June Gardening

I’ve been a bit lazy in putting up new posts over the last 2 weeks. There are 2 reasons for this (apart from work).

One is that there is major work taking place in the Musa house which includes a new kitchen and bathroom. This work has been going on for over a week now, there is no way to have a bath or shower, nothing to cook on, no water supply in the old kitchen, no washing machine etc. Every room has kitchen stuff stored or boxes of new units / shower trays etc and everything is covered in a thick layer of dust! I have had to shower in the garden and I am thankful that the weather has been warm (at last). Meals are take-aways or restaurants which is OK. The computer mouse is affected by the dust and it doesn’t as much slide across the desk but grinds through the ever-present dust. Ah well! It will be over soon – I hope!

The other reason for not posting much is that I’ve been busy in the garden!

Alocasia macrorrhizos – I’ve now planted out in quite a sunny site. I’ve taken note of everything I’ve read and planted it in well drained soil although I know it will need a lot of watering.

Ligularia dentata ‘Britt-Marie Crawford’ – a new acquisition, I’ve planted on the far side, shady side of the pond. I hope its red metallic leaves will go well with the Hostas, bamboo, Rodgersia and ferns.

Colocasia esculenta – The bog-standard Colocasia has survived the winter well without any protection and is now appearing in various places in the garden. It is almost weed-like in its ability to survive and spread. I’ve got 4 new varieties, two to replace lost plants and two new to me. I’ve planted out 2 so far and have yet to decide on where to plant the others.

Bananas – Musa -A bad year again! I thought I had lost my Musa Sikkimensis but there is now one shoot coming through. I’ve bought and planted out a Musa sikkimensis ‘Red Stripe’ which looks much like its name describes. . . . . . . . . .  Ensete ventricosum – I didn’t manage to overwinter any of the plants I dug-up from the garden so I’ve bought 4 new ones from Amulreee Exotics. I’ve planted one each of the green form and ‘Maurelii’ in the ground and one each in large pots. The ones in pots will be easier to over-winter and hopefully make enormous plants next year.

I’ve also done a lot of general garden work including clearing weeds from some of those places that I seldom venture. Anyway, on with the blog!