It’s heartening to see colour and new growth
I’ve amassed a good seed collection from my Garden News magazines and although I’m itching to get them sown, I’m contenting myself with sorting them sequentially as to when they should be sown. Sweet peas that were sown last month are already romping away indoors.
The garden is surprisingly still very colourful. Euonymus alatus has come into its own with its fine display of fiery scarlet leaves. The summer-flowering carpet rose looks strangely out of place beneath it as it continues to bloom. Begonias and pelargoniums seem to have forgotten it’s winter and are still providing muchneeded colour. Other potted plants continue to thrive, though I have to keep checking they aren’t getting waterlogged as there’s been quite a bit of rain lately.
Cosmos is the real revelation – I never expected it would still be flowering at this time of year – a real bonus! The rowan tree is now devoid of leaves but there are still clusters of berries clinging on – it’s a bit of a puzzle as they’ve normally been foraged by hungry blackbirds by now. Clumps of spring bulbs are already peeking through the soil – squirrels seem to have left them alone, although I’ve protected the pot-grown ones with wire mesh.
The allotment is a bit wet and sticky under foot so I haven’t done too much work other than add to the compost bins and harvest some herbs. Rosemary goes particularly well with the lamb roast. Garlic has got off to a great start; it’s heartening to see new growth. I planted it on slightly ridged soil to prevent rotting from all the rainfall.