Keeping up with the daily jobs
In between showers we’ve been out in the mixed borders happily pruning deciduous shrubs and dividing up herbaceous perennials with large clumps of growth. Checks on fruit and vegetables in storage and the all-important
winter brassicas, are also part of the daily itinerary. When the weather closes in we can wrap up and head to the large unheated greenhouse, where there’s plenty to do, or just catalogue browse and order online.
Weigela ‘Florida Variegata’, Spiraea billiardii and escallonia are attractive shrubs but vigorous in growth, so Judy’s been out reducing them by one third, safe in the knowledge they’ll bloom in early summer next year. I’ve been up the ladder with long-handled pruners reducing the height of a silver birch (Betula jacquemontii ‘Jermyns’) near the conservatory, whose bare winter branches support dangling nut and seed containers for feathered friends.
All the winter-flowering shrubs are performing on time, and viburnum ‘Dawn’ has solved a mystery now the leaves have gone. A pair of anxious goldfinches were ever present throughout summer whenever we approached the shrub. No wonder – now their nest is revealed.
Winter vegetables on the raised island beds are going well and it’s heartening to see progress in two reliable spring cabbage varieties, ‘Durham Early’ and ‘Flower of Spring’ growing under a net cage. Thanks to constant deadheading, rose ‘Chandos Beauty’ has just offered some fragrant blooms – in December! Late spray chrysanthemums are always welcome for winter vase displays so, as we gather those growing outdoors, it’s reassuring to know that others in the greenhouse will keep the supply going. We’re planning for more colours next year. Meanwhile, undeterred by the weather, a group of cosmos continue flowering! Our catalogue browsing is ongoing. The latest arrival via mail order is a pop-up veggie net cover, ideal for early crop protection. It takes seconds to set up and I have the time for getting it back into the bag down to one minute!