Tobacco Flowers

The tobacco I sowed whilst writing my GNS zine is now in full flower. It is rather a pretty plant and makes for a great memorial plant for Guy, who was something of an afficiado of the old Nicotiana rustica.

Cacti Intervention

I have attempted to graft a loph. I degrafted from a periskopsis a few years back, but which never grew roots. Hopefully, this will bring the little treasure back to life.  The old, personally sown, old Trich. was looking ugly anyway, and the nice bit I lobbed off should make fresh roots ready to repot next Spring. The loph would have died anyway without grafting too,  so there's nothing lost if this little intervention doesn't go to plan...

Little Sam Pedro is Chuffed

Little Sam Pedro seems well-chuffed with his flowering loph. As am I. 🙂

 

The Gower Show

Spent the day down the Gower Show. The country lanes were jammed with traffic as the decent weather brought out the crowds.

The show itself wasn't as good as I remembered from past years, with a lot less stalls and exhibits. The food on offer there was what I could only describe as a vegan's nightmare!

We ended up purchasing items from just two sellers. The first was a framed artwork of Three Cliffs Bay from the above seller:

And the latter being this fine trio of magical mushrooms seen in the pic above. I have been yearning to purchase this kinda thing ever since watching the opening scene of Michael Mann's brilliant film The Keep, where Nazi soldiers drive past such adornments as the near a castle steeped in folklore, all to an exquisite Tangerine Dream soundtrack.

All in all though, we both enjoyed the afternoon and our purchases look great in their new home:

 

Windowsill Cacti

Today in Our Garden

Yellow Welsh Poppy

Orange Welsh Poppy

Oriental Poppy

Our Caldey Island Fuschia

Phlomis

Allium crishophii

Yellow Flag Iris

Our 2022 Christmas Tree

Oak Seedling from My Mum's Oak

Our Garden

Growing Apple

Valerian & Field Poppies

Bog Plants & Pen Inspection

We found a parcel waiting for us this morning from Hampshire Carnivorous Plants. They literally brought our bathroom windowsill to life:

It has been a bit of a hectic week at work. My application for a new job has landed me an interview next week, so I have at least a glimmer of hope for a fresh start. Whilst it is great news that I have the chance for a new work position, it makes for a stressful weekend as I prepare for the forthcoming interview. Whilst the written word presents me at my best, interviews tend to present me at my worst due to my anxiety/

Anyway, time to get my head down. I'll end this post with a short video I took of little fudjcat being introduced to my new pen lol: 

RHS Malvern Show 2024

After two late nights, visiting the RHS Malvern Horticultural Show meant an early start this morning, no matter how exhausted we felt. 

The showground estate was massive, full of colourful plants, busy crowds, food and drink vans catering for every diet and taste, gardening talks from top TV personalities and even music.

This post cannot hope to capture the full breadth of the show's atmosphere, but I have given it a try with a handful of snaps, some ambient audio field recordings (including a couple of the talks), and some of the gardening purchases I made on the day.

All in all, a day well spent and a pleasurable conclusion to a bit of a hectic weekend:

 

Ambient Sounds from the Malvern Horticultural Show 2024:

My Gardening purchases from the show:

My favourite purchase of the day, however, was this vintage Coca-Cola crate offered by one of the vendors in this show. At just £15, it was an offer I just couldn't not resist.