Rhubarb rhubarb

Back in November, I posted a list of jobs I wanted to get done before the real cold kicked in.  The weather continues to be mild, but very wet and windy most of the time, and there have been few days recently that have offered decent gardening conditions.  Boxing Day was dry, however, and allowed me to work outside.  Of the jobs on my list, I’ve managed the really essential ones, which is something.  There are still weeds in the veg patch and it still needs mulching, but that can be done in the New Year.  And there are still bits of the long hedge that need cutting back, and it’s too late now to finish that (although I can do some of it in March as things warm up, weather permitting); I’ve decided that I need a taller stepladder to be able to reach the top safely (it will be a belated Christmas present to myself).  It will also be useful when pruning the apple tree.

All the bulbs are now planted, including the tulips ‘Angelique’ and ‘World Friendship’ lifted from last spring’s pot plantings.  They’ve gone into the bed by the terrace.  It was a task precipitated by my finding the corpse of a poor little vole in the greenhouse – it seemed to have climbed, or fallen, into a deep jug that was left on the floor and had been unable to climb out again.  It was tipped out into the planting hole dug for ‘Angelique’, with the bulbs on top.  Some natural fertiliser.

Starting work on rhubarb no 1

I’ve also tackled the maincrop rhubarb plant that was in need of dividing.  If I thought that the osteospermums were hard to dig up, that was nothing compared to the rhubarb.  It has been in place for many years and was very large (bigger than it looks in the photo), but its productivity was falling off and it definitely needed splitting.  Easier said than done.  The roots were enormous, and deep, and I’m not sure I’ve actually got all of them out.  Fortunately the clump proved to be part rotten, and I was able to chip a couple of pieces with the beginnings of buds from the outside of the clump for planting further back in the bed (it produces huge leaves that are prone to covering up the path), and I managed to dig out some of the tough grasses there to make room for them.  The rest of the plant, or as much of it as I could tackle, was unceremoniously ripped up and left on the side for the robin to check over for worms.  Tidying them up is a job still to be completed, but the main task is done.

Rhubarb no 2 - 'Timperley Early', already in growth

The early rhubarb plant alongside, ‘Timperley Early’, true to its name, is already showing new growth!  And down in the undergrowth by the pond, I see that the first snowdrops (Galanthus elwesii) are out – a good week or two earlier than I would have expected.

Galanthus elwesii

Happy New Year!