What exciting growing "projects" do you have on the go?

I was wondering what people are growing that is causing them above average excitement?

It may be seed grown, or maybe you have finally tracked down a rare specimen. Or maybe you have decided that 2012 is the year that you'll start a collection of a particular genus. It could be something that you've been growing a few years and this could just be the year that it finally blooms. Maybe you have decided to try your hand at your very own hybrid?

For my own part, my first real big event happened when the Cubanola started to germinate.
The next biggie for me is when the seed grown Strelitzia finally opens it's first flower. The stem started to poke through last October and watching it struggle through the short daylight hours of winter is painful!
I'm hoping that two climbers that I've grown from seed will flower this year too - Bomerea hirtella and Vigna caracalla.
And at long last it looks as if the Gloriosa lutea seeds are germinating!
My Sutherlandia frutescens should be of flowering size this year, as should the Cantua too.

 

I have TOO MANY projects on the go :(

I had a shopping spree in the Autumn and Winter sales of things to make a new Jungle-effect garden to be planted this Spring. Conservatory is stuffed!

I also found a good deal on some cell-grown hedge plants (Holm oak and Holly) and plan to make a labyrinth (I think that's the right word - a Maze with only a single route through it) next Autumn, if the plants are large enough by then. I've got 600 in 1L pots !! and about as many again that I planted straight out.

My Pigs that have been digging the area for the Hydrangea walk are, as of this week, in the freezer so I can now look forward to planting that area in the spring with a bunch of things I have grown from cuttings nicked from here & there. The pigs have done a great job of clearing the grass and churning the surface (and I dare say fertilized it a bit!), and were the chosen solution when my plan to use Agent Orange to clear the area was vetoed.

Last project is some parterre. I took cuttings of Box in Autumn 2010, those that rooted started to put on some modest growth in late Summer 2011, but they are still in the original 1L pots (about 10 to a pot) and I'm hoping that I can pot them on this Spring, dunno when they will be ready to plant out? I'm doubting Autumn 2012, so probably Autumn 2013. I reckon I have about 1,000 that have taken - which considering they were free, and would probably cost £2 each to buy as reasonably decent sized plants, is Just Fine by Me !!

I still have to manage to find time this Spring to grow the requisite number of vegetable plants so we can be self sufficient ... although I have a routine for that now, so it doesn't require much thought, just some action.

I'm starting to think about gardens I should visit for inspiration this year ...

 

Kristen - I had a look at your blog yesterday, how did you manage to keep the above reply so short!!!!

I know that it's a long way from you, but the Jungle at Heligan Gardens would be a great place to visit for one of your projects. Take a large car and little luggage so that you can combine it with a plant buying expedition!

 

Old age! Probably forgotten 90% of what I have promised I'm going to do this year!

Yeah, its a bit of a jaunt ... but we do have a cavernous people carrier!

 

Dangerous!! There are some cracking little indy nurseries down that way.

Three photos from The Jungle last year.............

http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/members/longk-albums-heligan-2011.html

 

Nice Jungle effect with the monster Gunnera and the Cycads behind ... well ... any everything else!

 

Nice to see a potential convert to Datura! Brugs get all the glory, but Datura IMO are the equal with the advantage of being a viable annual. Both require similar temps to bloom, so you lose little by starting from seed every year.
D.wrightii grows a tuber which can be stored the same as Dahlia tubers, and has blooms every bit as huge as Brugs which are maybe even more fragrant.

That's half the fun too though - getting one over nature.
My Erythrina is having to take its chances outdoors this year, so I've taken steps to keep its roots as dry as is reasonable. If this blooms for me this year :yess::yess::yess:

 

I have lots happening ... lots ordered already and just waiting for warmer weather

1st job involves completing a garden which I started last summer .... 2 sections to complete, which includes 2 Trachycarpus wagnerianus palms (which have already arrived from the palm house), some canna, huechera, hakonchloa macra aureola and some ferns and coleus (coleus will be planted later in the year) ....

the other section is a new bed against a wooden fence which will have 3 creepers (1 star jasmine, 1 Lonicera copper beauty, and 1 Freckles clematis, with ferns, huechera and hakonchloa macra) .... I may change my mind on the Frecles and rather use a chocolate vine (am still deciding) ... plus a fatsia spider web and a sweetbox to be planted in that bed

and in the same garden, I have to plant a T-rex (which has already arrived, plus 2 musa basjoo ..... then get the lawn sorted (have already given it winteriser fertilizer late autumn ...

then that garden is sorted! and will just need a computerised sprinkler system/irrigation system which will be sorted in summer

then ..... have 9 other small gardens to sort (approx 100 square meters each), 4 of them are in a new build area so will be from scratch ... the others are just removing some older plants and replacing with new

plus, have all the mowing etc of existing gardens and lots pending and awaiting approval

plus, I will try brewing compost tea .... (done properly with an aqauarium pump to oxygenate the water/brew etc )

and late summer will be my biggest job so far .... nearly 5 acres of garden to sort including returfing etc .... style will be cottage style and budget is huge, so am looking forward to this one, but they are still renovating the house and have to wait

 

Not exactly, 'on the go', more 'in the preparation stage', but I'm hoping that this year will see the start of making my garden.
I think I've now got a big enough area clear of brambles and overgrown shrubs etc to make cold frames this Spring. I will be collecting divisions, cuttings and seeds this year from all over the place and this propagation project will be running alongside the rest of the clearing and developing the garden.
I have an Acer griseum that I grew from seed, (despite the % odds) which is now 10 years old, I can't wait to finally plant it in it's final permanent position.
It is exiting, even now that the garden is mainly snow and ice covered brambles and nettles, I can imagine the way it could look!

 

Dim - you're gonna be busy.
I'm wondering what you grow in your own garden (pray god, don't say Heuchera - from a purely personal POV I loath them and resent the space they take up!)?

Theruralgardener - it's all something to get excited about! Isn't it sweet when you germinate something that is tricky!!

 

Ooo lots of lovely seeds to grow this year, some unusual ones on order from the RHS as well, also some gorgeous daylily crosses sent to me by the American Hemerocallis Society, some of which are already sprouting in the fridge, have to wait to start sowing other seeds till we come back from our hols though, I've got very itchy fingers .
Also have a very large border, the first one we did when we moved here, that needs a drastic sort out, had made a start before the white stuff hit, and of course yet another extension on the daylily bed .

 

Bought a mini-greenhouse so instead of buying garden ready annuals each year going to try growing on small plugs ,if that works will try from seeds next year.Also ordered 6 dwarf tomato plants to see how they do.

If you don't try you will never succeed.

 

I'm renting .... have offered to refurbish the whole garden (at my own cost) .... landlady is not interested and was very rude when I asked her .... so all I do is mow the lawn, and keep the beds tidy

If I were to sort my own garden, I would plant huechera in places .... I like the bright leaves ones .... easy to grow and evergreen

 

I think sometimes the second year is the best year. A lot of the more unusual plants don't flower in the first year, so after the excitement of germination there is a long wait. I am still waiting for some Bomarea, Canarina canariensis, a couple of gingers, an orange Eucomis, Isoplexis, and a couple of Chasmanthes to flower.

This year I have sown some Alyogyne hueegelii, Asclepias curassavica, Campsia radicans, more Canna tuerchheimii, Echium snow tower, Echium wildpretti, Gloriosa rothschildiana, four different Hibiscus, Rhodochiton atrosanguineu and Sesbania punicea, plus a few of my own seeds.

Perhaps my greatest project is the culmination of my Brugmansia growing from last year. Brugs are great in the first year, but don't really flower much. But the second year can be glorious.