Blackthorn winter

 

From the middle of February, when we left on holiday, until early March, the weather has been mostly mild (for February) and dry; but the past few days have been cold and intermittently snowy, culminating in strong winds and rain today.  The snow here didn’t amount to a great deal – a couple of centimetres at most of wet stuff, although it was much worse further north.  Some news reports spoke of ‘unseasonable’ weather, but it’s not at all unseasonable; it’s what used to be known as a blackthorn winter, cold weather that coincides with the flowering of the blackthorn in the hedgerows, and it’s quite common.  The forecast for the next few days is wet but much milder, except for tomorrow night when temperatures are set to drop to minus 5C.  I had been planning a seed-sowing binge in the greenhouse, but I’m going to wait until that is past and temperatures start to rise a bit.

I’m pleased to see that my garlic and shallots, planted before we went away, are sprouting nicely; the broad beans, however, which I hastily sowed outdoors just prior to our departure, are showing nothing at all, which isn’t encouraging after a month.  I found one bean which had been dug up, and it was starting to sprout, so I’m thinking it’s not the fault of the seeds; I suspect four-legged intervention (the squirrel?).  I still have seed, so will do a repeat sowing. 

The snowdrops are still in flower, but close inspection shows that they are fading; there has been a good show of crocuses, though they have been knocked about by the bad weather.  The first daffodils to flower, the miniatures, opened their flowers once the snow had gone, and have put up with today’s wind remarkably well; the window box is looking good, with ‘Blue Pearl’ crocuses (now mostly gone over), ‘Tete-a-tete’ daffodils just opening and rosemary ‘Miss Jessop’s Upright’ still in flower.  The hellebores are also still doing well; the clump at the side of the house includes a couple of self-sown whites, which I always keep meaning to dig up and plant elsewhere but never get around to it.  And the winter honeysuckle, Lonicera purpusii, is also still in flower and attracting the occasional bumblebee; it’s a fine sight, even in the snow (centre in the photo above).

Mixed miniature daffodils on the patio

Window box - daffodils and rosemary to the fore

Hellebores - mostly seedlings, including whites

In our absence the number of blackbirds in the garden seems to have dropped to a single pair, the others presumably being migrants who have headed off home for the spring.  I’ve been helping our residents by putting out the last two apples from our winter store to keep them going through the cold weather.  The two robins have also enjoyed them.  The fatballs have gone down well with most of the birds, especially the blue tits and long-tails, as well as the sparrows; the robins and blackbirds occasionally try to use the feeder, and the dunnocks and pigeons pick up what gets dropped.  Lefty and his lady have resumed coming to the patio for breakfast, although I think most of what I put out this morning was blown away before they could get to it; the plum tree pigeon pair are also still around, sitting and occasionally mating in the plum tree and sometimes venturing right up to the house as long as Lefty isn’t being too territorial.  The sparrows have started to collect nesting material, dropping bits of dry grass that blow around in the breeze.  There have also been three chaffinches active at the bottom of the garden; I hope there might be a chaffinch nest down there this year.

An obstacle removed

A return to the UK after 3 weeks in Norway, and it’s remarkable how much colder England feels – although the temperatures are fairly similar overall (similar to lowland Norway, where we’ve been for the past week, at least), the dampness here makes it feel chillier.  An early March update in the next post, but meantime here is what I was up to in early February.

The weather back then was ideal gardening weather - some lovely bright days with surprisingly warm sun and frosty nights.  It was a good time to tackle one of those jobs that had been hanging over me for ages; not urgent work, but necessary to get it out of the way so that other things could be done successfully.  To be precise, dealing with the tree at the entrance to the Dump.

The bottom of the garden has a copse of damsons, probably suckers from the plum tree that were allowed to get out of hand and are now small trees in their own right.  One of these grew at the entrance to the Dump corner (where the compost bins, lawn mowings pile and other unsightly garden stuff live), with enough space for access between it and the upright post that originally supported the trellis screening the mess behind.  Over the years, however, the tree started to lean, initially against the post but eventually getting lower and lower until I had to duck down to get in there.  With a wheelbarrow full of lawn clippings, this got tricky, and something had to be done.  The problem was not only having to cut through the trunk – which wasn’t particularly thick, but definitely a saw job – but to detach the top growth from the tangle of branches of the other trees around.

Before ....

... and after

So, out with the bowsaw.  In the end it was easier than I expected.  It took a fair bit of hacking to cut through the trunk, and then I just pulled the upper part of the trunk, branches and all, over the trellis and on to the lawn.  It came away from the other trees without too much damage.  After that, all the branches had to be cut off and larger pieces chopped up; these were heaped on the various woodpiles that I maintain down among the damsons to provide homes for the wildlife.   The trunk likewise was left on the ground in the Dump by the wall, in the hope that it will give shelter for beetles as it decays.  And now I can enter the Dump, with wheelbarrow if necessary, without bending down!

