I could put it off no further. Well, I did a little, because I decided that plain old terracotta just would not do, and that a blue glazed pot was in order. And you can't go to the garden centre on a bank holiday weekend without going to the DIY store too (why do people decide that a large, crowded warehouse with thousands of sharp, pointy, lethal tools, equipment and fixtures is a great place for their feral toddlers to run around?). And then if you're going to the garden centre you may as well stop off at the supermarket as you have to go past it anyway.
So, fortified by two chocolate-iced-with-sprinkles doughnuts, I donned two pairs of gardening gloves (the Hubster's thick ones over my own pink ones) and attempted to take the Agave out of its little plastic pot. Easier said than done, because it was trying desperately to shove a pup out of one of the drainage holes. And I don't know what I was more scared of - getting spiked most heinously or snapping the agave at the base of the stem.
But I managed to get it out and was relieved to see a really good root system. And SIX pups, including the two that have already been promised to HTUK members. As some of them were trying to grow down I thought it best to remove them, even though some of them aren't quite coloured up yet. I won't offer them up until they've established themselves in a pot though (or at least grown a bit).
Then it was a matter of potting it up. When I planted the proteas yesterday I cut the compost with half as much silver sand, so I used the same mix with a few handfuls of grit thrown in. That didn't pose too many issues, as I held up the lower spikes with one hand and shoved compost in with the other. It's not an ideal method (I prefer to be able to put compost in from above rather than from the side) and despite lining it up perfectly before potting, it's now slightly off-centre. Hubster said it would be fine and would right itself as it grew, but it's unlikely to hop 3cm into the middle of the pot!
So that's last weekend's loot finally into the garden. I think most pots are going to stay where they are now. It all looks so pretty! But it started spitting with rain as I finished and took the photograph, so I couldn't sit outside with my celebratory margarita and enjoy it (I'd probably have been looking over my shoulder for vine weevils...). Maybe tomorrow night.
The brick wall is bothering me though. A friend suggested some climbers, but I really have enough plants for now! It's a listed building too, so I can't attach anything to the brickwork (even if it wasn't a listed building I don't imagine the landlord would be too thrilled about me killing his masonry). I'm thinking of trying my hand at some carving, so you might see a few Lepidodendron trunks in a few months' time...
So, fortified by two chocolate-iced-with-sprinkles doughnuts, I donned two pairs of gardening gloves (the Hubster's thick ones over my own pink ones) and attempted to take the Agave out of its little plastic pot. Easier said than done, because it was trying desperately to shove a pup out of one of the drainage holes. And I don't know what I was more scared of - getting spiked most heinously or snapping the agave at the base of the stem.
But I managed to get it out and was relieved to see a really good root system. And SIX pups, including the two that have already been promised to HTUK members. As some of them were trying to grow down I thought it best to remove them, even though some of them aren't quite coloured up yet. I won't offer them up until they've established themselves in a pot though (or at least grown a bit).
Then it was a matter of potting it up. When I planted the proteas yesterday I cut the compost with half as much silver sand, so I used the same mix with a few handfuls of grit thrown in. That didn't pose too many issues, as I held up the lower spikes with one hand and shoved compost in with the other. It's not an ideal method (I prefer to be able to put compost in from above rather than from the side) and despite lining it up perfectly before potting, it's now slightly off-centre. Hubster said it would be fine and would right itself as it grew, but it's unlikely to hop 3cm into the middle of the pot!
So that's last weekend's loot finally into the garden. I think most pots are going to stay where they are now. It all looks so pretty! But it started spitting with rain as I finished and took the photograph, so I couldn't sit outside with my celebratory margarita and enjoy it (I'd probably have been looking over my shoulder for vine weevils...). Maybe tomorrow night.
The brick wall is bothering me though. A friend suggested some climbers, but I really have enough plants for now! It's a listed building too, so I can't attach anything to the brickwork (even if it wasn't a listed building I don't imagine the landlord would be too thrilled about me killing his masonry). I'm thinking of trying my hand at some carving, so you might see a few Lepidodendron trunks in a few months' time...
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