Posts Tagged ‘Gardening’
Gardening Feng Shui
Aside from tending to my various potted vegetables and my annual array of sunflowers, I find that I spend very little of my time outside in the back garden of my house. You will usually find me glued to keyboard of my PC, playing on my PS3 or re-watching old episodes of Doctor Who for the umpteenth time rather than find me in sat out in the garden. I am generally an indoor person.
This wasn’t always the case. Until recently it would be commonplace to find me sat outside in the garden reading a book, writing an overdue blog entry (a bit like this one) or eating an evening meal alfresco-styley (albeit in all likelihood a microwave curry or a Rustlers chicken burger, but hey, it’s still a meal) like they do in them there foreign countries. So what happened? Why do I no longer spend my time out in the fresh air amongst my sunflowers and spring onions?
Named That Plant
Wilbur
A few months ago I asked you to suggest a name for my new plant. Expecting a torrent of potential names to be submitted from my intelligent and creative readership, I delayed the update of the website in anticipation of the overwhelming response.
Nearly two suggestions were submitted. For the sake of argument, lets call it one suggestion.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that the name of my new plant is: Wilbur! Thanks to Stu for the one and only suggestion, his Pythonesque logic proving that he had put a bit of thought into it rather than just spout out a few random names.
Stu wrote:
How about “Wilbur”
I Quote:
Clerk: Are all your plants called Wilbur?
Praline: There’s nothing so odd about that. Kemel Attaturk had an entire menagerie called Abdul.
Clerk: No he didn’t.
Praline: Did!
Clerk: Didn’t!
Praline: Did, did, did, did, did and did!
Clerk: Oh all right.
Name That Plant
The banana is shown for scale
The latest addition to my never-expanding indoor jungle is this Diffenbachia (Diffenbachia maculata)/Dumb Cane/Mother-in-law plant. It’s called a Dumb Cane because the sap is toxic – it can cause temporary speechlessness when touched to the tongue. It is especially dangerous to cats, which is only a good thing.
Anyway, the plant needs a name. I’ve already got a Peace Lily called ‘Wilbur’ so it’s only fair that the Diffenbachia gets a suitable name too. I’ve asked a few friends and had some rather good suggestions (Geoffrey, Marigold and Stumpy are the current favourites). Can you think of a suitable name for this lovely, yet poisonous plant?
Put your ideas in the comments section below.
Wilbur
I have a new addition to my living room. Unusually for me it is not a new piece of technology or some cheap Argos furniture – it is a plant!
Meet Wilbur, my new Japanese Peace Lilly (Spathiphyllum). As you can see in the photo above, Wilbur lives by my telephone. He’s very eager to meet all of you so why not give him a call?
I’m assuming Wilbur is a Japanese Peace Lilly. I’d like to think he is as I’d then be in the same class of plant owner as Sgt. Nicholas Angel from Hot Fuzz, but as the word ‘Japanese’ was missing from his label and he was purchased from Homebase in Swindon, I think Wilbur’s Asian credentials are minimal.
I’ve read that a Peace Lilly is a good plant to have in a home as it is an excellent air purifier. If that is the case I hope I can keep Wilbur nice and healthy so that my lounge will eventually cease to smell like the inside of a packet of dry-roasted peanuts.
To be, or not two bees
All the bees have disappeared – it’s the end of the world as we know it! That would be the case if you believed the ongoing references in the last series of Doctor Who. The truth is that they haven’t disappeared at all – I’ve been keeping the bees all along!