Friday 29 January 2016

Don't forget...


This weekend is The RSPB Great Garden Birdwatch so get out into your gardens and count birds!
For more information on how to join in go to the RSPB website.

Pesky, cunning birds all over the country are already practising their hiding skills. Usually our bird feeder is well visited except every time you try and make a list - they evidently don't like lists! We have taken part in the Birdwatch for the last 7 years or so, but which ever hour we choose  it is always the one that is completely devoid of birds. 

So, here is some advice from a veteran bird counter -  put out lots of food (start now and keep it topped up all weekend), and don't start timing your hour until you see your first bird, then at least you can enter something on your list!!!

Oh, and have tea and cake whilst you do it - obviously!

Happy bird spotting/counting.

Thanks to my other half for the Robin shot.

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Focus!

'Perhaps we should do the photoshoot in the garden!'

It's amazing how galvanising that sentence can be when the garden in question is yours and you haven't been in it in any useful way since about November!
We have used the garden before for this particular client but usually in March or April so it's a spring garden - now it's most definitely a winter garden and we will have to pick and choose out spot very carefully.



This is the area we need to use (things will be hanging from the hooks), so the shrubs all needed light pruning and tidying and a lot of weeping (now there's a telling slip of the tongue) sorry - sweeping.



I also spent a very unpleasant half hour clearing cat poo from my terrace. I had not noticed the local cats had colonised it, I had assumed that the uncomfortable gravel would make it undesirable - how wrong was I! The fallen leaves from the Cotoneaster against the garage and the dry dead grasses have obviously rendered it ideal! I always keep a look out when I've been digging, but elsewhere we have been relatively problem free. Now I have to find something to deter them - any recommendations gratefully received (other than slow death - theirs not mine), and now I cannot get the smell out of my nostrils - yuk!

The biggest pruning  job was actually something that isn't going to be in shot, but something that is where my photographer needs to stand.



Five years ago I planted a Jasmine 'clotted cream' in a hole in the paving against the house. It wasn't possible to dig a generous hole, and the ground under the paving is very unimpressive so I have cosseted it and avoided pruning as much as possible to get it to settle and grow away. It really has and had become a 10ft high sprawling heap in which it was quite possible to lose a photographer! 

But not any more *adopts holier than though tone*!



Now I will start to train it in earnest, I would like it to go over the window and along the wall so that the dining area (I know it doesn't look very inviting now but in better weather it is honestly quite a haven), is surrounded by scent. It is very sheltered and often retains its leaves in our mid cornish climate, and it grows and flowers far better than it's hardier white relative just around the corner. Perhaps I should cosset that one more - it gets minimal attention, quite regular hacking and regular interactions with a basketball!!

So now I feel much better - positively smug in fact.
I've done so well I'm sitting in front of the fire with all my garden catalogues and a cup of tea - the best bit of winter gardening.


Wednesday 13 January 2016

Confusion!

Usually in January my posts are based on staying indoors, reading magazines and catalogues, and filling my head with dreams of year round veg and constant fragrance and colour (it's also a world without weeds, slugs and snails *sigh*). 
Occasionally there is the odd foray into the garden to clear a bit and check out the Winter Jasmine, Mahonia and Winter Honeysuckle as you can see from past posts but this year the Jasmine and Mahonia were over before Christmas!
So what is going on now? Well it's a mixed picture. My early Hellebore (Bosvigo Double) is performing true to form and looks lovely as it did last year in January.



My pale Bosvigo Single Speckled is showing buds, a little early perhaps...


...although the one on the right (and two others) have been munched. Slug/snail damage isn't usually a problem this time of year but they are very active this year, so I'll have to get on it before there is too much damage.


...and the Hellebore Argutifolius is still going strong.

The Primroses are out as they often are...


...but there is no sign of my Snowdrops and only a couple of my Iris Reticulata are showing and they are usually all up and even flowering by now. 
(I must rewrite this label - I had completely forgotten what was in this pot - hence the generalisation. If I don't do it soon I can see it being the mystery pot next year too!)


But then the Muscari is flowering and I wouldn't expect that until March...


...and my Campanula is in full flower and that doesn't usually start until April!


So all in all my garden is a confused place, and looks likely to get more confused as the temperatures drop (and they are dropping fast). The weather has been warm and ridiculously wet here (Cornwall is lush and tropical for a reason - we don't lack rain, but even for Cornwall it's been wet!). There are so many shoots showing including things like my Ornamental Artichoke or Cardoon, which will be hit very hard if we have a frost.

So fingers crossed that we don't have a real cold snap - although I'd quite like to see some slugs and snails suffer!!!




Tuesday 5 January 2016

Controversial!

Sprouts.
As important to Christmas as the Christmas tree!
Discuss!

The above statement elicited a snort of disbelief from glamorous eldest teen and absolute agreement from me. Love them or hate them, they are part of Christmas. Half the population will now be overjoyed that the sprout moment has passed for another year and the other half will be wondering, as I do every year, why we don't eat more of them. I am a sprout lover, my teens are split between both camps and my husband prefers to remain on the fence so I feel we are probably quite representative.

Last weekend we threw a party, a 'keep Christmas going' party.
When planning the food we decided on Christmas ham, Stilton (in fact cheese in huge amounts generally), sausages, mince pies, Lebkuken (German Christmas cookies), all things that are quintessentially Christmas. It was meant to be a bit like using up all the leftovers from the festive season, but we were away for the festive season so didn't really have any!!!

How could we consider such an entertainment without sprouts?
It would just be wrong - unfestive, unthinkable.

So here is my low impact (for the sprout hater) solution.


Can you spot them?


How beautiful do they look? 

     


My rehabilitation of the sprout is complete - delicious, healthy food, and beautiful decorations - what more could you wish for!

And as if that wasn't enough, the fabulous Sprout has been crossed with Kale to create a whole new vegetable - the Flowersprout! These have been grown in Cornwall for a year or so by Padstow Kitchen Gardens (as seen on Countryfile just before Christmas) but seeds are now available to the home grower - I spotted them in the Sarah Raven Catalogue. So there's another thing to add onto your list planning your spring planting. 



How pretty! Might have to give those a try myself, I can feel a lovely posy coming on! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL
:-)