A Tricky Time of Year
 

With the forecast of a very cold spell of weather for this weekend,
possibly lasting well into next week and beyond, it's a tricky time of
year for the garden.

I've just been on a recce. Most plants are keeping their heads down but
I've noticed that my (unnamed) Tree Paeony has broken bud and the leaves
are starting to extend. A bit reckless of it, I think, but I'm hoping for
the best.

I'm also resisting a real spring tidy-up, particularly in the pruning
department - my Penstemons are looking very scruffy, but I'm making them
wait.

The handfork is also safely locked away in the shed. Every year, I start
weeding and forking over the soil much too early, to find that some
unmarked plant or other is hiding, just below the surface, and ends up in
bits on the end of the fork.

I don't know about you all, but I have an almost atavistic reaction to
this time of year. I don't bother with the garden at all after
mid-autumn, until immediately after the Xmas holidays, when I get the
overwhelming urge to get going, even though I know it's far too early for
much of what I'd like to do.

- Tom.

A Tricky Time of Year
 

In message , Tom Bennett
writes
With the forecast of a very cold spell of weather for this weekend,
possibly lasting well into next week and beyond, it's a tricky time of
year for the garden.

I've just been on a recce. Most plants are keeping their heads down but
I've noticed that my (unnamed) Tree Paeony has broken bud and the leaves
are starting to extend. A bit reckless of it, I think, but I'm hoping for
the best.

I'm also resisting a real spring tidy-up, particularly in the pruning
department - my Penstemons are looking very scruffy, but I'm making them
wait.

The handfork is also safely locked away in the shed. Every year, I start
weeding and forking over the soil much too early, to find that some
unmarked plant or other is hiding, just below the surface, and ends up in
bits on the end of the fork.

I don't know about you all, but I have an almost atavistic reaction to
this time of year. I don't bother with the garden at all after
mid-autumn, until immediately after the Xmas holidays, when I get the
overwhelming urge to get going, even though I know it's far too early for
much of what I'd like to do.

I couldn't agree more Tom. It was really mild last week and I just
could not resist getting out there to tidy up some of the garden. It
takes a while to get around all of it anyway, and with the sun shining
and temps of 50F or more, I had to get going. Cleared all the weeds
from around the hepaticas I bought last April for 50p per pot. They had
finished blooming so I had no idea what I was buying. Turns out I have
two mauve ones, to magenta one darkish blue and one white. They are
superb. I shall venture forth to the same garden centre again this year
to see if they have the same offer available. I'd get these over almost
any bulbs having seen them bloom.

But the good news is that having cleared some stuff away and pulled up a
few things by mistake, I now have a lot of cuttings of lovely things
like Geranium 'Ballerina' and so on, in the greenhouse - good for our
plant sale in June!
--
Chris Boulby National Collection of Diascias