GARDENER'S WORD

At last!   Today I have been able to spend a little time sitting on the garden swing contemplating nothing much, which is how I like it. The sun has shone, the breeze has held its breath, and the temperature has been just right.  I realised that today, for the first time, I could actually smell the lovely yellow hyacinths and not just those but also the fabulous little winter-flowering violas that colour a tiny border at the foot of the swing.  It's the first time since I planted the violas late last autumn that I have actually been aware of their perfume.  Also, I could hear the birds twittering, Alfie my cat kept ruining my peace by continually leaping up and off the fence but no matter, he was full of the joys of a late spring too, and if there is a scarcity of bumble bees in this country well, hey, they are all in my garden bumbling about.  Fragrant winter flowering violas 30/04/2013 still flowering 6 months after planting. ...

It's a case of the incredible shrinking lawn.  Much as I love a nice lawn and green is a favourite colour, I like to grow flowering plants and my lawn is getting just too problematic for me.  It's not the occasional weed that manages to bury it'self amid the turf as soon as my back is turned because I soon obliterate them with a squirt of Tumbleweed.  No, it's the fact that all that is beneath my lawn is one inch of not too brilliant soil and then rock.  Lack of depth, although I appreciate that grass roots are not particularly deep, is taking it's toll on the lawn because, I think, I cannot aerate it.  Anyway, gradually it is being reduced in size and today I have given myself a lovely headache, neck ache and back ache, cutting about 8 inches away all the way around.  It's not the cutting that's a killer but the turning and the chopping in; and then, of course, there is the rock.  There must be a worm for every ounce of soil in my garden....

I always find it funny when people who grow flowers in their gardens will not cut them and bring them indoors.   For a few days I have been looking at the beautiful white hyacinths ( Hyacinth Carnegie ) I have growing in a trough under a window facing south, and at the yellow hyacinths (Yellow Queen) growing in a free-standing trough in the back garden, against the protection of a south facing fence.  I know they smell divine but the weather has been so bad that my plan, when I planted them last year , of smelling them through an open window or sitting on my garden swing near the trough at the back and having their fragrance waft over me, has been destroyed by the terrible weather.  There is little chance of my enjoying such plan while the weather continues to be cold, rainy, and/or blowing a gale.   So yesterday I cut three of the yellow hyacinth flower spikes, brought them indoors, and put them in a vase.  Actually, it is no sacrifice as, surprisingl...

While many things in the garden are way behind - like the roses and the loganberry vine which are just making leaves, and the tulips and the taller daffodils which are in bud but have not yet opened - the violas and the primulas, the hyacinths, and the little Narcissus 'Minnow' which I planted between the Arthur Bell rose bushes at the front of my home, are absolutely lovely.  I cannot believe how well they are doing after the foulest of winters in many years here on the Pennines of West Yorkshire.  Primulas 26 April 2013  Tulips 26 April 2013  Violas and daffodils 26 April 2013 Narcissus Minnow  26 April 2013 Sorry about the blur - I was unsuccessfully trying not to fall over while taking the picture.  These daffodils are only about 8" tall. They have forecast wintery showers today, amid sunshine.  What is going on?   Still, the pelargonium cuttings which I took a couple of weeks ago are doing very well.  They are ...

What a difference a year makes in the garden.  What a difference a day makes.  I'm talking about the weather and what is growing at a certain time, and how the weather can change from being sunny to forecasts of snow on high ground (like today, in West Yorkshire, on the Pennine Mountains).  This time last year the tulips were open and glorious, the roses were full of leaf, the loganberries were too.  I had the little, clear-plastic polytunnel full of all sorts of herbs and strawberries in pots.  This year, although the polyanthus and the violas are giving a lovely display, the shrub roses I planted last year are struggling along.  I have a feeling though that with just a bit more warmth and sunshine the plants will catch up.  There's optimism for you!  21 April 2012  26 April 2013

The sunshine is putting on a show.  I say that because, today, out there, the garden is bathed in brilliant light and the weather is doing what it should have been doing since spring began weeks ago.   I've put the dahlias (Fascination ), in their pots, outside in the sun and already they are pushing up numerous dark red shoots which promise fabulous flowers in a few months time.  I've dragged the herbs out of the mini-greenhouse and put them on the top patio where the sun will shine on them right until this evening.  Already the apple mint is lush enough for me to harvest and make a nice cup of refreshing apple-mint tea.  I thought the lemon balm had given up the ghost but, not so; there is new growth pushing up near soil level and as that is my favourite herb for tea-making , you can imagine how pleased I am.  I know, I should get a life.  lemon balm in my garden, May 2012 Last year at this time I had all my herbs and a few other things i...

