Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: fermi de Sousa on February 02, 2014, 08:32:09 AM
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This is what our garden looks like at present in the heat!
Actually we've had to take down a few trees and prepare the area for some building work - we don't usually water this area so it looks pretty desolate in high summer,
cheers
fermi
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Blue sky! I remember that ;D
Very interesting to see Fermi, I suppose taken before the recent fire nearby.
Conditions seem ideal for the various Mediterranean and South African plants you show us.
In your second picture are the shade house and rockery area leftward from and/or behind the house?
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Hi Ashley,
pics were taken this afternoon; the fire was "behind us" so this side of the valley was unaffected. (see here http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=11308.30 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=11308.30) reply #33)
The little shade-house and the Rock gardens are to the far right of the house in the second pic, i.e. such out of shot.
In the third pic you can just see one of the Raised Beds - the "Pinnacle Bed" - you can just see the "pinnacle", a small standing stone, between the two small green trees in the middle of the pic,
cheers
fermi
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Just so you can see that we do have some things in flower, I snapped these pics this morning of a Seseli sp I was given a few years ago after giving a talk on my visit to Sweden (in 2007). I'm sure there was a connection between the plant and the talk but they were a few years ago.
The plant has been steadily growing for a number of years except when it got attacked by the cockatoos for some reason! they shredded it but it survived and has now come into flower. I'm hoping Tim ingarm may be able to identify it,
cheers
fermi
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The blue sky is beautiful all right but on our TV news here in NZ, we've seen terryfying pictures this summer when the skies over Victoria and NSW have been scarlet and blood red with flames. I hope Fermi that you and Will and all the others I know will be spared these shocking events this year.
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Hi Fermi - I think it must be Seseli gummiferum; very distinctive for its almost succulent blue-grey leaves and thick stem (the unkind might liken it to a cabbage!). I should think a good plant for your hotter and drier climate. It is monocarpic - will be nice to see if it might self-seed and take over the garden! It doesn't do that here.
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Hi Fermi - I think it must be Seseli gummiferum; very distinctive for its almost succulent blue-grey leaves and thick stem (the unkind might liken it to a cabbage!).
Hey! don't knock cabbage Tim, a jolly good vegetable raw or cooked. It's just that so many people murder it. Try gently stir-fried, with a dash of salt and pepper, butter and honey. (I'd better trot off to the Cooks' Corner. ;D)
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We have been enjoying the exotic blooms of Agapanthus 'Graskop' for weeks on end now - and so have the sunbirds, who check each and every bloom for nectar daily.
In contrast to Fermi's pictures of his home in Victoria, we are in the midst of the rainy season here and enveloped in a 'rainforest' of our own making - the lawnmower is in action almost constantly!
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Cabbages and cockies - what a combination. You'll be over-run Fermi!
After what seemed like weeks of no rain and constant sun we have had a bit of a sprinkle and temps have dipped sharply.
Went out with the camera this morning but only managed two decent pics. All the rest were out of focus - don't know whether to blame my aging eyes or the camera??
Allium flavum is a sweet little thing and seems to survive everything and anything.
Campanula x stansfieldii is a long ago gift from Otto The Bulb King. He tells me his plants, after ripping it up for years, have all died, so I promise one in the mail soon. Is this grown in the UK still?
Cheers, Marcus
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I really like the colour of that Agapanthus Rogan! Makes these closed flower forms (which I prefer) even better.
Hey! don't knock cabbage Tim, a jolly good vegetable raw or cooked. It's just that so many people murder it. Try gently stir-fried, with a dash of salt and pepper, butter and honey. (I'd better trot off to the Cooks' Corner. ;D)
Or gently stir-fried with either fennel or onion seeds. Or simply steamed and splashed with Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce (accept no substitutes!).
Where's the Cooks Corner?
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That Agapanthus would make a change from the ubiquitous weeds we have here.
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Or gently stir-fried with either fennel or onion seeds. Or simply steamed and splashed with Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce (accept no substitutes!).
Where's the Cooks Corner?
Here : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=3774.0 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=3774.0)
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Here : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=3774.0 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=3774.0)
That's me off then! ;D
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The blue sky is beautiful all right but on our TV news here in NZ, we've seen terryfying pictures this summer when the skies over Victoria and NSW have been scarlet and blood red with flames. I hope Fermi that you and Will and all the others I know will be spared these shocking events this year.
Hi Lesley,
I was going to refer you to the "I'm so happy" thread, but we've spent most of the evening watching the fire reestablish itself on the hillside behind us! Very anxious times as we kept hoping that the CFA volunteer fire-fighters would get it under control before it descended into the valley - especially if the wind changed! Once again we've been spared but only feel save to go to bed now - and hope the situation stays safe. Twice in a week is very worrying,
cheers
fermi
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Crikey, it's still going then? I suppose with Gum Trees there to act as long lasting "wicks" this is an ever-present danger after any fire incident for you folks.
