A day of dodging showers at The Farm. No matter, most of the time I was in easy reach of a waterproof or a shelter. There were plenty of indoor jobs to be done. In the greenhouse the tomato vines, which had been allowed to express themselves freely over the last few weeks, were trimmed and tweaked and a bucket full of fruit collected. The cyclamen that bloomed all last winter, providing a little cheer outside the office door throughout the gloomy months, were potted up and are already producing flowering stems. No thanks to the general apathy toward them by the gardener. Rooted Penstemon ‘Garnet’ were potted up. Other cuttings were checked and any suspect material removed. Belt and braces cuttings were taken of Osteospermum ‘Double Berry White’, just beginning to get into its stride after a winter knock back.
So along with a little weeding and planting out, it was a very successful day. Oh and Farmer Tony gave me a brussel sprout hat. Yes, it is true, a hat that ties beneath your chin and makes your head look like a sprout. I was overwhelmed with emotion. I may save it for Christmas.
Off The Edge Gardening 
Talking of Osteos, how did the cuttings I sent you take? Be honest please. The ones I’ve grown are ok – well two flowers across three cuttings – but I don’t know if I packed the ones I sent you well enough (they were the bestest of the bunch). I have a box for some daffs etc., at last. So expect a little parcel soon.
LikeLike
I’m afraid only one survived and that hasn’t flowered yet. It has been pretty wet here, which probably isn’t ideal. Cheers me dear.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ooh cuttings of osteo. Haven’t tried that yet.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Today’s job?
LikeLike
Fat chance. Term time taxi service. School pickup, violin lesson twice, orchestra twice. Tomorrow is football twice, Sunday is hockey. Might squeeze some cuttings in!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Phew! I’m exhausted just thinking about it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You need to get a move on though. If you’re looking to propagate the hardy jucundum types, you’ve just about got time to root semi-hardwood cuttings in water; takes about 3-4 weeks before they’re ready for potting up. Other types are best started in compost though should still develop roots in 3-4 weeks. They’ll all need a minimum temp of 5C through their first winter.
Jucundums are even easier to propagate in May – just find a long stem and peg it down tight to the soil and cover that point of contact with a bit of compost. Once it feels rooted (takes about a month – you can usually see the base of the roots if you brush that compost covering away) sever from the parent plant, leave a few weeks to establish and then transplant or pot up as you wish. A large established plant has probably done a fair bit of this rooting without your help and you can just cut off and transplant these babies as you would with any spreading plant.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m not sure what variety it is tbh. I’ll have a crack this weekend. It’ll be in the heated bench for the winter I think.
LikeLike
Photo of brussel sprout hat please!
LikeLike
I was afraid someone would ask that. Perhaps at Christmas, perhaps before 🙂
LikeLike
Head like a sprout? Pictures, please! We’ve just had a light sprinkling of rain, after the driest, hottest summer ever. So many forest fires – not near us, but we’ve had smoke and ash the last few days from fires in B.C. and Washington state. It turned the sun red and cast an eerie light. Hopefully this little bit of rain will clear the air.
LikeLike
We may be getting back in sync then, not the best summer here which has led into a wet autumn. Same old, same old! (we will see about the brussel sprout hat picture) x
LikeLike
That is a beautiful osteospermum – I have some which just spreads everywhere so no need for cuttings or anything like. I’m afraid I don’t know the variety, it came from my mother as a cutting years ago. Are some of them are more fragile than others?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Definitely some are quite tender whilst others like jucundum are quite hardy. This one has survived outside here for a couple of years, but it takes a while to catch up after winter.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, the most important thing I can add to this blog is PLEASE can we see the hat!!
LikeLiked by 1 person