The dear little primulas keep on putting on a show, very much like the winter-flowering violas that I planted late last autumn and which are still flowering their little heads off in a tub and in a small border.  So pretty.   Primulas are hardy but the snow gave the flowers on my primulas which I planted last year , a good old bashing and now that the weather has cleared up they are producing glorious coloured flowers.  I really feel like spring has arrived at last.  I hope I haven't spoken too soon. Primulas, 17 April 2013 Violas, 17 April 2013

I didn't realise quite how hardy hyacinths can be.  Despite below zero temperatures and protracted periods of snow, the hyacinths I planted late last autumn, October 2012 , have not only survived but show signs of being splendid.   I have white ones planted in the trough under my sunny front window (when there is sun) and in a free-standing trough I have all yellow ones planted.  They should look, and smell, lovely when they are in full bloom.  Carnegie - hyacinth Yellow Queen - hyacinth  Yellow Queen hyacinths in a free-standing trough The whole garden seems to be warming up now and it's amazing how fast things will grow once the weather gives plants the chance.  I'm actually pleased to say that it keeps raining and rainfall always seems to invigorate plants, far more than tap water.  I believe it is to due with the nitrogen in the rain. I've done a little trimming with the secateurs.  I pruned the roses seve...

Now that the weather has improved, for the time being anyway, there are little jobs that I can do.  I took out the herbs in pots that I had sheltered in my mini-greenhouse over this harsh winter and I am surprised that any survived at all considering that I didn't cover the greenhouse with the fleece cover that I bought for such an occasion.  Totally forgot!  As you can see from the below images, the chives are doing wonderfully, as is the rosemary plant.  My favourite thing for making my own herbal tea, lemon balm , is still alive and showing signs of growth.  The couple of thymes that I have are alive but one is not exactly kicking; it looked dead but when I cut it back, there is still life in it and it may well come back.  The apple mint is fine and the lamb mint will take off if I treat it to a bigger pot in which to expand it's congested roots.  I feel so pleased as I imagined that all would die this winter.  Rosemary, chives, and thyme ...

I think the grass in my lawn must have heard me talking about getting rid of my lawn and replacing it with something else.  It is only two days ago since I posted an article called Slow Death of a Lawn .  Since then we have had lots of invigorating rain and sunshine, and the temperature is rising.  It seems like there is some kind of resurrection going on out there.  It's exactly the same piece of lawn as you can see in the images on my previous post.  Maybe I won't get rid of it after all.  Maybe.  

It was sunshining here in West Yorkshire on the 1st January 2013 and I posted an article about some of the survivors in my garden and what was beginning to grow.  I might have spoken too soon but I think not.  At least the Dryopteris filix-mas 'Euxinensis' (apparently the label is wrong, it is filix and not felix) has survived outside in its cosy corner at the side of the kitchen sink drain with a plastic garden dome over it for added protection.  Even the pot it is in was put inside two other pots for triple insulation of its roots.   This particular fern is supposed to be H4 hardy but I was taking no chances.  Dryopteris filix-mas 'Euxinensis'  The poor pots of  ivies that I thought were hardy and which I gave hardly any protection except the little shelter provided by having them on my outside kitchen window ledge, close to the glass, have taken a battering by the icy weather and snow as you can see in the image below.   C...

At last!   The recent sunshine and relative warmth is making plants put a spurt on in my garden and in most parts of the U.K., I imagine.  Just a week ago I decided to resurrect the dahlia tubers which I had overwintered in fleece bags of vermiculite and I put them in pots.  Later they will go into bigger pots or into the garden border.  Right now, all my big pots are taken up by spring bulbs.  Everything is so late in growing that on a gardening programme yesterday it was mentioned that everything, even in the southern counties of England, was way behind.   Certainly not one single daffodil of mine has opened yet but there are flower buds developing.  I put the pots of dahlias out during the day when it is not freezing and bring them into my kitchen at night.  I cannot risk leaving them outside overnight until I am sure that frosty nights are over.  Hopefully, the dahlias will soon...

