Take a punt

I like to 'rescue' sick plants!  Strange, but true - not only do I get the satisfaction of having brought something back from the brink of death but they only cost me pennies.  It is always worth the gamble of something making it or not - they rarely fail with a bit of TLC.

This lovely passion flower has three six foot stems and over twenty buds to come out (more to come after that no doubt).  It was a sad little thing in a tiny pot for 49p back in the Spring.  I had bought my friend one for her birthday at the usual sort of price from a reputable nursery which didn't look fantastic for its price and has struggled to do anything as yet.  A short time after giving that away I thought how much I wanted a passion flower for myself and I saw this one.

At the same time as buying the passion flower the shop was selling what appeared to be two dead sticks for a pound - not properly labelled - could have said magnolias?  I genuinely thought these might be consigned to the rubbish bin but I faithfully stuck each of their badly damaged hairy little roots into a pot of their own where they remained all winter as two dead sticks.  Spring arrives and - and Bingo! - I have two very promising magnolias (????).  

I have no idea what variety they are so they could be anything from six feet to thirty feet tall and wide when mature.  Looking now at the stick and the size of the leaf it is reasonable to think they are common old magnolia soulangia, so they are the big ones!!   I am seventy and they take twenty years to maturity so may not be a bother to me when they swamp the garden.  In truth I do have the right spot for one of them.  The other may just reside in a pot for a few years and I will think again then.  Meanwhile whoopee-do, three lives saved; total cost, £1.49.