Brugmansia lives

'Little Ray' the Brugmansia is alive, he survived Newquay airport and St Austell brewery and seems to be ok. Im slightly worried about the big bites taken out of the bark at the stem by slugs but it has not interupted the vessels so hopefully it will heal.

Look what I grew

After I culled all but one of the sweet pepper plants the last one suddenly came up with four peppers but then collapsed under its own weight. The chili plants are still covered in new fruits that I am collecting and drying out in a bowl. I dont actually know what to do with them all.

The corpus cristi time eater

Walking by Corpus college the other day I spotted something going on and and when i got closer was told it was a new clock for the library, boring i thought. As it turns out the clock is a shining new version of 'grasshopper escapement' which is a mechanism whereby rotational motion of the internal cogs is turned into pendulum motion for counting seconds. The clock is made by horologist ex-pupil Dr John Taylor who cites John Harrison the inventor of gridiron mechanism and famous as the pioneer of longtitude as his hero.

He calls the new version of the escapement a 'Chronophage' (time-eater) - "a fearsome beast which drives the clock, literally "eating away time" I agree it is fascinating and awesome and i hope to find an excuse to get into the college and see it myself.

Dogs

I have always loved Staffie type dogs as I have grown up with various of them, most of which had some serious mental issues and came from rescue but were brilliant anyway. Recent addition was a deaf English Bull Terrier also rescued from the breeder who wanted her destroyed for being deaf. The challenging character of this breed, the mouthing and head butting has made me love them. I cannot deny that the more I see of French Bulldogs the more I want one. I am keeping my eyes peeled for one in need, enjoy these photos i got from google below and my own dogs Floyd and Sheep above.

Chilli pepper and Sweet peppers

As expected the Chilli plants red and purple grew themselves with minimal intervention from me, just some fertilizer. I gave away all my sweet pepper plants except 4, then as they grew giant I culled all but one of them which is now growing 4 little green peppers. I don't have a magnifying glass but I suspect red spider mites as the edges of the leaves are curling and there are small white dots on the leaves, so im trying to spray them damp every night. Im so proud!

Money Makers - May to August

These are my Money Maker tomatoes. Started in May in a seed tray on my window sill and ending up in various other peoples gardens. The last photo was taken in August in my mums garden. I am very pleased with how these turned out, as very strong plants with thick branches. With the lack of sunshine and torrential rain going on I expect they will grow far fewer tomatoes than they could have managed.

Cactus arrived in the post

The postman arrived with an exciting box last week from Glenhirst nursery. I got a cute little Lithops called Marmorata, a 'living stone' which will flower in the autumn with ice white flowers. Lithops come from South Africa in very dry areas where they survive half submerged as stones to deter animals from eating them. The box contained a succulent called Sedum Pachyphylum, a mass of club shaped leaves green with pink tips. Most exciting is an orchid catus or epiphyllum, these are cactus which grow spectactular flowers. Mine arrived as a 6 inch cutting which I am now rooting in in slightly moist compost. The epiphyllum flower.

Early September 08 plants

I should really have started posting photos and documenting the progress of my plants at the start of this non existent summer. But better late than never. These are my houseplants as they now look, 4 succulents seem to be surviving but only the Aloe type specimen (bottom left) has produced any babies this year.

I have dried out one of the offshoot babies and am trying to get it to root in slightly damp soil. This succulent on the right below is Echeveria elegans, I removed this from the mixed bowl and is now huge. I hope it will flower next month.

Angels Trumpet

New obsession as a result of this trip is Brugmansia suaveolens. I was doing well by not acquiring anymore plants from Eden and Heligan but then was given a young specimen in need of rescuing from slugs by the proprietor of the excellent Sedgemoor Heights B and B. Thanks Ray. Currently looks this below but will one day look like this above.

Holiday time in Cornwall

Came back from St. Austell last night where Ive spent the last 3 days, got a good deal on Ryanair but beware Newquay airport development tax on the way home. We visited the Eden Project to start with and then got to go somewhere I have always wanted to visit, The Lost Gardens of Heligan.

I would revisit both again but the Eden project was a bit like a theme park and the Lost Garden of Heligan was magic, hundreds of photos were taken of both. I hope I can go back every year to both places and see whats new.

Went on the St. Austell brewery tour which was the first brewery tour I have ever been on and I have to say was really really interesting. Roy the guide was excellent, we were able to go everywhere and see every stage of the process and I can highly recommend Clouded Yellow the only wheat beer made in the brewery, very nice.