Bloomin' heck....

Autumn flowering is now firmly beginning and we are off to a great start with Chi Lian Xian first to open, followed by 'Confirmation' and then Liz Shan 'Pretty Girl' and a slightly different 'Confirmation' in the form of 'Lilac Blush' - a lovely variant on this natural hybrid with deeper pink petals and sepals and a darker lip. Both plants in pictures below.

The sun shone yesterday and the greenhouse was filled with the scent of the autumn flowering plants, so much so that it was attracting Bumblebees and I ended up chasing bees out of the greenhouse and closing the door to prevent unwanted pollinations...

I am hoping to get the autumn flowering plants I have available up on the website by next weekend as I have just had a look today to see how things have done this season. Despite the hot weather it looks like it has been a good year with some lovely large healthy bulbs and flowers buds appearing. All autumn flowering plants are likely to be shipped after flowering as damage to buds would not be good...

The Spring flowering plants are starting to lose their leaves and get ready for the winter, watering has all but stopped and I am drying the pots out slowly with the exception of those plants like need a bit of damp around their roots in winter as their roots do not die off in quite the same manner as the majority of the Pleione. I am dusting off the winter protection for those, like P. maculata that like a bit more winter warmth and the thermostat will be set at 10 degrees Centigrade for those.

The crosses I made in the Spring are now yielding nice fat seed pods so I am excited about what the future may hold in those, fingers crossed. Already i am thinking about next Spring and what direction I want to take my collection in, what colours of styles of plant do I want to chase down - tall flowers, short and petite plants, reds, yellows, greens - who knows.

As the darker nights come in now I spend more and more time thinking about the winter work ahead of me before the first of the Spring buds appear....time flies...

Happy growing

Stu