The new hour-long GW.

[shovetheholly]

What are your thoughts?

I am really loving the new format. I like the way they are focusing not just on huge, uber-wealthy properties but on some small back gardens. I like the mix of stunningly beautiful, expertly-achieved gardens and amateur eccentricity. And I particularly like the focus back on technique, and doing things. It's lovely to see Carol Klein treated by the camera like the expert she is, instead of a gurning idiot pointing out that the top of the plant is called the "leaves" and the bottom is called the "root". I also find myself really warming to Adam Frost.

[bookbook]

You have time yet Lorelei - but in truth, my Dad used to do them , not me , and I am wracking my brains to remember. When he took them out of the dark they had leaves , but the bud was hidden - about beginning of December . Any sign of leaves ?

[shovetheholly]

One thing I do know - because MIL makes us a pot of hyacinths every year, which DH then consigns to the garden immediately her back is turned (waaah, I LIKE the smell) - is that once they're out of the cool and dark, they race onwards at a speed of some knots.

[bookbook]

I love the smell - but they don't seem to flourish outside in my garden. I toyed with the idea of having a pot of them this year.

[Lorelei76]

thanks
no sign of leaves

why are bulbs forced in the dark by the way? It seems weird that they don't need light?

[bookbook]

To fool the bulb that it is winter. Then you take them out, and voila - its spring! (even though its December) so they get going :)

[Lorelei76]

Thanks book

the irises and crocuses on the balcony - getting light - are showing shoots though - that's partly why I am confused.

[bookbook]

would this help Lorelei - nice Monty :)
www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-grow-fragrant-hyacinths-for-christmas/

[Lorelei76]

Thanks book
on the gardening thread I said maybe it's the flat being too warm, that seems likely.

I wonder if it would make more sense to cover them up so they are in the dark, then put them on the balcony?

[shovetheholly]

That sounds like a really good plan lorelei. They have to be precooled, unless you buy the expensive ones from the flower shop that have already been done. I think it's maybe the same for things like crocuses, only because we keep them outside all the time and let them flower when they want to (instead of 'forcing' them for a particular deadline) we don't really think of it as 'precooling'!

[Lorelei76]

oh I will do that then
I just bought "indoor hyacinths" in homebase, I don't know if they were "prepared" or not.

Clearly i am not prepared!!

[Lorelei76]

oh for an edit button
actually "Keep them in the dark" doesn't add up with Monty saying leave them on a windowsill.

so what about if I just put them on the balcony, don't cover them up and just bring them in as soon as the shoots start to show?

this is one of those moment when gardening advice isn't making a whole bunch of sense. Keeping them in a cupboard they are in the dark all the time, keeping them on a windowsill, they wouldn't be?

[bookbook]

Didn't he say put them on the windowsill after keeping them in the dark and cool? May have to go and have another look...

[bookbook]

right - checked it. He says to keep in cool and dark - anything up to 10 weeks. Check every week for shoots. When shoots come , take out of cool, dark place and they are best then on a cool windowsill as the flowers will last longer .:)

[Lorelei76]

oh sorry my bad for working and MNing at the same time

I think I will put them outside anyway though, the flat is very warm. I'll put something over the top of them that will let air through.

[SeaRabbit]

I never get round to potting up hyacinths to force them, but M&S don't usually charge not much for bulbs just about to flower. I also love the scent. It cheers January.

Must, must, must start to plant my tulips this weekend - I over-ordered so can't compound things by not even allowing them to grow.

[shovetheholly]

Hope you're getting on OK with the tulips searabbit! I always forget how back-breaking bulb planting is until I have to do it again. I have a load of alliums waiting to go in - hopefully during the course of the next week I'll finish them off.

I noticed Aldi have amaryllis in for anyone that grows those.

[SeaRabbit]

Thanks holly - I got most of them planted, plus one or two self-seeded pulmonaria I had rescued. I also took in the dahlias.

Then I sat in the warm sunshine plucking a brace of pheasants some friends of DH had given us. It must be 40 years since I last plucked a bird (ooh missus). It was very relaxing and I felt like a cook general of old. The terrace is still a bit feathery, so I am hoping for windy weather.

[shovetheholly]

at plucking a bird!!

I do love the way pulmonaria just spreads when it's happy. It's one of those plants that I really didn't like in my 20s, that has grown on me tremendously as I have got older, to the point that it simply wouldn't be a proper spring without those flowers! I've noticed that there's quite a bit of variation in the seedlings - one random one that popped up in the garden had really, really silvery leaves!

[bookbook]

You can just tell happy plants, can't you?
I have patches of a creeping perennial geranium dotted around my garden , growing happily. DH dug out an old escallonia at the edge of our drive about 6/7 weeks ago. The patch of geranium near it must have doubled since then I'm sure - it has taken a big breath and loved the extra moisture and sun .

[shovetheholly]

It's fascinating how alterations in the environment - sometimes quite minor ones, too - can make such a difference. Since starting my garden from a bramble patch, I've noticed that different weeds have prevailed each year. At the start, there were lots of dandelions and couch grass, then after that lots of chickweed, and now I am infested with that stuff, the name of which escapes me, with small pink flowers and seeds like rosebay willowherb. I don't know if the progression is something all soils go through when they are cultivated after being wild and scratty, or whether the prevalence of each reflects more seasonal/environmental conditions, or a bit of both.

[bookbook]

I get that weed too shove - it managed to fool me last year, as one sprung up near a fuschia, and I had a little moment of joy, until I realised it wasn't a self seeded fuschia. :)
Here it is aquilegea that is the true thuggish weed- I dig it up by the bucketload, along with all the other suspects, of course!

[shovetheholly]

When I lived in London, my neighbours were totally overrun with aquilegia. But it was GLORIOUS in May! Of all the weeds to have, that's a pretty one!