Tundra

Snow plastered against the Leylandii hedge

The garden is in shut-down mode.  Winter is definitely still here.  We had a centimetre or two of snow on Thursday night, with a freezing wind that plastered the snow against anything east-facing, then more on Saturday morning.  Some intermittent above-zero temperatures have thawed the snow in patches, so there's a sort of piebald effect on the ground - neither a bright snow-covering nor a snow-free landscape, just a sort of untidy mess; the ground is frozen hard, cracking and creaking underfoot, and the garden has a bleached and colourless look.  And a bitter, unrelenting east wind.

'Blue Pearl' crocuses braving the wind

So no gardening at the weekend.  I should have retreated to the garage to sow some seeds to germinate indoors, but it was just too cold.  Even venturing out in search of a few flowers to cut for a vase didn't yield much: one Viburnum 'Dawn' bloom, a very few winter honeysuckle flowers and some Viburnum tinus - and all of those had to have the snow sprayed off them so that they didn't suffer frost damage.  Even the crocuses seem to be cowering in the wind.  The only ray of light was from the old flower-heads of the Big Yellow Thing (Bupthalmum? - a sort of Inula, anyway), which I leave in place for architectural effect in winter; every little dried flower-head had a little tuft of snow on it, which looked slightly comical.

The birds have been coming to feed regularly - mostly the usual suspects, though we had a greater spotted woodpecker on the nut feeder this morning.  The woodpigeons look particularly unhappy, with the wind blowing their feathers apart unless they can face into it.  We had some sun today which melted some of the ice on the pond, so at least there's water for drinking and bathing.

No relief in sight in the weather forecast - it's more of the same, right into, and probably beyond, the weekend.  That takes us into April, with lots of the March jobs still incomplete; and a freezing Easter weekend means that I can't take advantage of the days off to do them.  British Summer Time starts on Sunday.  Where's spring?

Waiting for daffodils

I'm still waiting for the first daffodils to open in the garden.  There might have been some open by now, but I cut those that were most advanced to put in a vase indoors, where they've provided some welcome colour.  For the moment, the garden is still in snowdrops-and-aconites mode, with a few crocus here and there; mostly 'Blue Pearl' in pots, though there's the odd big purple one (I think they're 'Remembrance') tucked into corners.  At the bottom of the garden the 'Whitewell Purple' crocuses planted last winter are trying hard, but they're too delicate to make any impact, and either the cold winds, or the birds (or quite possibly both) are taking their toll on the flowers.  The anemone blanda in the same bed are starting to bud; I'm hoping they've settled in well enough to make something of a show this year.

Clearing the bleached remains of last year's uncut grass behind the garage, I found that the pulmonaria that had settled in against the garage wall had seeded and the plants are flowering happily; so there's a little colour there.

Garden work last weekend included some rose pruning (must get that done this month), and a start on pruning the buddleia.  There are rather a lot of stems this year; I must remember to rub out some of the buds to keep it more manageable.  I also cleared a way through between the raspberry canes, pulling up some of the canes that had spread, and the gooseberries, and re-laid the 'path' (old newspapers etc, topped with flattened cardboard boxes and then with twiggy stuff that can be stamped down into a sort of mulch).  The first rows of broad beans have also gone in.

The weekend weather wasn't bad, but very mixed - Saturday was a bit of everything (chilly, dry spells, rain, hail, sleet ....), though Sunday was bright, often sunny and a good day to be out.  It's not as cold as last week, though still not warm, and no sign of it getting much better.

The birds are still busy - both robins and both song thrushes around, and a woodpecker was drumming in the distance the other morning.

Still winter!

This is Cheltenham Gold Cup week, and true to form it has snowed, as it so often does.  Not much - a few showers early in the week, which left the fields all dusted white and some stuff blowing around on the road, but nothing disruptive (the south-east and near Continent had heavy snowfalls, though).  The weekend was indeed dry, but bitterly cold, with a biting easterly wind - three-pairs-of-gloves gardening weather, and even then I had to keep coming in to warm my fingers up.  There have been some very hard frosts at night, and not always a thaw during the day.  It has since warmed up a fraction, although the pond is still frozen over; rain is forecast for tomorrow, but it may be brighter at the weekend.