Hope all goes well.
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Maggi
it stayed burning for hours. We eventually went inside when we felt that it was under control (there were a lot of fire-trucks!) but it could easily have been a disaster for us if the direction of the wind had changed. I decided to go to bed about 2 am.
I took these pics in the evening from a hundred metres from our front gate; the last one just before we went in,
cheers
fermi
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Thank God you and Will are safe. Heard on the radio that things have now settled.
All the best, Marcus
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I hope they keep an eye on those gums for the next few weeks Fermi as we still seem to get the occasional tree fire nearby. Not on our property thank goodness as Harry made sure he stopped the fire from getting to most of the gums. Only one I check every so often to ease my mind.
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Two pots of Cyrtanthus elatus bought @ 2 for NZ$15 at the Clevedon Sunday market recently. I chose pots with two spikes and then put the two in this larger pot.
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Your new Cyrtanthus plants are a more relaxing "fiery" picture, Anthony than those frightening scenes from Redesdale.
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Keep safe Fermi and Pat and that goes too to any of you "upside down" lot that might be in danger.
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Flooding in the UK and fires in Oz. If only the twain could meet!
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Flooding in the UK and fires in Oz. If only the twain could meet!
Firewater!!!! Sounds good to me. :P :-\
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Why didn't I see that coming?
Had to go into the public bar of the Waihola pub tonight to get an overpriced bottle of wine, feeling desperate as I hadn't had a glass for about two months! Place crowded with loud men, mostly using foul language so I didn't stay long. Chose a bottle of Sauv. Blanc from their choice of one. Got home to find the bottle said "Produce of South Africa." Thoroughly wrecked my evening. With all due respect to Rogan and our other SA Forumists, their wine is rubbish!
Cyclamen season has started. C. hederifolium uncovered today as I cleared some long grass (no pic because of the long grass) and C. purpurascens also discovered among pots of dry bulbs but I had missed the flowers. They were already making screwed seed capsules. Just a faint whiff of their former perfume left. These are seedlings from seed sent to me by Ashley A in the Rep of Ireland. Many thanks Ashley. C. coum has been in early leaf for a month, I suppose because of the damp summer we've had.
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I take it supermarkets were either closed or too far away Lesley? A nice NZ Sav certainly hits the mark if it's well chilled.
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A nice NZ Sav certainly hits the mark if it's well chilled.
It certainly does! With all due respect to our NZ (and Oz members) certainly far more than your beers!! ;D
I was given a NZ sparkling wine at christmas which was also lovely - nicely dry and beautifully smooth (if that is an accepted term for a wine?).
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I'm slowly trawling my way through New Zealand beers. Lots of microbreweries here, so some interesting beers. Refreshing to listen to the master brewer on Waiheke Island talk on a recent beer tour. He was waxing lyrical about ales and the nonsense pubs generally commit here - chilled Guinness for goodness sake! You can't taste it at that temperature. If you want a cold drink he suggested you try lager rather than beer. He has ten taps in his lounge - more than most pubs, and all for ales. We only sampled 4 at that bar, and 4 at each of two others. As for the 'English' drinking warm beer. Have you tried sitting in a bath at 8-10oC. It's damn cold! Here I can buy several different versions of Porter and other ales and stouts, all brewed in New Zealand. Shame I have to do most of my drinking out of bottles now (wouldn't have a can in the house ::)). I can still get some Yorkshire classics like Black Sheep and Old Peculiar and many others at The English Corner Shop. Here's a good site http://brewersguild.org.nz/. (http://brewersguild.org.nz/.). I have some bottles of Chocolate Moose from http://boundaryroadbrewery.co.nz/. (http://boundaryroadbrewery.co.nz/.)
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I`m going to the White Cliffs Winter Ales Festival in Dover this afternoon. I`'ll drink to your health!
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I'll drink to that John. ;D
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Despite the heat and the wind, the reawakening of Urginea maritima! Seen here against a background of dead watsonia leaves; there's even a second spike just emerging!
cheers
fermi
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Does it set seed Fermi?
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Scilla autumnalis from SRGC seed exchange, sown Feb 2012.
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I'm slowly trawling my way through New Zealand beers. Lots of microbreweries here, so some interesting beers. Refreshing to listen to the master brewer on Waiheke Island talk on a recent beer tour. He was waxing lyrical about ales and the nonsense pubs generally commit here - chilled Guinness for goodness sake! You can't taste it at that temperature......................... . I can still get some Yorkshire classics like Black Sheep and Old Peculiar and many others at The English Corner Shop. Here's a good site http://brewersguild.org.nz/. (http://brewersguild.org.nz/.). I have some bottles of Chocolate Moose from http://boundaryroadbrewery.co.nz/. (http://boundaryroadbrewery.co.nz/.)
