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Old 21-01-2008, 11:20 AM posted to uk.rec.gardening
Sacha Sacha is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,995
Default Spring creeping in?

On 20/1/08 23:32, in article , "shazzbat"
wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
About four days ago we were remarking that the snowdrops seem rather late
this year, apart from a sparse clump or two here and there. Now we see
them
springing up on the lawn and in all sorts of other odd places, too. I've
even seen a primrose in flower but in the garden, not in the real 'wild'.
It's not a cultivated one but still, I'm not counting it as a spring
arrival. Some of the daffs I planted on the drive are now flowering.
They're young and patchy but will clump up over the years and several
things
are pushing new leaf growth through.
The thing we've noticed most particularly in the last three days is the
lengthening of the light. In the winter, I'm accustomed to drawing the
curtains and lighting the table lamps quite early and when I went to do
that
this afternoon I realised I was about to shut out daylight - something I
really hate to do. Dreary rain and grey days we may be having but it's
not
cold down here and spring is giving winter fair warning.


We did a bit of tidying in the garden today, and lots of things are showing
signs of firing the starting gun. Bulbs showing everywhere, a crocus almost
out, and one of the pink bubbles has managed to flower by hiding behind the
shed where it thought we wouldn't notice :-) Our various cyclamen are doing
better than previous years too.
And down on the allotment, the rhubarb is going for it, despite lying in a
puddle [1] all the time we've had this wet weather, the allotment is like a
swamp at the mo.

[1] It was supposed to be getting frosted, I dug it up in early Dec like
Dermot said, all right, SWMBO told me to, but Dermot told her. Ever since
then it's been chucking it down.

Steve


I love that little Polygonum 'Pink Bubbles'. I know it's a menace for
spreading around but it's such an attractive tiny plant. I'm told it can be
tender, too, so you're lucky to have it. I may say that today is
absolutely filthy - it's blowing a hooligan and chucking rain at the
windows.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'