Amaryllis ( Hippeastrum)

Hi
I enjoy growing amaryllis bulbs.

I have been buying these bulbs for more than 10 years now and although I tried to get them to flower next year, I wasn't lucky.
I started searching the web for information and stumbled across the garden web. There is a wealth of information on how to get these bulbs to re-bloom the next year.
What really made sense to me was the size of the planting pot, a lot of people recommend a pot one inch wider than the bulb, which I think is very restricting.
Growers on the garden web recommend a bigger and a somehow deeper pot to allow root development (one of the comments was if you restrict the bulb then its like putting it in a straight jacket).
They also recommend a very light and open compost as these bulbs don't like to stand in water.
The mixture that I have started to use is:

• 1 1/2 part multi-purpose compost
• 1 part orchid compost
• 1/2 part vermiculite

I also added one slow release tablet per pot.
And that's pretty much it.

I water them when the soil is dry and if I remember (and this is not that often) I add a weak liquid fertilizer when watering.

To my surprise, the bulbs kept pushing new leaves through the season.
I took them outside in July and left them standing in a tray on the patio (south facing) and brought them inside towards the end of September and reduced watering to minimum.
I started watering again in January and the blooms started coming.

H.tango

H.lima

Because these bulbs are not forced, they will not flower for Christmas but each one will revert to its natural cycle of flowering.
The added bonus to this is that quite a few of the bulbs started to have babies (I personally think it's because of the size of the pot).

This is H.lima with a few babies

I have had some of these bulbs for 4 years now.
This year I decided not to buy any more bulbs!! But I still got 2 bulbs as a gift from my son who went to Amsterdam last summer (we have been to the floating flower market together 4 years ago) and he remembered that I liked these bulbs.Thank you baby.

I will add more photos as they bloom,
Mrs Green Fingers (MGF)

Links
The Garden Web

Week 3

Hi

Spring is in the air!
Green flowers are definitely my favourites.

Although there are a lot of daffodils and crocuses in the garden, skimmia, hellebore and euphorbia win the day.
I started by making a grid using sellotape to help support the flowers.
Next rhododendron and sage leaves went in as the base for the arrangement.
I then added viburnum, euphorbia, hellebore and skimmia flowers ( they are not strictly flowers but it doesn't really matter).
Finally I added these flowers that look like a miniature bunch of grapes that I picked of the hedge between us and next door neighbour and stripped all the leaves (I think its privet).
This arrangement is slightly scented which is a big bonus.
Hope you like it,
Mrs Green Fingers (MGF)

How To Make a CD Case

Hi!

Welcome back!
Today I want to show you how to make a CD case out of paper. But don't worry, this is really easy and quick!

You will need:

• A CD
• A sheet of A4 paper

Position your CD on the top of the page, in the middle.

Fold in the sides.

Take the CD out and sharpen the creases.

Put the CD over your paper, roughly in the middle.

Fold the bottom up so it hits the top of the circle in the CD.

Take the CD out and sharpen the crease.

 

Fold the side down like shown and flatten.

Do this for the other side too.

Then squish the flappy bit down.

Fold in the bits that dangle out.

Do this for both sides.

 This is what it should look like. A pocket!

Put the CD in and fold the corner down like shown.

Do this for both sides.

 Fold the top down into the pocket as far as possible. This is what the back should look like.

This is what the front should look like.

Label your CD case.

 Done! That's how to make a CD case.
Miss Chubby Fingers (MCF)

Links
CD Case

Home Made Pizza!

Hi again!

Today we are going to make home made pizzas!

This is really simple and you most likely will have all the ingredients sitting around at home right now!

You will need

• Flat bread
• Ketchup
• Cheese
• Pastrami

Of course this is just a guideline. It is you pizza and you can put whatever you want on it! Let's begin!

First, lay out your flat breads.

Then squirt on your ketchup. Here I wrote 'Hi' and a F over a C. 

Then spread the ketchup around.

Then grate some cheese,

And sprinkle it on top!

 Then rip up some slices of pastrami (or what you want to put on next) and spread around.

Put the pizza on a tray. Bake it at around 200° for 5 minutes. I put mine in the aga for 5 minutes.

Then take it out of the oven and leave it to cool.

This is what it should look like once you're done!

And that's it! How to make easy and yummy pizza!
Miss Chubby Fingers (MCF)

Week 2

Hi
I am pleasantly surprised at the colour in the garden this week.
I initially planned to do a foliage arrangement only but when I looked in the garden there were a lot of flowers that were blooming.
After some thinking I decided on this arrangement:

There is a white Rhododendron, hellebores, wallflowers and euphorbia. The foliage is from a Rododendron plant (Rhododendrons aren't in flower yet but this branch was broken by strong wind so I thought I will try and force it indoors).

I am also posting pictures of other flowers in my garden this week:

Happy gardening!
Mrs Green Fingers (MGF)

Simple arrow bracelet

Hi!

Miss Chubby Fingers here!

Anyway, today I knew I wanted to do a bracelet tutorial but didn't want to over complicate it. I searched for easy bracelets and this came up:

It looks really simple and it really is. The key to it is to keep tight. So this is what you need :

You will need:

• Scissors
• Tape or a clipboard
• Thread, floss or wool

First, you want to cut your string. I cut from my wrist to my elbow and added a bit extra and I had plenty extra. You need to cut 6 strands of each colour.

Then, you want to tie them together with a simple knot, attach it to the clipboard or tape it down on a surface and set out like shown below.

Then cross the right strand into the middle and then the left into the middle, like shown.

Repeat with the next colour.

And repeat.

This is what it should look like. That is the method of it. But you need to do it a lot tighter.

Check it fits round your wrist and then tie a simple knot at the end like shown.

Cut the excess thread.

It should look like this.

And viola! I tied it on using the square knot but you can just tie it on.

 There you go! You know have your own simple bracelet which takes minutes to make!

Miss Chubby Fingers (MCF)

Links

The original tutorial