A cold bright day today and more daffodils are out.
Sunday
Today has been a lovely day with intermittent sunshine and very mild. I spent a chunk of the afternoon out in the Magic Garden with Ben in attendance. He was very enthusiastic about the wee catnip plants I interspaced with the cyclamen at the back of the garden and enjoyed a nap on the hedgehog house.
I also planted out Cynara cardunculus bare root plants and admired the amount of herbaceous perennials now pushing back up through - even the monkshood is showing signs of life. More daffodils are out and the crocus collections is lovely.
Saturday
It is very mild today and it managed to stay dry until late afternoon before starting to rain hard again. I took the opportunity to move the broken arch and obelisk before planting out the achillea modules that arrived this week and more of the Eryngium Silver Salentino. Ben came out too and supervised the tidying up phase before deciding to investigate the arbour bench’s potential for a snooze.
The first pulmonaria are out - think here are called raspberry ripple
Thursday
Its continued to be wet much of the time but today although damp it is very mild. The signs of spring are getting more obvious and the wee daffodils are coming out. Ben is rather pleased that the catnip is also re-sprouting.
Wet Sunday
It was incredibly wet again this morning although we had a brief respite late this afternoon. It didn’t seem to put the birds off the feeders but Ben rapidly decided the outdoor world could wait for another day.
Another Saturday
Its been an incredibly wet week and the Magic Garden is very soggy. Ben came out to inspect the bird water but was not impressed by the snow drops I was planting out having received them in the green or the first of my daffodils coming out. It does look very bedraggled. The hellebores are still doing well while the primroses are still looking battered. I did some general clearing of wet soggy material. I was rather worried by finding what looks like coral spot on the blackberry. I cut out the dead material and have put it in the refuse, sterilising the saw and secateurs.
Sunday
We are back to windy and wet weather so moments snatched in the Magic Garden only.
Saturday
The 10 darkest weeks of the year are gone now as we pass Imbolc. We still have a fair breeze and a dampness to the air but the sun has been out and so has Ben, if only briefly. The hellebores are beginning to look their best and the snowdrops are becoming proper wee clumps. When I went to look I found there were small flushes of deep blue, the wee irises are beginning to put on a show. I continue to be really pleased with this year’s new winter border - the two Christmas boxes are blooming constantly and although the cyclamen have looked rather roughed up by the weather & pigeons I think they will establish.
Sunny Tuesday Afternoon
It has been wet , windy or cold or all three for what feels like weeks on end. The Magic Garden has been relatively unscathed by wind this year beyond all the wind spinners discovering a new horizontal placement. The severe cold has seen off foliage from last year but already fresh green is showing throughout the garden. The daffodils are well on route if not in bud just yet, I have snowdrops out and my wee collection of hellebores are blooming. The rhubarb is looking promising both in the plot and the potted version. Ben ventured out for a few minutes to sit on the bench in the sun while I planted out my treat to myself of a wee white hellebore.
Cold cold week
It is beginning to warm up again and we expect more rain tomorrow after snow earlier this week and sub-zero temperatures. My ventures out into the Magic Garden have been mainly to put fresh water out for the birds and to refill their feeders. I picked some extra crunchy curly kale too - did occur to me that I could stick it straight in the freezer. This week’s excitement was a female blackcap arriving at the mealworms feeder.
Sunday
At last a day of sunshine, only broken by a shower this evening. I did a bit more tidying up and added some violas to the back border and front tubs together with some rather garish primroses. I’ve tried to persuade the cranberry to climb rather than so its more natural ground cover sprawl. It has a berry! The primroses under the rowan tree have mostly not come back. The one that has is suffering from its position.
Saturday
The sun came out briefly today and I got on with some of the maintenance tasks in the Magic Garden including the winter pruning before enjoying the birds at the feeders. It remains bitterly cold and damp. Ben thought birdwatching was fun too but didn’t stay out vey long
Friday
My week of leave is almost over and I have got very little done in the Magic Garden. It is supposed to be dry tomorrow so hopefully I will be able to do some winter pruning. Today I filled the mealworm feeders up again and enjoyed a few moments sitting with a coffee watching Ben and the birds. My first snow drops are now out which is always cheering.
I hope the new dogwoods do as well as the one at the back of the garden.
Thursday
Its still bitterly cold and damp. Today I re-potted the Christmas trees, Norway spruce, into their summer homes. I will be a little surprised if they survive but they weren’t too great an extravagance. I replaced them in the front door pots with red dogwoods and white hellebores. This was done in the dark so photographs tomorrow! Meantime an aerial view of the Magic Garden that I’m using to plan and label for the coming year.
Tuesday
Its still bitterly cold here and we seem unable to get through 24 hours without it raining. I’ve filled up the feeders again and today have put the wildlife cameras back up too. I was pleased to see the longtailed tits back with the bluetits in toe
Monday
Slightly surprisingly it hasn’t rained since the early hours today. It is though bitterly cold. Ben had a happy wander round but even with his fur coat he clearly found it too cold to stay out long.
Sunday
It was cold and wet again. I was delighted though to see siskins in the Magic Garden.
Saturday - Epiphany
Although damp today and cold, both Ben and I spent some time out in the Magic Garden. Today’s main task was to fill the bird feeders again and to plant out 6 Cyclamen Cyberia Rose Silver that I had treated myself to. They are in the winter border at the back now in front of the replanted dog wood and the new Christmas Box plants. The lenten rose is coming on beautifully under the apple tree and the pulmonaria are showing signs of life too.
Thursday
It continues to be wet much of the time. Ben has been out to investigate but even while I was filling the bird feeders he was back in!
Tuesday
I was busy in town this morning so Ben only got a few moments in the Magic Garden this afternoon. It is terribly wet & soggy now. I filled up the feeders again and the mealworms are proving extremely popular. I think there was a flock of siskins today coming through the trees.