Despite the cold, I got a few odd jobs done in the garden.  While the pond didn't need filling at all last year, I did rather neglect it and hadn't cleared any of the weed from it.  Lots got pulled out at the weekend.  I was expecting to see some wildlife in there, but nothing came out - no dragonfly nymphs, newts or even water snails.  Maybe the weed had deterred them?  I'm surprised about the snails, though; there has always been a good population of them.  They help keep the water clear, so I may have to get some more.  I also started clearing weeds in the veg patch in preparation for spring sowing. There's still no sign of the garlic and onions, so I bought some more garlic and planted it; it needs cold weather to make the cloves split, so I hope it's not too late.  I doubt if this week's cold weather will have any effect on newly planted cloves; I imagine they need to be actively growing for the splitting to happen.

Interesting how plants flop in extreme cold and bounce back afterwards.  The snowdrops went really limp but have perked up again; the bergenia too.  The bergenia is in flower, and the first of the brunnera (the 'Jack Frost' seedling by the gate) is also coming out; I also found a few flowers on the violets down the bottom of the garden, where they're shivering in the teeth of the easterlies.  They didn't flower last year, seeming to put their energies into spreading around. The 'Blue Pearl' crocuses are coming out, and the first daffodils will be ready for cutting this weekend; they're not out yet, but they're at the stage where they should open in a vase indoors.  They're always late here; it's rare for us to have any for St David's day!

There are some seedlings sprouting in the cold frame.  I'm afraid I've done it again: sown something without labelling it.  It's obviously something I was sure I would recognise when it came up, but at the moment I can't tell what it is!  There aren't many seeds that would germinate in the cold frame in this weather and at this time of year, and it's something sown a pinch of seeds at a time rather than singly, so I'm guessing it may be parsley.  There again, it could be rocket.  Time will tell, I suppose.

The tamer birds have been coming regularly for food, and others hanging around in the background.  At one point we had three robins at once, with a bit of a territory-scrap.  The song thrush is still about, and a wren; and in the snow the other day we had six partridges huddling miserably under the potentilla.  The pheasant is about quite a bit, and seems to have a favourite roost on top of the Leylandii hedge.  It looks a bit exposed to me, but he appears to like it.

Spring?

Back home after our skiing holiday (wildlife highlight: huge herd of wild reindeer crossing the mountains a few miles away).  In the UK February has been cold but mostly dry, apparently, and there has been at least some wind, to judge from the fallen twigs from the ash trees.  The garden looks much the same as when we left (snowdrops, aconites, rather more cyclamen coum and the hellebores coming out), but there's a much more springlike feel to everything.  Maybe it's the light; when the sun came out on Saturday there was a touch of warmth in it, and it was an early spring sun rather than a winter one.

The birds have also returned.  Strange how they seemed to disappear for a couple of weeks after the snow melted; but they're back now.  Even casual bird-watching on Saturday racked up a good number of species: all the usual tits (blue, great, coal and marsh), finches (chaffinches, greenfinches and at least two goldfinches - maybe more, as there was a largish flock of finches in the big ash tree a couple of times, with much of the sweet twittering that goldfinches do), a nuthatch, two robins, a wren, blackbirds, song thrush, starlings, sparrows and dunnock.  Groups of partridge and the occasional pheasant are also around.  Nesting may be starting; a song thrush was having a good soak in the pond, and a female blackbird was bathing busily too (nesting is a dirty job).  The smaller birds have revived their interest in the seed container, which is now emptying daily again - probably another sign of them being busy sorting out partners, territories and potential nest sites.

