March 2023 – and it’s hello again from me.

If you follow the meteorological calendar, then it’s springtime right now and you can say farewell to winter. If you follow the astronomical calendar, then spring starts on the 20th of March this year. Either way, it’s close enough to inject us with all the hope and excitement that fresh life in the garden brings. Perennials will be popping up from the cold soil and trees and shrubs will be starting to bud. Late winter bulbs are blooming, and early spring bulbs are pushing through the soil with great determination.

It’s also now time for me to get this blog back up and running. I thought I’d be away for a number of months, but one accident was followed by another, then another. I won’t bore you with the details. Time had unexpectedly moved on and I hadn’t.

I’m looking out my window as I type, and the garden is starting to morph from a barren wasteland to one with spreading greenery (mostly, I have to say, due to the forget-me-nots that seem to adore this heavy clay soil) and little pops of colour from snowdrops, crocus and hellebore. Narcissi are in bud, and a few have opened, adding some welcome rays of sunshine to my view.

There are so many fabulous plant combinations in today’s plant-rich world, some of which would take your breath away, but at this point in time, mine is the tulip and the lovely little forget-me-not combination. The images are from previous springs.

Continue reading “March 2023 – and it’s hello again from me.”

Six on Saturday 2020 16-05

Most of the focus this week has been on hardening off plants. The pelargoniums and dahlias have been out during the day for around 10 days now, but every time I think it’s going to be safe to leave them out, the forecast slithers downwards and I have to put them back undercover.

The pellies are now at the front door, they’ve outgrown their greenhouse space and had to leave. Evicted, if you like. Overnight Continue reading “Six on Saturday 2020 16-05”

Six on Saturday 2020 08-05

There’s been a lull in gardening activities this week, we’ve reached a sort of in-between stage. The seedlings are in the greenhouse, not yet ready to venture outside, and the final few half-size trays hold seedlings that are still too small to pot on. It’s too early to plant out the tender plants, the garden is mostly weed-free (that won’t last long), and it’s mostly just watering and feeding to attend to for the moment.

Right now it’s late Friday afternoon and I’m sitting Continue reading “Six on Saturday 2020 08-05”

Six on Saturday 2020 02-05

I’ve become a full-time gardener (with overtime) during this lockdown and I’m loving it. Thankfully the weather this week has been mostly good – cold, lots of sunshine, and two days of rain. Oh my, the ground needed it – no amount of watering could have given the soil the soaking it got on Wednesday & Thursday.

We’ve moved hostas, mulched, weeded, planted geraniums, salvias & campanulas in the front garden and potted up trillions (it just seems like that) of Continue reading “Six on Saturday 2020 02-05”

Six on Saturday 2020 25-04

Here in this little corner of the world, we’ve had another week of glorious sunshine and the hose has been in use all week. Until Thursday the sunshine was accompanied by very strong winds that battered the plants and made photography somewhat difficult – but in spite of that, no one here would dare trade the winds for rain!

This is our 6th week of social-distancing and so far we’re holding up well. The garden and the good weather have been our lifeline. Continue reading “Six on Saturday 2020 25-04”