Spring is in the air
Once Christmas passed by, the Reckless website started to come to life again and the emails into the editor and myself began increasing daily. So in the same vein I hope that shortly the firm first signs of Spring will start to come forward. I know it is a few months away yet and we have had a cold winter,but it is always exciting when you reach the end of January and feel the coming gardening season getting nearer.
Already there are some clematis in bud, not always good because a nasty frost can come along and demolish them, but if you find yourself in this situation and are worried about that then you can always protect with some fleece for a couple of weeks.
The snowdrops are coming up and I can see the first signs of daffodils althought he Camellia trees, which flowered on the third week of January last year, have yet to show promise of blooms opening.
You may have noticed that we have done a re-design on the website, which has occupied some of the winter months, and we hope you like what we have done. We are planning to increase the interaction sections on the website and for the forthcoming season, more podcasts and video clips too.
I was not surprised to see that the snail and slug is still top of the RHS pest list. I would not like to be a party to genocide but I always declare war on those little horrors. At the moment they seem to be attacking the wallflowers - and the damp conditions of the summer and autumn will only have aided them in their crusade to denude our gardens of greenery and fresh shoots.
You are supposed to gather them on Valentines day and dispose of them before they start breeding, so its on with the tin helmet in a couple of weeks and armed with a big bag we will go forth and conquer. I hope!
We have put a new section on the website for readers pictures, so if you have a garden you are proud of why not send us a jpg and we will put it up.
By the end of January show news will start to come through so do be sure to check out the website regularly.
posted by Sandy @ 2:45 pm
2 comments
2 Comments:
Dear Sandy,
As I read your blog I started to think you were reading my mind! I've been roaming round the garden, secateurs in hand, trying to decide where to start. I am constantly distracted by the beautiful hellebores which are all in flower now and the silk-tassel bush (Garrya ellyptica) is magnificent this year and doesn't seem to have held a grudge: I pruned it hard back last spring because I had to paint the house. The books say it doesn't respond well to remedial pruning but I seem to have got away with it. Sometimes you just have to take a chance - I think the plants understand when your intentions are good! The camellias are also showing fat buds (it is nice that something can be fat without insult)although last year I lost loads of buds falling off before they opened. Not sure why?
I sometimes think we are too timid when it comes to pruning and as Support says plants always seem to know when you have good intentions. I know gardeners who take a pair of shears to their rose trees and they have amazing results, they say the roses love it!
I have been told that if you do not give Camellias enough water in the autumn the buds can go brown and drop off. Frost can also cause this and i have had a number of instances of that sort of damage, so much so that last year I fleeced the camellia trees, however, this winter, which has been far fiercer up in Cumbria, I did not and they seem to be doing very well indeed!
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