New arrivals
My new herbaceous border arrived in a box from Penlan Perennials this morning - easy to order on-line and all arrived safe and sprouting. Felt like a kid on Christmas morning. 3 x Meconopsis Lingholm (Grandis), 3 x Trillium Grandiflorum, 3 x pulmonaria 'David Ward', 3 x Geranium 'Ann Folkard' and some other bits. The best news is that it's been raining all day - exactly what they all need.
Less encouragingly, I read on a website yesterday that 'growing Meconopsis Grandis is the crowning achievement in any gardener's career'. I guess this means I can't just plonk it in the ground and hope, as I usually do. But I have got the right soil and location. It just needs the right gardener.
The new arrivals - just unpacked
Easter heaven
Not of the resurrection or chocolate variety but in the earthly form of a four day weekend spent outdoors and an hour of extra evening daylight. Bliss.
Stripped out some large shrubs (earmarked for J's garden) and spread 2 year old leaf mould on the birch tree border ready for my small order of herbaceous perennials. By tomorrow I should be the proud owner of 3 of my on-line namesake - Trillium Grandiflorum and also the Himalyan Blue Poppy that we saw at Dunham Massey last year (Meconopsis somethingorother). I really have to get my act together with watering this year.
On Monday I tackled the fruit bed which had become completely overwhelmed with aquilegia, brambles and couch grass. In previous years the raspberries have flopped over the strawberries, messing up both sets of fruit. I have finally got round to putting up a simple frame to hold them up. Wen now have a surplus of about 40 strawberry plants and 10 raspberry plants to give away to a good home.
The fruit garden after a long day weeding and replanting.
Identified the chrysalis as an elephant hawk moth. Have seen them in the garden late summer so that works. This picture is copyright of Richard Burkmar 2004
Found in the gravel path while weeding. Probably a hawk moth chrysalis.
Spring has well and truly sprung
We reached 20.8C here yesterday. DB and I spent the day in his parents' garden in warm sunshine. So warm that I stripped to my sports top and got a touch of sunburn on my shoulders. I don't ever remember that happening in March before.
So there we were having a break for a cuppa and a female mallard flew out from beside the pond. Now that doesn't seem so surprising except that it's a small suburban back garden no bigger than 30' square and the pond is 4' wide maximum. An hour later she splash landed on the pond and hopped into the border. She's nesting in a hollow underneath the camelia and a pyracantha. Ged is chuffed to bits!
It's dropped cooler today but still warm enough for a 3 hour bike ride in shorts. But only just. Ged came for some frogspawn and I've taken some more cuttings. Feel very reproductive. Must be spring
Much spawn. And one female who has clearly had more than enough attention...
Warming up
The promised spring weather arrived this afternoon with a high of 18C - pretty good for March. Several plants caught on quick, the camelia opened up and more crocuses and narcissus appeared in a matter of hours.
The frog count is up to 32 with 7 clumps of spawn. There's still at least one stoicly pregnant female floating around with her two male attendants, so there's more frogspawn to come. Looking forward to a warm spring weekend.
Fecund frogs
Two more clumps of fresh spawn this morning and still at least one more bulging female still to release hers.
Had the day off to mess with the Merc (see other blog), but even a practical lass like me can only take the smell of Gunk for so long. Weeded the main spring border (pieris, camellia, wood anenomes, crocus, pulmonaria, dicentralis). I usually try to do it early before everything gets smothered in chickweed. Since the weather's supposed to be getting warmer this week I feel pleasantly ahead of the game.
Had a huge bonfire last night. Just got it going and heard the woman over the back yell 'Eddie! Who's lit a bloody bonfire? I've had enough - I'm phoning the council in the morning. Eddie? Eddie!' Now it's perfectly legal to light a safe bonfire after dark and it's the first one I've lit in six months. Even so, I'm not one for confrontation and kept well out of sight behind the hedge. Neither, it would seem, is the hapless Eddie. Poor bloke. I thought her voice sounded familiar and later it came to me - she sounded exactly like Clarrie from the Archers. Exactly like her.
Frog watching
The frogs have given up waiting for warmer weather and are spawning. About 20 are squirming around a newly laid pile of spawn amongst the water beans. If you move really slowly and lay on the grass you can get within 6 inches of them, eyeball to eyeball.
Apparently males croak to attract females, but my frogs only start croaking when the first spawn is laid - they've spent the last 2 weeks clamped to the back of any females they can find. Also, they are so thin. I thought at first all the loose skin meant they were females that had released spawn, but they are all skinny. Hopefully they'll fatten up on my slugs...
Found a hole in the earth floor of the polytunnel, about 2-3 inches across. Something has burrowed down and along about a foot and come up inside it. Don't really want to fill it in - too curious!
Cleared all the ivy, bramles and old jasmine from behind the polytunnel and took down the elderly ceanothus. Also took out the escallonia that was shading the veg plot. Cut out last year's raspberry canes. Now have a huge pile of stuff to burn - any excuse for a bit of pyromania.
And then there were 23...
earth therapy
I struggle on Mondays. The weekend is never long enough so for most of Monday I'm still locked into a weekend frame of mind, thinking about things I'd rather be doing. I'm always tired and slightly depressed by 4pm, so today I exerted owner's prerogative and left to 'work from home'. Which I did, a bit. Whilst watching the new bird table. And I had a think about our sales strategy whilst sowing seeds.
Just an hour of weekday daylight transforms life. Between 5 and 6pm we turned over two veg plots, sowed a double row of broad beans under a cloche, reactivated the polytunnel watering system and gave it a good soaking. Felt great!
A pleasant 6C, dry and high cloud.
optimistic sowing
Despite icy, squally showers, I've sown this year's first seeds under glass. Later than usual, but it's just been too cold. It probably still is.
Sweet peas - Mr. Fothergill's old fashioned mixed
Cherry tomato - Chadwick
Mizuno salad leaves
Lettuce Acuba
Coriander (last year's seed)
Basil (last year's seed)
Scared off the heron on a pond raid first thing. I should mind more than I do. Most of our fish are too big (and too wary) to take. It probably takes some frogs, but there's usually more than enough frogspawn anyway. And it is the most stunning creature - massive wingspan, fabulous plumage, takes off with slow powerful beats and glides away low over the garage like a jumbo jet, or a pterodactyl, leaving a trail of fine oil on the pond surface. I'd mind if he holed the pond liner though...
Finally spotted the grey wagtail out of the window in the damp corners on the drive -we usually only see it as it files away in alarm as the car approaches. Pretty little thing - grey back, pale yellow under belly, slight peachy flush to chest, tail wagging endlessly.
Another cold day - some sun, but sharp icy showers. Palace held Man U 0-0. We might yet stay up...
Frogs!
Saw four today at the bottom of the pond for the first time this year - in two stacks of two of course. Was beginning to think they'd deserted me. Last year there were 18 - mostly males. The unlucky ones had clamped themselves onto the fish in desperation. A couple of weeks and frogspawn galore...
