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'twas New Year's Day
On 2010-01-02 16:33:12 +0000, K said:
Sacha writes I think it's so interesting to see what's going on all over the place, really. This is a 3 acre garden which to some is large and to others is merely a starter plot! It all depends where you're looking at things from, doesn't it! Most urban gardeners think I have a huge garden, but it's not even a quarter of yours! Exactly. Yet again, let us remember Mrs Jekyll "No matter how small your garden, you should set aside two acres as woodland". ;-) You saw the garden where I lived before and that was probably the smallest garden I've ever had but as I lived alone then, it suited me perfectly. I think it was you who once made the very perceptive remark that one has to be a LOT more careful about gardening in small gardens. Mistakes - and weeds - are more noticeable than they are in big gardens. But what we have in flower in the garden now are not 'plantsman's' plants, I think. No indeed - think that's a bit what I'm getting at. My winter plants are bog standard reliable winter flowerers, planted because we always have a cold, damp, dark winter, and they are doing their normal stuff. Other years, people have commented on all sorts of things which have been in flower, and have produced long lists of things. This year, have you been cut back to the basics? What are the things you would have hoped would be in flower and which are not? I'd have expected the Chaenomeles to be in flower - the one on the house wall. It was a week or so ago but now now. I'd have thought more Fuchsias would have held on but am not at all sure all have survived, even those down by the cedar tree, which are really fairly sheltered as to canopy. Some of the Rhodies are usually in flower about now and there isn't one showing at present. Even our Hamamelis on the area where we park our cars is sulking, the Euryops look unhappy (and they flower around 8 months in the year here) and even the Welsh poppies bucked Ray's usual confidence in there being at least one in flower in the garden every day of the year. Maybe the fishtail Camellia is unusual but it's still a Camellia. Everything else is pretty standard fare, I think. There's degrees of standard! Rosemarinus marenca, Mahonia bealei, Correa backhousiana, Cestrum parquii,Fuchsia excorticata are not quite as standard as winter jasmine, Viburnum bodnantense, Prunus subhirtella. Okay - standard down here, if you like. Plenty of people grow these plants with the possible exception of that Fuchsia because it's not a showy one. IOW, there's nothing in flower that would make Devon-dwellers say "How unusual", if they know the plants at all. I think that could well be the case. It's been a lot colder a lot earlier here. We've had more snow than is usual this side of Christmas, but we have certainly had December snow in several of the last 10 years. Frosts have been getting later and later, but we still have seen the first frost before Christmas each year. Although we have been going down to about -6, that is not at all unusual, nor is it unusual for the ponds to be frozen. What has been unusual is that the ponds have now been frozen continuously for almost 3 weeks. We rarely get snow right here anyway but frosts are more usual after Christmas, so heaven knows what to expect, frankly! The ponds have ice on them but usually, it melts during the day. The front of the house has a bed borderinig the big lawn and the left hand corner of that is the one that seems to get the most frost and again, today, it was white. No wonder we lost the mimosas there last year! -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.com Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics. South Devon |
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