It's that time of year when robins seem to be everywhere in the garden; all outdoor work is accompanied by singing nearby, sometimes at very close quarters, and great interest in what’s going on.  While I was attending to the tree, the bottom-of-the-garden robin serenaded me until a couple of other robins turned up to try to chase him off, and a great deal of fast acrobatic flying through the branches ensued.  What seemed to be the same robin, unchallenged by his competitors, was still around the following day when I was planting out the garlic in the veg plot, an activity that generated a lot of interest from him, though I expect he was disappointed when I covered the bed with fleece (to stop the birds from pulling the cloves up).

Down on the edge of the damson thicket, I found a little clump of Cyclamen coum, in flower.  I didn't put it there; I'm guessing that mice, or ants, moved seed from the plants up by the pond, but it's a welcome sight nonetheless.  I just hope that the violets don't swamp it.

Cyclamen coum

The good weather meant that growth continued apace, even in early February; daffodils were showing buds, although experience says that they can sit around like that for weeks before actually flowering (and, three weeks later, I’m still waiting for the first bud to open, although it should be any day now).  Winter aconites were in flower, and in odd corners there were the first blooms on pulmonaria and primroses; and the little clump of Crocus angustifolius alongside the drive which always takes me by surprise.  Totally unexpected, though, were the several orchid clumps in the lawn, already showing well-grown leaves; the lawn, left unmown to let the wildflowers come through last summer and autumn and now looking very rough and turfy, is in need of attention, but I need to consider whether to mow over the orchid leaves or let them be!  Would it affect flowering? I don’t know!

Snowdrops, winter aconites (and leaves of unwanted geraniums!)

Daffodils under the plum tree

Pulmonaria, hiding by the wall

A primrose, also hiding in the grass

and Crocus angustifolius, bright and cheerful!

One of the many orchid clumps, already showing leaves in the lawn

The bully boys

The cold weather has gone, for the moment, and temperatures are now more normal for this time of year, above freezing with clear, sunny spells – good gardening weather at last!  The birds, less concerned now about keeping warm and finding food, are focussing their efforts on territory and pairing up.  The patio robins are an item again, protecting their patch against incursions by the robin from the far side of the garden; the dunnocks, who are often the target for robins’ territorial ire, don’t seem to bother them, at least for now.  However, all is not peaceful on the patio.

The patio robins - with dunnock

A pair of collared doves have started coming for breakfast, and don’t tolerate competition.  I’ve always thought of them as gentle birds, but these two are bully boys; the little birds are safe from them, but they’re not happy with the blackbirds (admittedly, the blackbirds aren’t happy with other blackbirds either; there are at least three males and three females around, and there’s a lot of aggro), and the woodpigeons, specifically Lefty the lame pigeon, whose territory the patio is, are enemy no 1.   After one of the doves attacked Lefty, landing on his head, he has given them a wide berth, even avoiding the patio when food is put out if the doves are around.  We’re trying to scare the bovver boys off, but it’s not easy to do without frightening Lefty as well.

The doves weren’t around during the hour when I did the Big Garden Birdwatch last weekend.  The count was better than expected, with a good range of species and quite respectable numbers.  We have a lot of sparrows, but they’re fidgety birds and difficult to count; I managed 13, which I thought was a good representative number (there are almost certainly more).   This was typical of the count: I recorded a fair number of each species, although I know that there are actually more in the garden.  Four of the six blackbirds, for example, and three blue tits; the two patio robins (but not the interloper), three dunnocks and two of the longtailed tits.  The rest were singles, but I was pleased that a wren showed up, and surprised when a song thrush appeared; there was one singing last summer in a garden nearby, but I don’t think we actually saw it, and this was the first sighting for months.  The others, a greater spotted woodpecker and a starling, were more predictable but still welcome.  No finches at all, nor great tits; I don’t know what’s happened to them.

Today I finally got round to planting the tulips (in pots)!  Better (very) late than never.

 

 

Cold again

In my last post I said that no particularly cold weather was forecast for a couple of weeks; and, for that period, it stayed mild, but with strong winds.  Then, this past week, we’ve had the cold weather again: overnight temperatures in the region of -4C, and staying low in the daytime, but fortunately with clear skies, sunny days and no rain or snow.  A couple of mornings have been white with frost, and there’s a clear line down the lawn dividing the ‘cold’ side, where the sun doesn’t reach at this time of year, from the side where the grass thaws out by day.  The advice not to walk on frozen grass doesn’t count for much when areas such as the compost corner and the summerhouse (where we store the apples) are at the bottom of the garden. 

It hasn’t been a good time for much gardening.  Some leaf-raking, weeding and cutting back got done in the dry spells before the cold hit, but in recent days time outdoors has been spent filling up birds’ feeders, scattering additional crumbs in suitable corners to provide not only breakfast but also supper for avian visitors, and putting out apples to keep the half-dozen or so blackbirds happy. 

