But this is twirly:
This is my Christmas Cactus that I featured last year when I accidentally managed to get it to flower at Christmas. This year, however, I watered it too early.Well it was looking very sorry for itself. And the result; it's twirly.
Now for those of you who are not from this neck of the woods, perhaps I should explain the term 'twirly'. Years ago, the local bus companies operated a system whereby pensioners could not use their bus passes before 9.30a.m. And if any pensioners dared to try to use their bus passes before the exact stroke of 9.30a.m. the bus driver would say "twirly" (which translates to 'too early') and refuse to let them on the bus unless they paid the full fare.
Anyway, I digress, back to the garden. A couple of magpies have been rebuilding their nest recently. Why? Don't they know that winter is just around the corner? Today they started annoying a squirrel who was perched on a branch close to their nest.
On the subject of apples, I harvested all of mine recently by a rather unusual method. Don't try this at home, it's not the way to collect apples. My two Ballerina apple trees had grown very tall, unlike me, and the apples were all at the top. I had already decided that I would be pruning the trees this winter, so I brought the project forward a little, and pruned the branches laiden with fruit. It wasn't that successful, as most of the apples fell off during the process, and some got damaged. But I've now collected all the fruit, and the apple trees just need a little bit of tidying up.
One of the trees is biennial fruiting, it produced fruit this year, so it wouldn't have been producing much next year anyway. I left a lot of fruiting spurs on the other tree. So it wasn't a complete disaster. But as I say, it is not a method I would recommend for collecting apples.
Ja swojego takiego kwiatka zniszczyłam , za dużo go podlewałam. Dobrze, że zostało jabłko, bo wiewiórka miała pyszny posiłek. Pozdrawiam.
ReplyDeleteI ruined her such a flower, watered it too much. Well, that was an apple, because a squirrel had a delicious meal. Yours.
I only water it when it is in flower. I then leave it to dry out and give it some water when it looks a bit sorry for itself. This seems to make it bloom again.
DeleteTwirly's blooms are pretty and it is the Christmas season, so close enough. Mine is a similar color and also blooming now. Lots of fun things to watch in your garden this time of year. The squirrels here a busy with a huge crop of acorns.
ReplyDeleteAt least you escaped damage in bringing down the apples and have saved yourself some work in the spring.
Hopefully, next year's apples will be within reach.
DeleteI used to have a huge Christmas cactus - I can't remember what happened to it, I am useless with houseplants so I probably watered it to death.
ReplyDeleteMy plant is quite small, probably because it is in a very small pot and hasn't been fed for years. Oops.
DeleteHi Crystal,
ReplyDeleteHaha, I love twirlies!!! lol.
My Christmas Cactus is also blooming. Well it's not mine, rather it was my nan's who passed away a couple of months ago. Haven't had one since I was a kid in the 80's. I guess it's some colour at least but in general I don't like house plants; all that watering just isn't for me.
Eh, at least you got some apples this year! Most didn't...
I'm not keen on the watering either, which probably explains why my houseplants merely survive, rather than thrive.
DeleteHaha! I love the twirly tale and I admire your pruning technique. You have taken the art of multi-tasking to a whole new level!
ReplyDeleteGardening articles are now saying it is the correct time to start pruning apples, so I was only a couple of weeks early. Phew.
DeleteI'm glad you translated 'twirly', I couldn't think what it meant :-) I remember my Mum had a massive, pink Christmas Cactus, it was a picture when it flowered. That squirrel looks so sweet with its prize. The apples would have been a wonderful magnet for Waxwings and Winter Thrushes. I am spearing shop bought apples on to the branches of my tree to hopefully attract them. I didn't have one apple on my tree this year for the first time ever :-(
ReplyDeleteI only had a few apples this year. I couldn't have left them on the tree because they were falling off, from a great height.
DeleteApparently waxwings are in the area now, but the local blackbirds have eaten most of the berries here, so I'm not expecting waxwings to visit this year.
I am ashamed to say as a born and bred and still living in Yorkshire girl - I didn't know what twirly meant!
ReplyDeleteMaybe it was a phrase used only in the Sheffield area.
DeleteIts time I applied for my bus pass, hmm will I use it. Twirly, well well it means something totally different up here in Aberdeen. It refers to something which is revolving. Now that just has me imagining the bus driver taking hold of one of the old dears and twirling her around like a spinning top until she find herself back on the pavement. (now thats not very nice)
ReplyDeleteI can just imagine that happening. They would call it 'customer care' these days.
DeleteYour Christmas Cactus looks lovely, twirly or not :-) If you keep it in a cold room at night it should flower for a long time, perhaps even till Christmas. The squirrels have been busy in my garden too, they come with whole peanuts and hide them in my pots and planters, digging huge craters to get them deep enough. Those poor plants don't stand a chance at times.
ReplyDeleteSince I took the photo, the cactus has really burst into bloom. Lots of buds still to come. It's sat on a windowsill that's cool at night, so who knows, maybe it will still be in flower for Christmas.
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