Re: todays purchase

I saw some decent sized ones on a stand outside the Home Bargains store.
They had lots of buds - only £7.99

Re: todays purchase

At that price they were not camellias ,they are very expensive, even the small ones would be around the £40/60 range.

Re: todays purchase

I have three camelias and none of them cost me more than £10 each.

Re: todays purchase

I can't remember how much I paid for mine last year I think it was £39.99 but I could be wrong. It's the same size as yours though. It's doing well, those could be famous last words so hopefully it will continue to thrive

Re: todays purchase

my 3 cost the same , two have made nice 4ft shrubs,buds galore to come out , had one flower drop off but no more have so far .

Re: todays purchase

Te cost comes with size as they are slow growing. We didn't want to wait for many years to even get to this size .

Re: todays purchase

this summer will be the third year ive had them , my intention was to keep them in pots ,but put them in the ground with Ericaceous Compost , and dressed them each year , kept them well watered last summer with rain water and a Erica feed every couple of weeks during the summer .This year ive not had any bud drop, even with the snow and frost .

I can fully understand you wanting an established shrub , they are so nice why wait for the biggest amount of flowers ..

Re: todays purchase

We have taken out so much from the garden recently due to previous owners planting too close together or old plants not doing much, Therefore we also have replaced a lot as well. One we have been keeping an eye on is a bottle bruch plant. it nearly died this time last year due to weather but seems to have revived so fingers crossed.
Even removing a pear tree has allowed more room for he apple trees and that has helped produce more apples.

Sue doesn't think the previous owners had much idea and shoved in as much as possible into the garden.

of course having the greenhouse has helped bring on seeds etc and well worth the effort to get it in place and installed.




For those who have joined since the greenhouse story, it was quite an episode. originally there was a log store built like a german you know what. the tiles were double nail in and thank goodness for my chain saw






taking it down and clearing the site took weeks

about 60 bags removed in all




then preparing the site. this is after preparing the sub base. this covering was just to get a rough level to work on.

Working out if a greenhouse would fit by using timber from the log store and levelling up was a pain , didn't realise how long that would take to get right

next erecting the greenhouse, it came just as glass and metal frames, self assembly



then finally adding slabs to behind and sides. the far side of he greenhouse is on the slabs but doesn't look it from this angle



And just fitted in a storage shed



last year





also widened the path in the front of it, used old material lying about



as you can see here it fits in nicely without taking up any room.

Re: todays purchase

What an interesting thread & not just the camellia content.

My 2 daughters each have mature shrubs over 9ft high pink and red, inherited from the previous owners. A greenhouse as described above would enable them to start a cottage industry simply by taking hundreds of cuttings to grow on.
I left it too late to advise them & all of the plants were annihilated. full marks though for felling 20 ft high Leylandii.

New gardeners often plant too closely, patience is a virtue.My wife and I disagree on whether soil should be seen around plants. I think we should copy the wild flora where only foliage and flowers can be seen.

Having said that, we're all getting older and I for one can't wait ten years for my Mulberry or whatever to mature. Dig deep into your pockets for something which will improve your view from the french doors.

Re: todays purchase

In all it took about 5 months to do, mainly finding the right size greenhouse to fit between the fence and grape vine trunk.


Those slabs under the greenhouse are the thick ones and heavy. i have large electric disc stone cutter and had to cut the middle slabs in half to get the correct area to put the greenhouse on


Lucky i did it when i did because the next year i had most of the time in/out of hospital but that is another story