My gardening DIARY

MONDAY There’s been so much rain, the whole garden seems to be covered with wet moss. Before we can apply the last of the mulch we need to remove as much as we can.

TUESDAY When you haven’t been out for a couple of days, and that has happened recently when there’s been deluge after deluge, you start to notice small changes everywhere as new shoots and leaves push through the soil. Many of the first are bulbs, not just snowdrops but daffodils, scillas and the strong, sharp shoots of tulips.

WEDNESDAY Trying to tidy up the foliage of a clump of hesperantha in one of the lower beds close to the caravan, tugged too hard and the whole clump came up. Taking this as a sign, it’s now been cleaned up, divided up into four healthy chunks and po ed up. It’ll spend the rest of the winter in the tunnel and be planted out in late spring.

THURSDAY Topping up the lilies we po ed up at the end of last year. They’re in big pots under cover and started off in about 15cm (6in) of compost. We add another 2.5cm (1in) every few weeks to ensure the stems will grow strongly and surely.

FRIDAY Along the west edge of the garden are a collection of trees, hazel, oak and beech, running along the bank. After the high winds a few weeks ago, the ground beneath was li ered with twiggy debris from these trees. On collecting it, we could see some of it had fungus, so a closer inspection and removal of any dead, diseased or damaged wood is needed.

SATURDAY We sowed seed from a couple of our best astrantias (left) in autumn. They haven’t germinated so they’re going outside – sometimes the cold breaks their dormancy.

SUNDAY Have had consecutive bunches of snowdrops indoors. Their honeyed scent is delightful. Neil made an interesting observation – do the snowdrops smell of honey or does honey smell of snowdrops?