I hadn't realised just how much damage had been done by the atrocious winter we've had until I examined them today.  Today has been sunny and quite mild, with hardly a breeze.  I decided that it was time to take out the secateurs and do the spring pruning.  Normally, when I prune, it is in March but this year I delayed it because if it freezes again it could cause die-back on the cut edges of the rose stems.  One of my David Austin roses and one of the most beautiful I have, Princess Alexandra of Kent, has become spindly and weak.  Several roses, floribundas, hybrid-teas, and old-fashioned shrub roses have been damaged so much that I have had major pruning to do.   It nearly killed me doing it after a long winter of virtually no gardening.  It's my least favourite job, pruning roses, but the benefits can be worth it.  Princessl Alexandra of Kent rose (left image), with The Generous Gardener If the roses continue to do badly - and rose...

My lawn has suffered terribly this winter.  It's full of weeds, yellowing grass, and balding patches.  It's a far cry from the beautiful, pristine, lawn that I had only a year or so ago.  It has to go.  It's far too much work for me constantly feeding, aerating, putting down weed killer, not to mention mowing, and I have to think of my cat and all those chemicals.  The problem is, I love a nice lawn and it seems such a pity to get rid of it but I have in mind, perhaps, a path through herbaceous plants.  Lawns are high maintenance, if you want a decent one, and I think the occasional weeding is far less labour intensive than dragging a lawn mower out of the shed once or twice a week, picking up all the cuttings, and trimming the edges around the border and the stepping stones.  You can see the difference in the before and after images below.  What a difference a year makes!  My lawn, 4 June 2012 I just don't think I can bring back the...

I got a lovely surprise this evening when looking out of my kitchen window.  I saw a little bird having a free meal from my birdfeeder.   As it bobbed its head back and forth, I became aware of little flashes of red on its face.  It had yellow on its wings.  I know very little about birds that visit gardens in the U.K. and I only recognise things like blackbirds, magpies, thrushes, robins, and maybe a few other birds, like pigeons, that I see all the time.  But I don't ever remember seeing this little visitor that came to my garden today.   I checked on the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Bird Identifying webpage , and the bird is a goldfinch.   Goldfinch - RSPB Bird Identifier The Goldfinch in my garden was about the size of a Robin.  Apparently they like to eat small seeds and I have a mixed seed for birds in my garden feeder which I bought from the RHS centre in Harlow Carr, and I also have in reserve a bag of RSP...

While my garden shows signs of recovering after the harsh winter we have just gone through here in West Yorkshire and, indeed, this harsh early spring, it is far behind the colourful display I had at this time last year.   It has certainly made it clear how different aspects can have such a great impact on plant growth.   For example, the trough facing south, which is exposed to all the elements - lashing wind, rain, and snow coming across the Pennine Mountains - is sporting colourful irises and tulips, and the hyacinths and daffodils are pushing their way through.  However, it has to be taken into account that the south-facing trough also must get radiating heat from the white painted windowsill and the brick wall of the house, and possibly any heat that might be escaping through the double-glazed window.  In the trough below I have planted 'Johann Strauss' tulips; Iris reticulata 'Harmony'; white (I think) hyacinths and Narcissus 'Minnow'. ...

I was beginning to wonder if any crocuses were going to appear this year after all the snow and freezing temperatures that have made the ground as hard as concrete.  I wondered if, perhaps, the squirrels had managed to eat them all; I understand that crocuses are a favourite of that agile garden marauder.  It's almost as if the buds grew and the flowers opened while my back was turned.  I have a small trough in which I planted crocuses last autumn and it seemed only a day or two ago that I looked and nothing seemed to be happening.  But the last day or two we have had some lovely sunshine although it has been, still, a little chilly.  I understand that this is just the sort of thing that happens in the desert when, after a long drought, rain falls and suddenly seeds are germinating and everything that was quiet and dormant, and waiting, suddenly bursts forth.      I watched a television programme once which showed by...