten it was in the greenhouse until very recently).




 The relative warmth we've experienced recently has clearly stirred some slugs and/or snails into action as is evident by the half-eaten flower of this snake's head fritillary on the right.

 While the larger daffs are still a week or two away from bursting into bloom, the 'Tete a tetes' are already at it, as are the snow drops and iris reticulata.



 In the red greenhouse, a pot full of teasel seedlings are ready to be pricked out (above).  Some of these will go up to the allotment, but I'll keep a few to plant on the embankment for the bees and birds - hopefully they'll self seed in the following years.

 While in the greenhouse, I checked my Eucomis (pineapple lilies) - they're sprouting already!  And it looks like a small slug or snail has found this one:


On the way out of the garden, some tatty-looking wallflowers provide a waft of scent

oOo

 Now, in other - more  important - matters, poor Jon has been left on his lonesome with blogging duties due to a combination of lazyarses, holidays (both announced and surprise), and "sickness" (i.e. me being sick-to-death of clacking away at a keyboard for the last 10 days).  Ms Scarlet has suggested we have a holiday rota so that no one member of the Blogorati is left holding the fort, and that any sickness (of longer than three days, perhaps?) must be backed up with a sick note.  What do you think?


20 comments:

  1. Pretty flowers, and a whiff of Spring, thank goodness. All our slugs and snails seem to have drowned.
    Yep, I love the rota! Obviously Jon can never have a holiday unless he arranges with one of us to take on the mantle of daily blogger whilst he is away. I am just saying. Everything falls apart without the daily blogger.
    Sx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had hoped that all our slugs and snails had frozen to death, but sadly not.

      I think Jon will have to arrange for several of us to take over from him. There's no way one of us is going to manage daily posts! Perhaps between you, me, Dinah, Mago, The Very Mistress, Mitzi, and Hound we can come up with a week's worth of posts? Perhaps...

      Delete
  2. Ha ha ha! I love the rota idea - I shall make sure I get my holiday requests in as soon as the new "leave year" is announced. If you lot can't cover obscure birthday celebrations/death notices, "Tacky Music Monday", "Thank Disco It's Friday", stuff lifted from the Daily Mash, "easy listening interludes", "on this date in history/in the charts" and assorted randomness in-house, you'll have to get a temp in from an agency. I'll be too busy packing my smalls into an old kit bag to do a handover.

    Speaking of Spring gardens, its spooky that we have a similar assortment of joyful bulbs making a show for us in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers, including "Tete a Tete" daffs, Crocus tommasinianus "Ruby Giant", Iris reticulata “Gordon” and “Pixie” [both only subtly different shades of bluey-purple, and in the same pot], Cyclamen coum and what we think are either Cyclamen persicum [which are supposedly tender, yet they survived the snow and -5C temperatures] or hederifoleum [yet they have been in flower for months, and that species is supposedly an autumn plant], or hybrids. We also have primulas, the last straggling flowers of snowdrops just going over, hyacinths just in bud, and wallflowers nowhere near budding. No doubt Madam Arcati will go into all that in more lavish pictorial detail in her own blog fairly soon (as we're almost at the end of the month).

    Now, then - where's all that gold you promised..?

    Jx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, dear. When you put your blog content like that, we'll definitely have to get a temp. Or two! I don't know how you do it every day?

      Cyclamne coum! Yes, that's what those are under my rose bush (I couldn't remember when I did the post). And my hederifoliums flowers had all finished by the beginning of January. Still the crocuses and tete-a-tetes are making up for it now.
      I've been looking forward to The Madam's end-of-month post for a while now! If it will hurry things along, I can cross your palm with a Staedtler gold metallic marker?

      Delete
  3. Hello Mr. Device,

    Well, we have just returned to the Blogosphere after a six year break so we would be most unsuitable for the holiday rota since we need to blog all day every day for the next thousand years to simply make up for lost time.

    However, we do approve of the rota since, upon our return, it seems to us that so many of our blogging chums have disappeared and have been replaced with those who knit, craft or crochet. Sadly, these are not skills which we possess.

    We loved the tour of your garden and, have to say, that in or gardening days we too had Iris reticulata as we loved these brave harbingers of Spring. We kept them in pots where they seemed to thrive. The borders tended to get too busy for these tiny treasures.

    Whatever, we do hope that there is a blogging revival underway. We have added ourselves as followers and will return for more...we hope!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jane and Lance! How lovely to see you here. Thanks for stopping by and signing up as Observers.
      I have visited your blog several times in years past (I particularly remember your house-buying in Norwich endeavours as I used to live in The Fine City too), but always too late as by the time I got there your comments box was rather crowded. So, I just skulked in a corner with a glass of Champagne nodding and smiling if anyone came near me.

      There will be more of the Device Mansion gardens as the year progresses - I'll try not to bore you with it!

      Delete
  4. I would like to volunteer for the first holiday.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Brilliant idea! I am doing a bit of background tinkering and trying to get a work-around for WP.And I could never keep up with all that Jon does. I suspect his house is wallpapered with spreadsheets...)
    Meanwhile...my NGH looked over my shoulder as your page loaded and said:"Irises. Nice." Blimey! That's worth a blog on its own!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gasp! Acknowledgement from your NGH?? This is where the rota will come in as we'll need to borrow Ms Scarlet's fainting chaise and two other Blogorati will need to be scheduled in to take over from us while we recover!

      Delete
  6. Hooray, These are lovely! I feel like you've given me a cool drink of water for my brain. Thank you! I've got a momentary sundog on my page, but I see from the window behind me its about to start raining again. I should take said dog to sniff some blades of grass. Until next time Adieu.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, your sundog is adorable! I think I might have a similar photo of my Moom somewhere? I shall have to peruse some files...

      Delete

  7. Welcome back Mr. DeVice
    You have beaten me to it dear. We do indeed have almost identical flowers here at 'Delargo Towers' which goes to prove that you do excellent taste.
    Pure joy !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, thank you, Madam A.
      I'm looking forward to seeing your February garden - there'll be a LOT less desolate mudscapes than here, I'm sure!

      Delete
  8. Hi. Splashing down at last. I have been absent. It's was an unexpectedly rough spring. I spent a week in Ft. Lauderdale and one in Palm Springs to break up the mid winter - and was set for Puerto Vallarta - when my passport was stolen. I now have nothing scheduled until October - NYC for a week. Though... it is summer and I have my prairie... and a lot more time on my hands... so - devil's playground. Will get back to commenting, dear. OH - and I am gardening - but the crappy sort - where people give you cast off irises, hostas, ferns, etc. I spent $18 at a nursery and that's it for me. just going to tend what is... sigh. Kizzes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A stolen Passport sounds like a headache you didn't need - what a hassle. Still, lovely to have you back now tht things are warming up!

      I love cast-off plants - especially if I can get them to grow! Good luck with yours - I'm looking forward to seeing them!

      Delete
  9. P.S. - Your gardens? Divine. As always. Sigh. Adore.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm guessing you were looking at some photos from a more recent post than this? But, still, thank you!

      Delete

Tickle my fancy, why don't you?