It may be Christmas Eve, but the pinks are still flowering. A nice little posy of them picked today for the Christmas table; the progeny of cuttings taken from a stem in a bunch of supermarket flowers some years ago. The buds are pink, but the flowers open white with a deep pink base. Unseasonal, but welcome.
The weather is still windy and mostly mild, although tomorrow is to be clear and colder. Still nothing really cold in the forecast - just as well, as I haven't got round to putting up the greenhouse bubblewrap yet. Most of the tulips are now planted. I'm taking comfort from the memory of the winter a few years ago when the ground (and bags of compost) were too frozen to plant anything until January; the tulips still came up all the same. Here's to a floriferous 2015!
Wednesday, 24 December 2014
Friday, 19 December 2014
Mild December
Despite a few frosty nights, with the frost hanging around in the shade all day on a couple of occasions, on the whole the weather has been relatively mild; particularly so this week. Plants are refusing to die back; I'm still waiting for the dahlia stems to blacken. There have been windy spells, and some rain, but sunshine too. a real rollercoaster of weather.
There hasn't been much work done in the garden, other things having intervened. The tulips went into the bottom border yesterday, with last year's leafmould as a mulch; the soil down there needs a lot of improvement. Most of the pots are still to be planted up.
The last apples have been pecked off the cooking apple tree by the blackbirds (up to a dozen of them at a time) and the fieldfare. There's a stash of apples stored in the garage, both for us and to keep the birds going through the winter; I'm putting one or two out at a time in various corners of the garden to keep the blackbirds spread out. There are still several robins about (one was very pleased with my leafmould moving yesterday), lots of sparrows, a few dunnocks and starlings, plenty of woodpigeons (including our lame friend, who hasn't been about much recently but has been seen a couple of times this week) and collared doves and the occasional jackdaw and magpie. A woodpecker (gt spot) comes to the peanut container from time to time, and blue tits and great tits have also been in the bushes and occasionally bathing. A female bullfinch has come to the patio for a bath a couple of times, a wren was checking out the vegetable garden wall yesterday and a nuthatch has been tapping away in the trees. There's usually a pheasant not too far away, and the other day two dozen partridges were wandering about the lawn. Out and about, there are still lots of berries in the hedgerows, attracting the fieldfares and redwings; with the mild weather, the wildlife shouldn't be doing too badly at the moment.
There hasn't been much work done in the garden, other things having intervened. The tulips went into the bottom border yesterday, with last year's leafmould as a mulch; the soil down there needs a lot of improvement. Most of the pots are still to be planted up.
The last apples have been pecked off the cooking apple tree by the blackbirds (up to a dozen of them at a time) and the fieldfare. There's a stash of apples stored in the garage, both for us and to keep the birds going through the winter; I'm putting one or two out at a time in various corners of the garden to keep the blackbirds spread out. There are still several robins about (one was very pleased with my leafmould moving yesterday), lots of sparrows, a few dunnocks and starlings, plenty of woodpigeons (including our lame friend, who hasn't been about much recently but has been seen a couple of times this week) and collared doves and the occasional jackdaw and magpie. A woodpecker (gt spot) comes to the peanut container from time to time, and blue tits and great tits have also been in the bushes and occasionally bathing. A female bullfinch has come to the patio for a bath a couple of times, a wren was checking out the vegetable garden wall yesterday and a nuthatch has been tapping away in the trees. There's usually a pheasant not too far away, and the other day two dozen partridges were wandering about the lawn. Out and about, there are still lots of berries in the hedgerows, attracting the fieldfares and redwings; with the mild weather, the wildlife shouldn't be doing too badly at the moment.
Tuesday, 2 December 2014
Tidying up
I don't believe in too much tidying up for winter; the wildlife prefers things left as they are. Realistically, though, some work has to be done otherwise it all gets out of hand and there isn't time in spring to catch up. There are plenty of rough areas, both in the garden and in the fields beyond, to keep the wildlife happy.
