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8 March
To me the start of March signals that the growing season will now begin in earnest. It’s the month to shake off the slippers and tug on the boots and make a more concerted effort to get onto the plot and into the garden.
This week has been a mixed bag weatherwise. In the sunshine it has been quite a pleasure to be outside but at other times it has been bitterly cold with even a little sleet and hail. There have also been strong winds and just for a change some rain. The main jobs on the plot are still really tidying and constructing rather than any planting or sowing.
Although the blackberry was pruned at the end of last season it still needed a few more canes cutting out. Some of the gooseberry bushes have also been trimmed and the trimmings taken as cuttings. It is totally the wrong time to do this but the currant cuttings that were taken at the wrong time last year are doing well so you never know! If I don’t use the prunings as cuttings they will only be thrown away so there’s nothing to lose and maybe something to gain! I have also weeded and loosened the soil around the autumn fruiting raspberry canes that were pruned last week.
Preparation of the base for our prospective shed has now been completed. We just need to concrete to harden and then can think about ordering a shed. Its main purpose will be to provide us with a retreat into which to shelter from the cold and have a cup of coffee.
The sprouting broccoli is now providing us with a welcome new crop and we still have potatoes, carrots, onions and sprouts available.
In the plot greenhouse something strange is happening to some of our garlic shoots. The variety that has been growing strongly continues to do so but the second variety that was very slow to start seems to be struggling. It looks as though something is nipping off the young shoots as they try to grow. Not sure what likes to eat garlic shoots but if we come across any slugs or mice with strong smelling breath we will recognise the culprits!
In the garden greenhouse is the very first sign of germination of the carrot seeds planted last month in a trough. The salad leaves sown last month are also germinating. The wild primrose and fritillary seedlings are increasing in number but still only an odd seedling in the tray where I sowed the bought packet of primroses! The garlic planted in pots is also continuing to grow well. More potatoes have been planted in potato growing bags. The first broad bean seeds a variety called Bunyard’s Exhibition have been sown in small pots, being optimistic that seeds really do want to grow just one seed was planted in each pot. The jostaberry cuttings are leafing so we could have a forest of jostaberries.
In the garden the snowdrops that I have obsessed over are now past their best and the miniature daffodils are taking over changing the predominant colour from white to yellow. Adding to this colour scheme are the cowslips that are now flowering ahead of the ones that I planted on the plot. The primroses, both wild and cultivated are also adding to the yellow theme. One plant that is sheltered under a magnolia tree has actually had one flower
stem for over a month now but it is only this week that other plants have joined in. The perennials are also battling through the soil. The pieris is absolutely loaded down with flower buds which are now just beginning to open.
The ivy growing on one of our fences is now loaded with black berries. The honeysuckle has fewer berries but both should please the birds. The birds have paid us back for our generosity as this week I have noticed what I am sure is a daphne in full flower in one of our borders. We didn’t plant it so I can only think that it is the result of a bird dropping a seed there. It is not exactly in a good spot – right on the edge of the border but I am not sure whether to risk moving it – anybody any advice?
Crocuses (crocii?) look spectacular on some roadside verges and further emphasise my need to add a patch to the garden for next year.
15 March
The March winds have really blown this week but we have also had some very pleasant sunshine. When he sun does manage to make an appearance it seems to have a bit of warmth to it.
We tidied up the garden or at least some parts of it. Like on the plot the buddleias have been pruned back hard – all except for one which I trained as a tree. It is at the back of a border making access difficult. The late flowering clematis have also been pruned back really hard as they flower on new growth. One flower border has been tidied up and is now ready to welcome spring and a few more perennials which will include a couple of the young penstemon plants which were potted on this week. The cuttings taken last year have produced good young plants. Other plants will be added as we see something that takes our fancy. I would like some different colours of hellebore – ours are a smoky pink – but all those on sale are doubles. Call me old fashioned but I prefer the single varieties. Some companies offer a mixed selection but it would be just my luck to get more smoky pink. I’m really after some paler coloured varieties. Our pink camellia has just two flowers but hasn’t yet come into full bloom. I think it was just testing the water and has decided to hold fire before fully committing itself to flowering!
