greentapestry : Garden Diary ~ Looking Back

Saturday 5 March 2022

Garden Diary ~ Looking Back


A mention if February before March is well underway. It certainly lived up to its reputation of being a wet month. As well as what seemed vast volumes of the wet stuff it was an extremely stormy month. Three named storms - 'Dudley', 'Eunice' and 'Franklin' battered us within the span of just over a week. Fortunately there was no real damage in the garden although there was a lot of garden debris to clear up. We had battened down the hatches beforehand which was just as well. It was a month when doing anything in the garden would sometimes have been to akin to taking part in an extreme sport. However there was little in the way of really cold weather and only a handful of light frosts. I haven't seen any February weather statistics so will be looking out for them.

Seed sowing started in the heated propagator starting with the tender cobaea scandens at the beginning of the month. I've sown the purple flowering one. This climber takes a long time to come into flower so an early start is advised. The seedlings are already like triffids but it will be May before they can be planted in the big wide world outside. They have moved out of the propagator and are now on the kitchen windowsill. I hope to prick the most well advanced ones out into individual pots next week. From there they will need a lot of tender loving care and mollycoddling if it is cold. Another early sowing was some rudbeckia 'Sahara' which were sown during half term week here, again in the heated propagator. They have germinated but fortunately grow slowly and caring for them is not as demanding. They have now become a must sow each year. That was the extent of my February seed sowing although my fingers were itching to sow more seeds.

I have indulged in some online horticultural retail therapy treating myself to some spring treasures. First to arrive were a trio of pulmonarias - 'Spring Awakening', 'Stillingfleet Meg' and 'Blake's Silver.' I have a vague inkling that I may have purchased the last one in the past but have no idea what happened to it. In the same box was a diminutive almost invisible epimedium 'Purple Pixie'. I'm relieved to say that it eventually showed signs of life and continues to grow. A trio of hellebores have also descended, a pink from the excellent 'Ashwood Nurseries' and two much smaller but sturdy plants from 'Twelve Nunns Nursery' - both Harvington doubles. All three hellebores were very well packed. You can photos of two of them in this post.

The one remaining pear tree has been pruned. We had two but one has never flourished so the decision was made to remove it. The Charlotte potatoes have now moved from shed to the spare bedroom where they are now chitting on the windowsill.

The snowdrops continued to sing throughout February, along with crocus, iris reticulata, hellebores, cardamine quinquefolia, cyclamen coum, muscari and towards the end of the month little daffies showed their colour. Towards the end of the month the green garden waste bin was emptied for the first time this year, always a welcome sign that spring is really on the way.






11 comments:

  1. I'm guessing the Stillingfleet hellebore was bred at Stillingfleet Lodge. It's a lovely garden to wander round and they always have a wide range of perennials for sale,. Have you visited?

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  2. Yes 'Stillingfleet Meg' was bred at Stillingfleet Lodge Sue. Sadly I've never visited although I've had the pleasure of listening to a talk by Vanessa Cook many years ago on the subject of pulmonarias. I think that Meg might be named after Vanessa's daughter.

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  3. The sap is rising and we are all beginning to want to be out there once more. your new hellebores are beautiful and will look lovely with all your early bulbs in the garden.

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    1. Yes it has been good to be out and about in the garden pottering this weekend Pauline. Spring is definitely in the air. Hellebores seem to go with anything else that is in flower at the moment πŸ˜‚

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  4. You have made the most of February and also acquired some lovely spring plants.

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    1. Thank you for those kind words Noelle πŸ˜€

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  5. Ahah - good to see your new hellebores! The veining is wonderful on that first one 😊 And where are your pulmonarias from? They are not varieties I have come across. You have also made me wonder if I should try Cobaea again...! And no show yet on my Sahara - I think I will try it in the propagator instead of by the Aga and see if the consistent heat does make a difference... Good to hear all your gardening news πŸ‘

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  6. I was delighted with both hellebores Cathy although one is still a tiddler πŸ˜‚ The pulmonarias were all from Claire Austin. I may be returning there soon to place another order. Maybe a propagator might do the trick. I usually use mine to get them going but the heated sand bench in the greenhouse does the trick too although that is never turned on until March.

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  7. What a good idea to keep a gardening diary like this, so handy to refer back to in future years. I love your choice of purchases, all of them spring treasure worth having. I have Epimedium ' Pink Elf' which is very dainty. Perhaps it is related to 'Purple Elf'

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All your comments are much appreciated and treasured. I wil try to reply to everyone who leaves a comment, but it may take me a few days, especially when I start spending more time in the garden and at the lottie. I know that you will understand :) I am sure that I will also visit your blog if I have not already done so. If you have any specific questions I will either reply to them here or you can email me at : thegreentapestry@gmail.com

NamastΓ©

- Anna.