In all fairness, I've not been back in NZ since '99 so it's good to hear that things are on the up there.
More important to me nowadays, although it was also an issue to me then, is how are things on the tea front? I would be lost without Yorkshire (or Thompsons "Punjana") tea.
Coincidently, the best pint of Guinness that I ever had was in Singapore. Chilled. I may be wrong, but I believe that they have a brewery there.
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Fermi and any other Victorian forumist I hope you are not in the vicinity of the 78 fires hitting Victoria at present.
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... chilled Guinness for goodness sake! You can't taste it at that temperature.
Agreed Anthony. Nowadays 'natural' Guinness is almost impossible to get here in Ireland. My grandfathers would have been amazed and appalled.
Treating Guinness like this is like serving a red wine or cheese ice-cold - utterly pointless.
More important to me nowadays, although it was also an issue to me then, is how are things on the tea front? I would be lost without Yorkshire (or Thompsons "Punjana") tea.
My daughter tells me that a major supermarket near where she lives in Stirling now offers Barry's Tea (an absolute essential for any Cork ex-pat) ... under 'ethnic foods' 8) ;D
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Really annoys me when I buy a good bit of vintage blue or a really ripe Whitestone Camembert at the market and Roger puts it in the fridge!
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I take it supermarkets were either closed or too far away Lesley? A nice NZ Sav certainly hits the mark if it's well chilled.
Yes Anthony, I didn't get one at the supermarket when I did my weekly shop in Mosgiel, thinking of the parlous state of our housekeeping account but then regretted it as Waihola, a small village beside the lake, has only a dairy-type shop (no liquor licence), a pub, an excellent cafe with great home baking, and a very good fresh fish shop. Oh yes, a service/petrol station too, but no supermarket. Funny how small boxes of beer or cider bottles find their way into the groceries quite often, especially when Roger comes with me. He does at present because he's not allowed to drive, having had a couple of falls and neurology dept at hospital haven't found out why yet. He had an EEG last Wednesday and did, apparently, confirm there is a brain there, just not what's wrong with it.
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We can buy Yorkshire tea in the international section of the supermarkets, but have to go to Bramptons or the English Corner Shop for Tetley's. I suppose it's what you're used to, so Tetley's it is. My sister even sends it in food parcels, along with Scottish tablet and Percy pigs (not for me).
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Anthony,
My Urginea maritima generally sets seed, although with the heat this summer you never know. I have two clones, ones just finishing flowering now and the second has just sent up a spike.... consistently exactly that way every year.
Glad the fires missed you, Fermi and Will. Hopefully everyone else is OK too.
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Paul, I used to grow it on my classroom windowsill back in Scotland. Managed to flower it once. This was from a bulb brought back from Portugal by a colleague. He said it took him an hour and a half to dig it up using a hotel spoon!!! He should have checked the fields nearby. Farmers often used the huge bulbs as field boundaries, and you could just about lift them off the pile.
Is there any respite from the heat you are getting in the forecast? They are saying records are being broken in Australia. I had to do a war dance when I was watering my bedding plants yesterday. Bare feet, sun and 28oC made the concrete drive too hot to stand holding a watering can! What some Australians would do for 28oC! It's the humidity we have that makes us suffer.
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We're nowhere near as hot as some places. We're been plenty of 37 to 40'C in the last month or so. Mid to late January was the first 5 consecutive days of 37'C or over since the 70s, and then we had a week's respite and had 6 consecutive days of the same for the first time on record. Still, mild compared to what Melbourne, Inner Victoria/Southern NSW and of course Adelaide have had. I am not sure how they cope with 45'C. NOT nice I would imagine.
So Yes, it's been damn hot here, and record setting, but we could be worse when you look at it. ;)
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"Got home to find the bottle said "Produce of South Africa." Thoroughly wrecked my evening. With all due respect to Rogan and our other SA Forumists, their wine is rubbish!"
Aw! Lesley! Our wines aren't that bad! We may have our faults, but I always thought we could make good wine? ???
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Think again Laddie! Or better still, come down and try ours. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Cannae whack a good bottle of Sav, Pinot Noir or Merlot. Any favourites Lesley?
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Too much of a digression to the wines, Folks - this is for celebrating plants - I and others, would prefer if this did not develop into a thread which upsets every wine growing region as personal opinions are listed. :P
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Perhaps a new topic; "wine"? And why not "Beer"? All made from plants!
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Perhaps a new topic; "wine"? And why not "Beer"? All made from plants!
"Plant based intoxicants"?
Followed up by warnings "Don't Drink and Dig"!
;D
cheers
fermi
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Fair enough Maggi. :D :-X
Any starters Fermi or Ralph, for a new thread? Only those aged 18 or over need apply.