Since our return the weather has been quite mixed: pleasant on Saturday, murky on Sunday and sunny for the last couple of days, with some quite cold nights.  The forecast is for a few damp days this week.  I hope the weekend is dry - there's a lot to get on with in the garden!

Mistletoe and brambles

A dank and murky weekend, when not actually wet.  Not a good couple of days for gardening (and anyway there were more urgent things to do indoors).  One key job had to be done, however.  I had acquired half-a-dozen mistletoe berries, and February is the time to 'sow' them.  The obvious place would have been the big apple tree, but mistletoe takes a good couple of years before there's anything to see, and there would have been a risk that I would have pruned off the relevant branches in the meantime.  So it was out with the stepladder, down to the bottom of the garden, and up into the hawthorn that overhangs the summerhouse.  A messy job - but it'll be interesting to see if any of them germinate!

While I was out there, and it wasn't actually raining at the time, I hacked at some of the brambles that have self-sown among the bigger shrubs.  It's a good time of year to see what's what in there, while most plants are leafless.  There were a few long arching branches that were tip-rooting in the undergrowth, so I was able to rip them out.  With any luck I'll be able to get some weedkiller on the stumps once they start sprouting in spring.  The robin was very pleased with my disturbing the ground; he sat and sang to me just overhead.

Still the same late winter flowers - snowdrops, aconites, cyclamen and the winter shrubs - but signs of spring if you look closely.  The osmanthus is showing buds, for example.

Since then, we've had a couple of cold nights, with a little snow - prettily outlining all the twigs.  Fortunately clear roads, so no travel problems.  Still murky and rather dank.

The birds have been a little more enthusiastic about food put out for them, though those appearing on the patio are still the usual suspects.  Over the weekend we had upwards of 50 crows sitting in the tops of the big trees around us, just below the cloud level - quite a sight - and the little party of 15 partridge trot in and out some evenings.

After apple pruning

The snow lasted until Friday evening, when heavy rain cleared some of it; more rain on Saturday night washed away much of the rest, although patches of snow stayed in the fields through the week, despite temperatures well above zero.  The meltwater has soaked everything thoroughly – for the first time that I can remember, there was a big puddle in the field across the road.  Normally rain just goes straight through our stony soil.  Yesterday was a lovely sunny, but cold, day; today is cloudy and thoroughly damp.

With the temperatures back to plus figures, I’ve felt able to do some pruning.  Last year I pruned the cooking apple tree hard and late (in March); it responded by throwing up lots of water shoots, which need dealing with this year, so this afternoon was spent up a stepladder with secateurs, loppers and the bowsaw.  I’ve become very fond of my loppers; can’t imagine how I managed without them!  Not only can I deal with bigger branches without resorting to the saw (which isn’t always easy to use in a crowded tree), but it enables me to reach all sorts of things that were beyond me before.  The very top of the tree is still a bit tricky – and there are a few branches that have been left until next weekend – but most of the job is done.  I do tend to get a bit carried away, so I’ve tried not to take too much wood out this time; there are still a few branches that I’ll want to remove next year, but I hope there will be rather more space and light in the tree this year.

You do get a different view of the garden from the top of a stepladder! 

Today's other job was sowing more sweet peas; those in the cold frame have partly germinated  / survived, but I need more.  Temperatures are still a bit low for them, but they won’t come to harm in the cold frame while they’re waiting for the mercury to rise.

The big snowdrops (Atkinsii and Elwesii) are mostly fully out; the doubles are just starting to open, while the small singles are only just showing white tips.  The winter aconites and some of the cyclamen coum are in bloom too.  The big hellebores have been in flower since well before Christmas, but the others are well in bud and will be out soon.  The winter honeysuckle seems to have woken up and now has quite a few flowers.  Despite the recent cold, a number of other plants are also waking up; the daffodils are well up, and the chaenomeles is in bud.  The honeysuckle next to it is coming into leaf; I must get on top of that before it takes over!