The greenhouse has had a bit of a clean (it still smells of Jeyes Fluid, which probably isn't great for the plants inside but I'm hoping it might fumigate out any greenfly that survived my washing of all the cinerarias). I wasn't as thorough as recommended, because there's still a lot of stuff stashed in the greenhouse for want of anywhere better to put it, but all the working area had a scrub. The tomato and aubergine plants have been turfed out (the aubergines had succumbed to grey mould anyway); I was about to do the same with my three-year-old chilli plants, but they're looking a lot better after I cut off the brown bits, so they can stay. I'm now gradually clearing the summer pots, planting up the frost-tender plants (argyranthemums, phormiums - 'Tricolor' has bulked up well and I've divided it - and phygelius) for overwintering in the greenhouse. I'm also going to try to keep one of the Ricinus communis going, to see how big it will get next year. The bulbs (mostly tulips, but some belated crocus, daffs and alliums) are going in the pots with some winter/spring interest on top (mostly violas, forget-me-nots, wallflowers).
The remains of this year's veg plants (beans and courgettes) have gone to the compost heap, and garlic and 'Aquadulce Claudia' broad beans have gone in (better late than never). There are still some lettuces near the back door, despite some frosty nights. The dahlias are still outside; the frosts haven't blackened them yet, although 'Ambition', which failed to live up to its name, is looking particularly ropy. Next year's colour is already on the way, however; the 'Atkinsii' snowdrops are nosing up through the ground.
The damp weather is giving way to cold, windy days and slightly frosty nights, which is preferable on the whole. The blackbirds and redwings are working their way through the berries on the holly tree, so some branches have been cut for Christmas and are in a bucket in the greenhouse. Other birds continue to come looking for food; there are still plenty of windfall apples, and the digging in the vegetable plot has attracted the partridges (11 of them today). A greenfinch appeared one day, which is encouraging after all the disease locally; we've also had a tawny owl in the ash trees, calling after dark. The mild autumn has obviously benefited the wildlife; there was a butterfly (tortoiseshell or red admiral, I couldn't see the detail) in the village hall garden on Saturday.
The greenhouse has had a bit of a clean (it still smells of Jeyes Fluid, which probably isn't great for the plants inside but I'm hoping it might fumigate out any greenfly that survived my washing of all the cinerarias). I wasn't as thorough as recommended, because there's still a lot of stuff stashed in the greenhouse for want of anywhere better to put it, but all the working area had a scrub. The tomato and aubergine plants have been turfed out (the aubergines had succumbed to grey mould anyway); I was about to do the same with my three-year-old chilli plants, but they're looking a lot better after I cut off the brown bits, so they can stay. I'm now gradually clearing the summer pots, planting up the frost-tender plants (argyranthemums, phormiums - 'Tricolor' has bulked up well and I've divided it - and phygelius) for overwintering in the greenhouse. I'm also going to try to keep one of the Ricinus communis going, to see how big it will get next year. The bulbs (mostly tulips, but some belated crocus, daffs and alliums) are going in the pots with some winter/spring interest on top (mostly violas, forget-me-nots, wallflowers).
The remains of this year's veg plants (beans and courgettes) have gone to the compost heap, and garlic and 'Aquadulce Claudia' broad beans have gone in (better late than never). There are still some lettuces near the back door, despite some frosty nights. The dahlias are still outside; the frosts haven't blackened them yet, although 'Ambition', which failed to live up to its name, is looking particularly ropy. Next year's colour is already on the way, however; the 'Atkinsii' snowdrops are nosing up through the ground.
The damp weather is giving way to cold, windy days and slightly frosty nights, which is preferable on the whole. The blackbirds and redwings are working their way through the berries on the holly tree, so some branches have been cut for Christmas and are in a bucket in the greenhouse. Other birds continue to come looking for food; there are still plenty of windfall apples, and the digging in the vegetable plot has attracted the partridges (11 of them today). A greenfinch appeared one day, which is encouraging after all the disease locally; we've also had a tawny owl in the ash trees, calling after dark. The mild autumn has obviously benefited the wildlife; there was a butterfly (tortoiseshell or red admiral, I couldn't see the detail) in the village hall garden on Saturday.
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