Oh Dear!

Well in the last blog I made the mistake of saying that despite the weather we would be at Cheltenham Horticultural Society’s Spring Show on Sunday 18th March……. wrong!! It was cancelled on the day due to the “mini beast from the east” weather. Such a disappointment both for us & those who were looking forward to visiting the Pump rooms.

The weather hasn’t hugely improved since then here, one or two reasonably pleasant days followed by wind , rain, grey clouds, drizzle, or any combination of these, take your pick. We are trying to get the plants ready for sales, splitting,  re-potting or just having a quick tidy up but we have to have a constant eye to the weather, possibly we do every spring , it just seems more hassle this year.

ANYWAY despite my last (failed) prediction, we will be at Blockley Village NGS Open Gardens on Sunday 22nd April, 2pm til 6pm. Do please come along and support all those brave souls who have been struggling against the meteorological conditions to get their gardens ready for this day. We will be there selling plants and I can say, without fear of contradiction, the cakes are lovely!!

P.S. This photograph is from a warmer spring.

Spring yet??

In the last blog we were frozen, now we’re waterlogged! I know gardeners (and farmers) always moan about the weather but we really have had it all this winter/spring.

This photo I took yesterday walking my dog down by the river, a short way on we had to go “inland” as we couldn’t follow the river path any more due to the flooding.

On a brighter note, despite it all we will be at Pittville Pump rooms Sunday 18th March for the CHS Spring show. Do come along and support them , it starts 12:30pm.

Definitely Winter ….. again!!

Well it looks like the forecasters were right, what with the Beast and Emma (sounds like a Disney film) we have been  virtually housebound for the last three days, seems like much longer. All the plants are covered with snow & those in the tunnels or greenhouse are frozen in their pots, it will be interesting to see which ones survive.

We’re due to attend Cheltenham Horticultural Society’s Spring Show two weeks tomorrow, fingers crossed that the snow melts & the temperature rises asap otherwise we’ll have nothing to sell .

On a cheerier note I’ve had Fieldfares and Redwings in my garden as well as my usual birds which is lovely.

Winter, Spring, Winter again??

Well its really difficult to know what to do with regards to the  nursery plants. About this time of year we would be in full swing re-potting, splitting plants and in full seed sowing production. So far, with the weather this year, we’ve tended to be rather cautious but as they say time is marching on and we have so much to do we decided to make a start on the splitting and re-potting. Cue doom and gloom warnings from weather forecasters ( amateur and professional) , well we’ll just have to see whether or not these dire predictions apply to us here in the Midlands.

As meteorological spring starts on 1st March we’ll keep fingers crossed and carry on regardless, much like the bee just visible in this snowdrop!

Temptation

It’s still really cold and wet here but regardless of the weather, or maybe because of it, I’ve given in to temptation and have started ordering plants and more dahlia tubers for this year. We ordered our seeds a while ago and most have arrived and are waiting to be sown but from nowhere I just got the urge to try sweet peas this year so have now had to make another seed order! My history with   isn’t very good, I don’t think I look after them properly, but inspired by Monty Don’s lovely white ones he grew last year for his son’s wedding I’m going to have another go.

Watch this space !!

Spring is on it’s way!!

Although we’ve had a return to really cold evenings/nights and frosts this last couple of days the plants are slowly waking up. The aconites are a lovely carpet of yellow in the churchyard with the odd sprinkling of white snowdrops and in my garden my species Crocus have started opening when they get a hint of sun.

They are both Crocus tommasinianus, the paler lilac-blue/white is the species and the darker reddish purple one is, I think, “Ruby Giant” although it could be  “Whitwell Purple”, not sure but both really welcome after this winter which has seemed both wetter and colder than usual. It probably hasn’t been an unusual winter at all but it seems to have dragged on and on.

We’re looking forward to getting some work done at the nursery even if it’s only barrowing bark down to repair the paths………….sad!

2017 Highlights continued…..

Another American import, also from Slightly Different, is Hemerocallis Spacecoast Butterfly Effect. This is a year older than last weeks plant but it too has now settled in and is absolutely gorgeous. I’ve just sown seeds from some crosses an American fellow hemeroholic sent me, most take three years from seed to flower but I’m willing to wait!!

2017 Highlights continued……

I bought this Hemerocallis “Mexicali Blues” from Slightly Different Nursery in North Carolina in 2014. I find from experience that US grown daylilies need a season or so to settle down in our cooler climate to really give of their best and Mexicali Blues has now made itself at home in the UK and was stunning in the summer of 2017. It has made quite a substantial clump and I have every hope that I can divide it after flowering this summer.

 

2017 Highlights

opens coral…

fades to cream!

As it’s so cold and I really don’t feel like going out into the gatden I thought I’d look back at some of the plants that did well last year.

As they say on TV, “In no particular order…”

Paeony Coral Charm, I bought this on a whim (isn’t it always the way??) from Avondale Nursery at Bagington where I was taken by my sisters as my birthday treat. It’s really worth a trip, they have a large range of plants from Anemones though to Zantedeschia and all sorts in between. I bought Aruncus, Geum, Sanguisorba & Veronicastrum to name a few, then spotted the Paeony at such a good price I couldn’t resist it. I really just liked the name & had no idea of its habit of opening coral then fading to a delectable cream. Double bubble!!

to be continued….

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone!

Just a reminder that summer will come again, meanwhile snuggle down by the fire with the seed or plant catalogues and plan for it!