On the plot we are still harvesting, parsnips although the tops are now beginning to regrow. There are also some sprouts left for picking and the white sprouting broccoli is sprouting as fast as we can harvest it. The grass paths have been treated to their first strim of the season and as many edges as I could manage, before neck ache set in, have been cut back. I used shears to cut back the lavender plants. This keeps them bushy but produces lots of material just right for cuttings. Unable to resist many pieces have been popped into pots in the garden greenhouse. We had bonfires to rid ourselves of material that was unsuitable for composting – this included some tough lavender sprigs but the expected lavender scented smoke did not materialise. We once spent a holiday close to a lavender distillery and the air was permanently lavender scented so I had sort of hoped for the same effect!
This has also been a week for the first bit of some serious seed sowing in the garden greenhouse. Summer cabbage – Primo 2, broccoli – Olympia, cauliflower – Snowball have been sown in seed trays and peas -
Adding to the yellow theme, the gorse growing along the roadsides is in flower. If you can get near enough the flowers have a coconut scent but as most that I have seen is growing along the side of the motorway I couldn’t get near enough to appreciate this. Birds really love the gorse too as the thick prickly bushes provides an ideal place in which to build their nests. In winter it also provides good shelter from the bad weather. Song birds like to perch on the end of the branches – I once watched a linnet singing its heart out from its perch at the very top of a gorse bush. As gorse flowers for a long period it is also provides a valuable source of nectar for insects. It’s a pity it isn’t really suitable for growing in a garden as it can be a bit of a thug. The large flowered daffodils in the garden are a little behind those growing in the verges which are already in full flower. The ones in the garden are in bud and on the very verge of flowering. It’s possible that they are a later variety as there are more varieties of daffodil than you would expect and many look very similar.
22 March
The yellow colour scheme has been intensified this week with the popular forsythia now in full flower. Daffodils in gardens and along roadside verges are now at their peak. Not to be outdone the wild flowers are joining in the yellow display, the shiny aconites and the first dandelions. The display was further enhanced by the welcome sunshine that we were treated to. There is nothing more cheerful than bright yellow flowers shining in the sun – especially at this time of year.
The colour palette, however, is no longer confined to yellow as the blossom of almonds, early cherry and blackthorn has added pink and white to the picture. In our garden the white wood anemones are also now in flower as are the miniature tulips and hyacinths. The pieris is literally dripping with flower, The camellia buds are continuing to open tentatively and the magnolia and crab apple trees are not far behind with buds showing signs that they will soon be ready to release their petals. The young purple shoots of the hostas are just pushing through so fingers crossed that they will not be spotted by the slug and snail population. There have been signs that the hedgehogs are now out and about so I hope they soon get to work on cutting back the slimy pests. We haven’t yet had any frogs in our pond which is a little late compared to last year so hopefully they will appear anytime now. They too will help keep the slugs and snails in check.
In the greenhouse the broad beans, broccoli and cabbage seeds have germinated and the seedlings are growing well. The first sowings of lettuce and salad leaves have been pricked out. We are adding more varieties to our rhubarb collection. The new plants – Champagne and Raspberry Red (who thinks of these names) -
Gooseberry cuttings given to us by Joe – our plot neighbour have produced strong young plants and have been pruned. I am going for the open goblet shape that is advocated in gardening articles – this is supposed to let air circulate and also is supposed to mean less pricked fingers when harvesting the fruit – we will see. It certainly doesn’t mean less pricked fingers when pruning. I also pruned the semi-
There was also a welcome vase of pussy willow and daffodils in the cottage that we rented this weekend in North Yorkshire. We spent a long weekend in Glasshouses and probably chose the best weekend so far this year. We even managed to sit out in the garden. It was also just at the right time to enjoy watching the playful, newly born spring lambs. The white sheep in the field next to the cottage all had black lambs. This was a bit bewildering until we were told that the father was a Zwartbles ram. I’d never heard of one but apparently they are becoming increasing popular in this country for all sorts of reasons! One characteristic is that they are naturally tame. The lambs certainly seemed to live up to this trait. All around the countryside the trees are developing a frothy green look – not yet quite in leaf but getting there -
