h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

*hands Z a couple of alka seltzas *

Hyacinths will only last another few weeks. Like most bulbs they have a fairly short season, but are spectacular while they last.

Check with the shop whether they are indoor ones, (which is most likely at this time of year) or out-door ones.

The only difference is that the indoor ones have been forced through an artificial winter and flower much earlier than outdoor ones. You can plant indoor ones in the garden after they have bloomed, and they will come up late the following spring.

Um. Z. The answer is "no - don't get them"

B

IIEM, espresso please!

Wow, I'm just catching up and I have to go to work

I'm happy to see everyone this early morning

Ben, thanks I wasn't going to get them anyway I might as well get some bulbs and just plant them so that they come up later..

*waves to Z*

Drinking chess. That would have been a fun night!

I got a couple of indoor hyacinths for the house, and the one thats growing doesnt have a stem - the flowers are blooming straight from the base. I didnt know whether to pull the leaves off to give the poor thing breathing space but decided to leave them on. Definitely the weirdest flowers I've ever seen.

I wouldnt say they are really worth it. They only flower for a very short time. But very very pretty.

*Ambles in, finds a seat in the corner and settles down to see if he can get the lie of the land.*

It's not really the right time of the year to plant bulbs, Z. Daffodils are planted in September, tulips in October. Hyacinths are planted in the autumn too. Snowdrops can be planted as bulbs in the autumn but it's better to buy them 'in the green' at this time of year.

There are summer flowering bulbs like lilies. They grow well in pots but it's a bit early for those. Wait until April.

*notices FC hard at work again*

Lapsung Shousung please

for the advice guys..

And now we have to wash the chess set up.. becuase it's one composed of shot glasses.

We also booked tickets to see Elton John at the NEC in July whilst we were

Still

Pilates this morning, she lied as usual, promising that it would be a gentle class (our first since the Xmas break) and she ended up making us work hard. Her excuse was that we did the first few so well, she knew she could push us harder!

This is the first winter I haven't had any indoor hyacinths. I just didn't get around to it. I love the scent that fills the room.

Canna lilies are supposed to be very good in pots and have a long flowering season. But it is a bit early yet to plant anything outside. Have you trawled through the BBCi gardening pages, Z? They are very good and follow the links to the RHS, another good site. I would give you the links but I must get some lunch before I come over all hypoglycaemic and even more peculiar than normal!

IIEM, plain old Earl Grey for me this morning.

Z, I haven't forgotten about your goodie box. I've just been incredibly busy in RL. I like to grow caladiums and tuberous begonias in pots. If you are short of funds and can only buy a few bulbs, I would recommend those because they will last all summer for you.

The seed begonias are annuals and will grow in the sun or shade either one. And they're inexpensive. And impatients are wonderful for pots. The thing I love about impatiens and seed begonias are that they're tidy and you don't have to spend half the summer deadheading them. You should be able to buy them in small flats already started at your garden center.

i keep misreading pilates as

Just as well it wasn't the other way around...

Opening soon, Johnny Depp in "The Pilates of the Caribbean"

*gets another cup of coffee and goes back to her table, where she is reviewing a stack of annotated index cards that she actually hopes to leave face-down when she does her lecture*

IIEM, a blue java, please.

*finds her secret bottle wrapped into brown paper bad and pours a shot into *

I am exhausted after spending the whole day with skis and such. Sometimes I have to deal with sooooo boooring things.

!

I used to pronounce it like pilots, until I discoverd it was a Greek surname. I bet Johnny Depp couldn't do half the stuff we do, I couldn't three years ago. Our instructor says that if it was a martial art we would be 5th dans! Actually, I'm beginning to feel effects now

They had a pilates course advertised in the window of the shop next to the bus stop but they want £69 for six weeks, which is too steep for me.

I'm going to have my hair restyled tomorrow afternoon .

*wanders across to the IIEM*

A glass of water please.

That sounds like the going rate for a properly taught class, Amy, was it Body Control Pilates? The instructors are licensed and have to attend so many hours of training and refreshers. They also have a maximum of 12 per class and £2M insurance. It is expensive and each term I wonder if I can really justify it, but my back and neck are so much improved that it is worth it. The bonus is that my posture is so much better too.

*Looks in disgust at the scrabble board. Hums and haws for a while, then puts down the word "it".*

Good luck with the talk today, Lil.

Z- needing a floor for a broadsheet is nothing to do with height- I haven't been able to work out how to read one comfortably in an armchair yet.

What you need is for the Guardian to do what the Independent now oes and print the paper in two different sizes- broadsheet and tabloid size. The content's all the same in both, they just move it about to fit the smaller pages.

Witty, say the word and I will put out the call. I know lots of places to get out-of-print kid books...like, oh, my bookshelf. I love my books, and I take good care of them. My daughter has also got a lot of books, and I know lots of folks out here with nothing but money, so just say the word.

*goes back to reading the rest of the b'log)