Wow! I got mine today, too! Thanks for the nice seeds, ladies, and X, thanks for hosting.
Oh, and when the deadlie came due, I was sick as a dog and the packages I sent are as good as I could make them. :((( They were really bad, esp compared to a lot of you gals. So sorry. But I felt so bad, but so good that I was actually able to get them out at all.
Suzy
CLOSED: Van Gogh's Starry Night Swap
Suzy,
I hope you are better. There seems to be a lot of ill people lately. Maybe spring will help.
LOL - well, now you're just being ridiculous, Suzy. It's what's *inside* that counts!
Sorry that you were ill at the time. I was recently hit with bronchitis myself, so I can relate... bleck.
Anyone have specific plans for their seeds yet? I've been hoping to plant them all together in a big container, but I haven't studied the whole lot yet, so I'm not sure if it'll work. This is going to be fun.
This is scary! SC mail is NOT that fast.
X
You'd think that the Royal Mail delivered these packages...
That's because they were mailed over the weekend...Saturday mail is generally light because there isn't much business mail and they work 24/7 on Sat & Sunday, both. I noticed that Anything mailed on Friday, or Sat before 4:00, usually gets delivered on Mondays.
Lime
Hello,
Just got mine and have not opened it yet... Thanks for having this and letting me join..
Susan
I think it would be fun to do a (large) container planting or devote one area of my beds to the Van Gogh seeds. I won't get a chance to do much exploring until the weekend though! I'll let you know what I decide.
hooray, got my seeds today, thanks everyone. these are so cool, i know most of them. the one i've never heard of before is Aquilegia Vulgaris 'Granny's Bonnet', i really like it willow.
thanks again x.
Robyn...you may know it as "Columbine"
This one has a lovely story....it was the only "plant" that I found the first summer I moved to this Irish cottage. It grows from a crack in an old limewashed wall in the front garden.
The cottage is 200 years old and hasn't been inhabited since 1966.....so there it is -probarbly one of the last flowers from the original inhabitants flower garden...clinging on for dear life in amongst the brambles!
The other part of the story is that I can't find it listed anywhere, and have read (Beth Chatto's gardening books) that she has an "old purple variety from Ireland...perhaps it is really really old!
It was the first seed I collected...so am very attached to this little plant
Pic taken this morning - this years growth looking a little worse for wear, after recent storms!
Oh, Willow, thank you for the background story. I look forward to growing it. 1966 (ahem...) is my birth year; I've never been to Ireland (well, not yet) although I do have some Irish blood (counties Kerry & Cork)... My father will be particularly interested in this story as it was his grandfather who made the trip over during the famine and he has always wanted to go there for a visit. I'll give him one of these plants.
Hurrah....I got my seeds - only an hour ago - 2pm...our postman comes later and later each day!
I'm in work ....sneaking into DG to say thank-you to X
Want to go home to really take a look at the seeds!
Thank-you again!
Wow!!!!!! Across the pond in 3 days!!!!! Amazing!
X
I can't believe those seeds got to Ireland before I got mine in Louisiana! That's fast!!
Hey - I am sure it only a coincidence...
I recently had small package that took two weeks.....but last week I had a large package of plants from Florida that took two days!
I normally joke that Irelands mail comes by Donkey....but not this time!
Sue
I knew it as Columbine but have never ever seen this variety before. I'm really going to love it now that I know the story behind it. It will go with my Old fashioned Hollyhocks that a friend gave me. Her great grandmother brought these to the little town that I lived in over 150 years ago. And it will also go with the irises that came from the last farm I lived at that was planted the day another friend was born in her honor. She turned 88 last October. I love all the old time flowers and their decendants. It also goes with my Irish backgrownds on my mothers side. Butts was her maiden name. Thanks for the neat story.
Hi again.
The columbine / Aquilegia has been featured an awful lot in Chelsea last week...many different types and colours ...perhaps they are coming back into fashion!
They have referred to the blue one that I sent as The "Native" Aquilegia.
I think that the ones from the US are larger and more colourful than the European ones.and often have two colours in the petals and longer spurs.
One thing i recently learned is that they loose some of their vitality if left to go to seed. So you can either cut the stems down after flowering and have a longer healthier plant, or leave them to set seed.
I have attached an updated picture from this year...still growing from a crack in the old garden wall.
Hope they grow well for you
Sue
