Late Winter Bits and Bobs.

[oldherbaceous]

I’ve only known it as Winter Purslane, or miner’s lettuce, but I have never tried it….

[robo]

Thank you all for the good wishes, with my luck they will find a reason to knock me back this afternoon ,it’s the last of my 3 pre ops

[oldherbaceous]

That old saying, “what a difference a day makes” well it’s beautifully warm in the glasshouse at the moment….

[Primrose]

Delighted my crocus have survived the snow and sub zero overnight temperatures. Local bumblebees out in the sunshine today on my heather too..

[Westi]

Nothing done today even though loads planned. Every time I thought of going down to the plot it started raining & temp dropped dramatically. Then it stopped so waited a wee bit with car loaded & down it came again. (Not as predicted)! Gave up in the end.
There wasn't much outstanding to do in the tunnel & shed & probably a bit nippy for sowing even in the tunnel. It would have been too wet for outside chores.

Looking better for tomorrow morning & certainly not as cold - 10c min & 11C max. (Watch that change overnight)!

[oldherbaceous]

I think it’s going to be a late start to Spring this year, so making some small sowings of things in the greenhouse, that I would normally start in a nursery bed, over the allotments!

[Clive.]

We seem to be late with starting things in the work propagator, there was though no point in getting things through and struggling to sustain them. The propagator is now stacked full but they seem a little slow to appear.
I got a bit more done in the home garden yesterday. A trim of an out of control lonicera nitida, that was once shaped a bit like a chicken, turned into a coppice to 6 inches...maybe upon its regrowth it will have to be a day old chick.??
Then I did the same to the hydrangea...so will get some huge leaves this year. The fact that there was some more leap frog thin bramble in the area also had a bearing on the chop down.

Mention of Boston Seeds the other day...well, lunch today is Boston Sausage, haven't had any for a while so picked some up at the Co-op this morning ...chips and leeks...

C.

[oldherbaceous]

I like the thought of the day old chick, Clive…I think i’m going to have to cut some Lonicera’s back hard too….they put a lot of new growth on in November, then got burnt off badly in the early December freeze!
There are a lot of evergreen shrubs that are not looking at all happy with themselves….will just have to wait and see if they break bud further back on their stems/branches….

Sounds like a veritable feast, Clive…

I bought a nice 2 year old Invicta Gooseberry bush yesterday, from our local Nursery, only a fiver…..and yes, it is just a Nursery, run by a lovely family.

[Westi]

Finally got down today & it was lovely, still cloudy but quite balmy. I finished weeding the tunnel but did not clear anything completely as things are perking up & can still get a few leaves off them. Sowed a few things on the staging which I would have normally sowed direct but beds a bit too damp & soil not warm enough.

Tomorrow looking good as well for the morning so think I will uncover the brassica bed & give it another bit of a feed & stomp it down ready. If time I will also take the plastic off the pumpkin & squash bed & put the membrane down I have burnt holes into. I have the holes at regular intervals so plenty of options of what grows where & I just kept the bits I burnt out & pin them in the empty spaces to save weeding.

[retropants]

I’ve cut down the dead hebe, I checked, it is really dead. I planted it over 20 years ago, that sustained -9 in December was clearly too much for it. Very sad that it is gone, but exciting to think what I can put there instead. My euphorbias mellifera all look dead too, but I’ll check a stem to see if it’s green or brown. They are similar age to the hebe and I grew them from seed in 1998. Got a lot of other things tidied up in between horrendous bouts of hay fever, worst I’ve had in years. It’s tree pollen that gets me. I’m exhausted and probably dehydrated too. Sowed Nantes 2 carrots in a small block rather than a row and planted about a handful of red shallots in a large pot.

[Primrose]

Good to see all your early spring activities starting up again. Yes it's sad when long term nurtured plants die on you. I have one almost virtually dead Daphne shrub and my other last one dying too. I've enjoyed their spring fragrance for almost 20 years but i think this will be the last Spring they are here. Still, empty spaces bring new challenges and opportunities.
The wind is really fierce here. All night it has been triggering the security light located under our front eaves and switched it on. Every time it's happened I've worried somebody is in our front drive trying to steal the catalytic converter from our car! As they say, an ill wind which blows nobody any good! . Despite this, over the weekend a lot of blossoms on nearby trees have started to flower.

[Colin2016]

"Despite this, over the weekend a lot of blossoms on nearby trees have started to flower."

After taking dog out in this strong but warm wind I cant help wondering if all the blossom will get blown away.

[Primrose]

Well round here it will certainly move a lot of the litter around. It,s so disheartening to see it blowing everywhere and getting stuck in prickly hedges.
Our countryside can be so beautiful. Can't understand why some people treat it with such disrespect. Makes me so cross.

[retropants]

I agree...we have a little shrubbery with small trees also outside my office window. It's currently collecting litter at an alarming rate.

[Geoff]

Foul day out there. I hate trying to work in the greenhouse when the staging keeps moving about as the whole structure sways in the wind. Managed to get lots sown and popped in the propagator and pricked out the peppers and put them back in there.