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Lesley, 21 in America!!
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;D
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In gardening news... ;)
Pelargonium benambra is a local Australian native that spreads via rhizomes. It originates from a sub-apline area here in Victoria.
I've grown Allium carinatum ssp. pulchellum for many years now. It multiplies well and lasts for weeks as a cut flower. I grow it between roses where it gets watered throughout summer. It responds well when I put some composted mulch around it in spring. It's difficult to photograph.
Not much in my garden has made it unscathed through the heatwave but this dwarf bougainvillea has thrived (which is to be expected). So has Echinops bannaticus ‘Blue Pearl’ which isn't as tall as other varieties (65cm).
Lastly, I had a visitor to my crab apple this week - a Crimson Rosella. While I often have Eastern Rosellas visit my garden it's rare to see this one here. You would think with their colouring that they'd be easy to spot but they're not when they're in tree canopies. You usually hear them before seeing them. They're hard to photograph because they don't usually let you get close.
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I went to pot on this Colchicum speciosum album that I've had in a pot undercover all summer but it had other plans. With another week until autumn arrives it's decided to flower. I guess I'll have to catch it earlier next year.
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Jon,
Lovely pics. I think you could still get away with repotting the Colchicum. Just be careful with the floral tube. Depends how long it's been since you've repotted and how badly you think it needs it. I love the Echinops.... I grow a couple of other ones to that.
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I have a few colchicums in bloom too, and I had planned to plant them out but will wait until the flowers are passed. They'll have some root but not too much yet and the flowers will be past so not damaged. It must be the wet we've had recently, combined with some decent warmth at last. 36C in my potting shed the last 2 days and unbearable to work in. I went to visit Hokonui Alpines instead, with a couple of friends and had a truly wonderful but very expensive day. The 3 of us brought home 8!!!!! banana boxes and some supermarket bags of plants, in my case, 87 plants. This morning Roger asked me was I going outside to hide them from him but I said I'd already done that. ;D
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You've trained him well by the sounds of it, Lesley. ;)
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Lesley - 87 plants! How does one go about hiding such a haul? ;)
It never ceases to surprise me when autumn bulbs (or late summer in this case) suddenly spring to life. This is Rhodophiala bifida, front & side shots.
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Mine popped up last week after we got the first decent rain in months. Both a red and a pink are in flower here at present.
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I was looking at one at Terry Hatch's nursery (Joy Plants) this afternoon. Bought Haemanthus humilis (deep pink - in flower) and a huge Scilla natalensis instead.
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I was looking at one at Terry Hatch's nursery (Joy Plants) this afternoon. Bought Haemanthus humilis (deep pink - in flower) and a huge Scilla natalensisinstead.
Anthony must be so much fun buying these lovely bulbs, at least you don't have to worry about the rotting away. I really like my Haemanthus but have never managed to get my Scilla to flower. Look forward to see some pictures.
Angie :)
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Yes, the weather is certainly good at the moment. We had sports day last Friday. The forecast was rain - turned out very sunny and hot. Forecast on Saturday was rain. It rained for a couple of hours over breakfast (my son had to play his tennis matches inside at the Scarbro Tennis Centre) then sunny and very hot and humid with no wind. Sunday forecast was rain - nope, sunny and hot, but windy. Next rain forecast - Friday coming. We'll see. Still, hot to me is 27oC, not the 40+ they get in Oz.
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The 112 mls of rain recently certainly encouraged the Calostemma bulbs to flower. I visited a site I had not known existed and here are some photos of them on both sides of the road. Sorry about the out of focus one but it does show the numbers.
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Enough to rival a snowdrop patch, Pat ;D ;D
Here's the white calostemma you sent me a couple of years ago just coming into flower in our raised sand bed (which might be why it's rather diminuitive),
cheers
fermi
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Anthony, hot to me is anything over 25oC! 40+ is "stay inside in air conditioned comfort and pray for a cool change & no electricity blackouts" weather for me (although I still have to duck outside to water some of the suffering plants in my garden). Stepping out into that heat is like feeling the rush of hot air hit you when you open the door of a hot oven.
Pat, amazing photos of the Calostemma bulbs in flower. Thanks for uploading them. What a sight!
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The 112 mls of rain recently certainly encouraged the Calostemma bulbs to flower. I visited a site I had not known existed and here are some photos of them on both sides of the road. Sorry about the out of focus one but it does show the numbers.
Delightful to see such a pretty profusion, Pat. Exciting to be able to share from across the world. Thank you!
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What an amazing sight Pat - and PINK!!!
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I will visit them again on Tuesday to see what a week has done. I believe they are looking even better now.
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I will visit them again on Tuesday to see what a week has done. I believe they are looking even better now.
Crikey, that hardly seems possible :o 8)