Try as I might I could not bring myself to snip the head of this hippeastrum for this week's 'In A Vase On Monday' so I hope that I'm forgiven. It's in a pot residing on the kitchen windowsill. The box it came in promised a white flower. It seems that I've been watching it for weeks in a state of animated suspension - the hippeastrum not me in case you wonder. I was delighted to see the first flower finally unfurling but when the first colour I could detect was red it was a bit of a let down. I thought that it might turn out to be all red but instead I've ended up with a rather stripy creation A note has been made to self to purchase from a reputable nursery this year rather from that German supermarket the name of which begins with an L. Having said that I bought a rather gorgeous double white hellebore from the aforesaid supermarket last week for the grand price of £4.99. You win some, you lose some.
I see that our hostess Cathy is celebrating some of the forty shades of green in her vase this week over at 'Rambling In The Garden' - do take a peek if you haven't already done so.
P.S. I limited myself to one hellebore purchase but there were some rather nice pale pink spotty- dotty doubles as well. I thought that I would return to buy a second but when we popped in this morning there were only the white flowering ones left.
Maybe not white, but stripey and red works nicely.
ReplyDeleteHear, hear Noelle - although not as chosen it's still an acceptable colour combo 😄
DeleteInterstingly, the one I bought my Mum for Christmas which came from L's competitor, beginning with an A,is some sort of reddish pick rather than the stripey Appleblossom it was meant to be - but with 3 flower stalks my Mum doesn't mind! I have 4 A*** ones in bud so don't know what colour they will turn out to be yet but at £2.49 each I am not grumbling especialy as they all have two flower stems coming. After your tip off last week we popped into L*** to check out the hellebores even though I had already bought several recently, but there were only argutifolius ones left so I was not tempted. We were tempted by other things though!
ReplyDeleteMine only has the one flower stem so you and your mum have hit the jackpot Cathy! I think that I paid a similar price for mine so I can't complain. Sorry to hear that you missed out on the L*** hellebores but haven't you got enough of them already? 😂
DeleteIt's SO frustrating when a long-awaited bud unfurls in an unexpected color but it's still a lovely bloom, Anna! I've had similar problems with purchases even from garden centers.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed frustrating Kris but these things happen. All part of the fun I suppose.
DeleteI bought mine from Harlow Carr but my sister’s in particular wasn’t as dark a burgundy as shown on the box. Don’t blame you for not cutting it - mine is actually sending up a third flower.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't bring myself to cut the stem off Sue - it would have seemed brutal to say the least 😄
DeleteIt's striking, certainly but disappointing. I find their plants are generally good but you do need to buy them when you see them. The have the seeds in though, also good. I bought a few...
ReplyDeleteYes I've seen the seeds too Alison. I grow their patty pan squashes every year and they are excellent when it comes to both price and quality.
DeleteNot what you expected, but rather beautiful!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment Diana 😄
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