It’s the Big Garden Birdwatch next weekend, and, although there are plenty of birds around, I’m not confident of a wide variety of species coming to be counted.  The regulars are here in quantity, but I haven’t seen a wren for a few weeks, and there have been only occasional sightings of the long-tailed tits (up to eight at a time), chaffinches and great tits.  A woodpecker (greatspot) was here yesterday, and a female bullfinch has been picking over the plum tree for a day or two; but that’s it.

The early snowdrops started appearing just after New Year, but there haven’t been many other opportunities for cutting flowers for the house.  The hellebores (not easy to keep looking good in a vase) have started flowering; they were knocked back a bit by the frost, but are recovering. The first daffodil leaves are pushing through, however, under the plum tree and in the front garden, and in the tubs where the miniature daffs are planted; just before the cold snap I top-dressed them with compost from last year’s tomato pots, which I hope will have protected them from the most recent freeze.

Happy 2023!

 

Happy New Year!

Another ‘warmest ever’ New Year’s Day, with weather that is typical for what we’ve been having since the snow melted: bright sunshine with a chilly wind, until the clouds came over and brought rain and hail.  ‘Unsettled’ is the Met Office’s term for it.  But there’s no forecast for particularly cold weather for a couple of weeks at least.

The cold weather in December has left its mark on the garden.  As I expected, the lettuces (which were starting to bolt anyway) and radicchio had succumbed, and other plants have been held back by the cold.  My New Year’s Day flower count was on the low side.  There were the winter stalwarts – winter honeysuckle, winter jasmine (but very few flowers), various viburnums, Mahonia ‘Winter Sun’ and rosemary.  Apart from those, it was a case of scrumping around for a few flowers on the big hellebore in the front garden, a couple of Vinca major blooms in the front wall, a pair of comfrey flowers in a sheltered spot by the long hedge, a few daisies here and there, some meadow grass and a panicum (fountain grass) head.  In the past there have been some flowers left over from the summer at New Year, but this year all of those are already gone; and the snowdrops are showing white buds but no opened flowers.  I make that 11 flowering plants.  But the garden is only waiting for better weather; the rhubarb ‘Timperley Early’ is already showing promising-looking sprouts.  (Note to self: it needs dividing this year!)

I had worried about the smaller birds’ ability to find food during the cold snap, but a wren has been around, and the family of long-tailed tits (all five of them) have been enthusiastically visiting the fatball container.  Our regulars are coming daily: a flock of sparrows, a couple of dunnocks, at least two robins (one of whom is trying to invade the patio but is being seen off by the resident robin there), some starlings, a few blackbirds, a group of blue tits, a collared dove and various woodpigeons, including Lefty who continues to dominate the patio.  And today a greenfinch came for a drink – something of a rarity these days.

I still haven't planted the tulip bulbs because of the cold weather; a job to be getting on with!

A proper December

Back in the day, November was chilly and December even more so.  Taking part in Bonfire Night activities, in early November, meant donning warm clothes and gloves, which were generally de rigeur until about March, or sometimes April.  In recent years, winters have been becoming milder, and we’ve got used to plants overwintering with little protection.  Some years I’ve left my echeverias outside, their pots moved up against the house wall for shelter.  Last winter I left some dahlias in pots on the patio, with no special measures to keep them warm, and they survived.

But then, occasionally, the weather just likes to remind us that we can’t take things for granted.  December this year has been cold, and last Sunday we woke to about 18cm (7 inches or so) of snow; there has been no further snowfall, but temperatures have only occasionally risen above zero Centigrade (and then only by a couple of degrees) and at night have fallen to -9C at times.  The roads have been treacherous, so I’ve been confined to the village, living (rather comfortably, actually) out of the stores in the freezer.  Yesterday a rapid thaw started, with rain and significantly warmer weather, and today all the snow has gone, leaving us with milder but very windy conditions. 

Frosted glass in the porch

When icicles hang by the wall ,,,

The birdlife has been very glad of the cooking apple tree; they've eaten all the apples that were still on the tree, and we’ve taken a few more out of store for the blackbirds.  It has been too cold to keep putting drinking water out for them; it froze within a couple of hours.

The last apple on the tree

So, what of the plants?  The greenhouse temperature has fallen to below -3C, which the dahlias (brought in there to dry off) will not like, and the top growth on the hedychiums is looking decidedly peaky.  Last year I dispensed with the greenhouse’s bubblewrap protection over winter, but this year I’m regretting not having taken any steps to protect the more tender plants.  Too late now, I suppose, although the meteorologists are hinting darkly at more cold weather to come, so it might still be worth putting the wrap up.

But, despite the past week’s freezing temperatures, life in the garden still goes on: under the snow, the hellebores have been pushing up buds …

Hellebore buds under the old leaves

 

No gardening today! (eom)

 

No gardening today ...

... and no bird bathing either!