Sunday 22 February 2009

Signs of Spring


After a beautiful sunny day yesterday, today was overcast and windy so I abandoned my plans to visit Myddleton House and spent a few hours in the garden instead. (Hopefully the display of Snowdrops will still be there next week.)
The first task was to water all the plants in the two greenhouses where I was pleased to note lots of new buds on the half-hardy Fuchsias. The Pelargonium cuttings are going great guns and some even have buds on them. Most other things look fine too although I fear I may have lost some of the Aquilegia seedlings.
The next job was to reorganise some of the pots to bring things coming into bloom to the fore such as this pot of Narcissus Tete a Tete which is underplanted with Tulips. As I was moving things around it was good to see that Allium Neopolitan and Allium Schubertii have broken through the soil, flower buds coming through on the Hellebores and new leaves just beginning to open on Dicentra, Aquilegia, Tradescantia, Aconite and Soapwort. I then cut back the hardy Fuchsias to a couple of inches above ground and cut out the dead wood on the deciduous shrubs.
Moving on the border I did a double-take on the Honesty but it was true. There are indeed flower buds on the plants which is quite surprising as they flowered in April last year and it's been a much colder winter this year. Cutting back the Verbena Bonariensis to a few inches above the ground I noticed that I've still got a few Tulips there and the Iris leaves are well up. Underneath the Buddleia the Crocus Ruby Giant all appear to be up with plenty of leaves. I've never grown Crocuses before so I'm pleased with their progress so far.
Onto the vegetable pots and disaster has struck. All of the Peas which I planted last November have been eaten! They were covered with a bell cloche and had reached about 10 cm high so it has to be slugs I think. Such a pity. Never mind, I still have some seeds left so I'll sow them next week. On the other hand the Chives, Garlic Chives, Fennel, Strawberries and Raspberries are all showing signs of growth so it's not all bad news.
Finally I was relieved to see that my Acer and Elder plants which I got last year both have new fat buds on them and the Forsythia is set to flower very soon. Spring is surely on its way.
Georgie

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi G,

What a lovely post. It's so nice to hear when spring is finally showing her face!

On the other hand, I'm very envious. I don't have any of those signs here up north. It certainly shows the North/South divide.

The only activity in my garden at the moment are a few tulips which have finally poked their noses through the soil.

Jo.

Carole said...

Hi Jo and thanks. Of course I know I'm lucky to have a sheltered spot in the south but on the other hand you will still have spring flowers when mine have long finished. Swings and roundabouts I guess? So lovely to see that you are using the Shoot website now too. What do you think of it?


G x

Anonymous said...

As Jo says what a lovely post!
You really were busy in your garden, which sounds like it's going to be a real picture come the summer. xx

Anonymous said...

Isnt it lovely when our gardens start to come alive again in the spring !

Sounds like things are coming along nicely Georgie. I have daffodils, tulips and blue bells peaking through too. Have loads of jobs to be getting on with and am so looking forward to attempting new things - first job is to clean the greenhouse so I can start on the seeds !

I love spring.

Carole said...

Thanks for your kind comments, Flighty and Eileen. I have to admit that spring is my favourite season too. I just love it when the trees start to get their new leaves. They look so fresh and it really gives me a boost.

G x

Anonymous said...

Hi G,

I haven't had chance to use Shoot to it's full capabilities yet, but so far so good.

It will be nice if we can get the forums going to their full potential, but even if members don't use the forums, I'm sure all the other tools on there are good.

Jo.