Last autumn I planted some garlic and some of last year’s onion sets that had totally failed to make any growth.  No sign now of any of them.  I’m hoping that they’re under the soil and getting on with things .... I’m more pleased with my trough of salad leaves, which as usual has come through the snows and bounced back with vigour.  They’re still too small to provide much in the way of salad, but they’ll be ready for spring.  I also repotted my mint in the autumn, and it has kept its leaves – again, not much for using, but coming along nicely, as is a chervil plant that I protected from the snow.

The last couple of days of the snows brought more birds to the patio – the mistle thrush and fieldfare continued to battle it out, and there were visits by the two marsh tits and the two nuthatches.  Since the snow – hardly a thing.  The Big Garden Birdwatch total was pitiful.  They’re all off pairing up and sorting out territory.  The robins have been singing lustily, and a song thrush was striking up the other morning (its mate, or a rival, was also around).  And one day we had 15 partridges, arriving one by one, pecking around for a while and then departing in their usual long line.  Apart from that, not much has been around.  I even removed the squirrel guard from the peanuts to see if that would attract them, but no.  

The squirrel itself must have been about (but not on the nuts); there are holes in the lawn and broken nut shells under the plum tree.  Mr Mole has extended his run by another few feet (I’ve tried to stamp the runs down), and there’s another mole run up by the raspberries.  Some digging required, I think (by me as well as him).

Who goes there?

Still cold, still snow (lots).  More fell on Tuesday night and the slight thaw in the afternoons hasn't made much difference. 

While the garden itself isn't very visible under all that white stuff, there has been plenty of opportunity to observe the wildlife.  Also where the wildlife has been, through the tracks left in the snow.  Now, here's a conundrum.  This morning there was a very distinctive track on the lawn - four 'steps' each consisting of three prints.  If I saw that on our skiing holiday, I would be in no doubt that it was a hare.  We have hares round here, and rabbits, but I haven't seen either in the garden for years.  I can't think what else would make that sort of print.  The thing is, there's no sign of where the track started, or where the animal went after reaching the path under the dining room window.  I can't see any other similar prints.  Some of the track seems to follow the same path as a track probably made by next door's cat; if the cat came after the hare, I suppose its prints might have obliterated some of the hare's.  But where did it go afterwards?

Another animal moving around the garden is Mr Mole.  The snow, of course, doesn't bother him at all.  He had created a big molehill down near the summerhouse, and followed it up by another, about ten feet away, which I watched being created.  One minute nothing was there, the next there was a pile of earth heaving up from under the snow, getting bigger by the minute.  Of course, once the snow melts he'll know all about it as the water will have to go somewhere - and I suppose he'll be heading for drier ground up near the house again.

The fieldfare

Birds continue to come for food.  I've been putting out old apples for the blackbird, but yesterday they were discovered by a fieldfare which has been feasting on them, when he's not fending off the blackbird (yesterday) and a mistle thrush (today).  The thrush won every time but doesn't have the confidence to spend long on the patio when I'm in sight, so the fieldfare keeps coming back.   Other visitors include two robins (at least tolerating each other's presence, so presumably paired up for the season), a pied wagtail which I haven't seen here for a couple of years, and a wren.  Plenty of tits also, including a great tit which has enjoyed a bath in a bowl of water I put out, and the marsh tit has a mate who was with him the other day.  The jay, sadly, hasn't been back.

Plantlife is mostly under the snow, including most of my pots, which are surrounded or covered by drifts.  That nearest pot (first picture, taken before the second fall of snow) has a heuchera and one of the 'Sour Grapes' penstemons in it - you can just see the foliage peeping out.  Fortunately there are other penstemon plants in the cold frame!  There is a little more colour indoors - some winter jasmine and hazel catkins, cut before the cold snap.  The catkins continue to develop after cutting, starting as little greyish things and turning into fat, long sausages with yellow pollen.

According to the forecast, there's rain coming in late tomorrow and over the weekend, with warmer temperatures.  But tonight the skies are clear, and the temperatures are to tumble even further.  Keep warm!

Cold sunset