1. Another Morrison’s supermarket bargain buy, this Bromeliad was past its ‘sell-by’ date, but still has plenty of flowers to come by the looks of it.
   

   

   
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2. I’ve bought lots of cacti over the years, most of which were sold as a Christmas Cactus. But looking at the leaves of most of my plants, and checking the RHS site and Wikipedia, it looks like these are actually Easter cacti (Hatiora gaertneri – although the cactus book I have lists it as Rhipsalidopsis) – the one solitary plant I have with pointy leaves and a different shaped flower (not currently in flower) is a Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera Truncata).
   

   

   
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3. Moving out into a relative’s garden, the roses are looking great despite the heavy rain we had this week – the bees certainly are appreciating the pollen.
   

   

   
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4. And while the insects are having fun on the plants, the local Blue Tits are having a lovely time eating the insects!
   

   

   
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5. While I was taking photos, the relative looked over my shoulder and pointed out her favourite view in the garden, saying “I like the colours”. So here’s the “purpley pinky plant” with another rose in the background!

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And last but by no means least, we have the resident Mole, who is currently looking after a trough of pansies. We did think maybe they were planted a little deep to be able to see (as the trough is raised up quite a bit), but they’ve grown tall enough to let them look over the sides.

Don’t forget to check out the Propagator’s Six on Saturday  and read through the comments section for more blogs to check out!

1. Back in 2001 (I think) a family friend let me have a couple of cacti. They really were a bit large to keep on the windowsill, but a small piece broke off it as it was being moved, so I put it into a pot. As it grew, and more pieces were accidentally knocked off, I added them to pots as well, and ended up with quite a few! The larger cacti in this pot already had roots when I planted them, but the smaller ones had no roots at all…. I’m hoping this will eventually be a mound of cacti, but I might have a few years to wait before the little ones catch up!

   

2. I tend to go for more ‘structural’ plants than flowering ones. I’m not sure what type this particular plant is, but it looks a bit like a Yucca…. possibly?
   

   

3. I had a Tradescantia “Wandering Jew” many years ago, but once it started wandering, the stems became so brittle they snapped far too easily. A relative spotted this plant at a garden centre and thought it might work on my windowsill, without realising it was a Tradescantia, albeit a non-wandering variety!
   

   

4. On to something with a little more novelty value, and a succulent with a difference. This one has been painted with a glow-in-the-dark paint, although it either doesn’t get enough light (unlikely given that it’s by a south facing window), or it’s not quite dark enough at night for it to glow.
   

   

5. Up next is the “Flapjack plant” (Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, according to a quick google search), which didn’t seem to like being on the windowsill (or was suffering from a lack of water!). I moved it onto the bookcase next to my dragon trees in the hope that it would prefer that location.
   

   

6. And speaking of dragon trees, here’s the largest (and newest) dragon tree (Dracaena) to make its home on the top of the bookcase. I did have one for 17 years, but when I tried repotting it last year, I realised that half the roots were stuck in concrete-like soil at the bottom of the pot…. it didn’t approve of the repotting, so this is the replacement plant.
   

   

   
   I would’ve taken a photo of the trunk as well, but the plant was slightly too big for the decorative pot I had, so it’s perched half in the pot with some A4 paper wrapped around it to stop the soil falling out! ….anyone know of a decent place to get some decorative outer pots (with no holes in the base) for houseplants?

Don’t forget to check out the Propagator’s Six on Saturday and read through the comments section for more blogs to check out!