End Of Month View - November 2013

November has ended here on a beautifully sunny albeit cold day. Darkness was already descending though when I came home from the allotment, where unfortunately we've had a meeting. On such a day I would have preferred to have been moving about and doing jobs on the plot but it was not to be. I've been trying to think how the month started weather wise but the brain refuses to co - operate.

There are already signs and stirrings of seemingly far off spring days. One of the snowdrops in the greenhouse is tantalisingly close to opening - in fact another day of slightly warmer temperatures might do the trick. It's rather frustrating as the label has walked so it's keep me guessing to the very last minute. The first to open last year was 'Faringdon Double' but I remained to be convinced that this one is a double. I moved my small collection of named snowdrops in pots under cover a couple of weeks ago. The pots were saturated and with colder weather being forecast I decided to bring them into the greenhouse again this winter. The greenhouse is ventilated on all but the coldest day but at the moment the recent appearance of an adventurous young cat has seen me err on the side of caution. There is a heater which should keep the greenhouse frost free. I will water the pots sparingly over the winter. Already a few pots are showing little green snouts which is most exciting.

In another corner of the garden a hellebore is budding up nicely which you can see in the above photo. Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' recently mentioned her 'Moonbeam' hellebore which prompted me to check on mine. On doing so I remember that I think that it might be 'Angel Glow' rather than 'Moonbeam', but whatever the identity it's great to see promise of soon to be opening flowers.

On the subject of bulbs I have amazed myself and have only a few remaining bulbs to find homes for. I've surprised myself as my bulb planting activities often extend into the new year when the risk of severe frostbite can lend an element of an extreme sport to the procedure. I've tended to stick with already tried and tested bulbs but I'm looking forward to the eventual flowering of two newcomers. These are allium 'Purple Rain' and narcissus 'Elka'. As well as being newcomers to me they are both recent bulb introductions, so it will be really exciting to see whether they live up to the catalogue hype surrounding them. I still have one or two more bits and bobs to sort out with which hopefully will be done by the end of the December.

I'm afraid that I've somewhat neglected the allotment and must get down to some work in the colder months. I have to confess to being somewhat of a fair weather gardener. I can do cold and dry but when the weather is wet I'm too much of a wimp to relish being out there.

New to me plants in November are a hardy geranium 'Blushing Turtle', which promises to be a prolific and long flowerer and a pink hesperantha kindly given to me by a friend who read this post.

Another marker pen has entered the grand experiment. This late contender is an 'Artline Garden Marker' as mentioned by Annette over at 'Annette's Garden'. It one cost me £2.50p including postage from an Ebay seller. It's much too early to report on the state of the labels yet and I will not do so in any detail for a few months.

Thanks as always to Helen over at 'The Patient Gardener's Weblog' for enabling us to share our end of month views. Do pop over to visit her and the links to other gardeners who are recording their end of the month views.

P.S. I've been having problems on accessing and commenting on Wordpress blogs for a couple of days. I mentioned this on Twitter yesterday and believe that there are some issues. Some Wordpress bloggers are unable even to access their own blogs. I have had success though with changing my normal browser from Chrome to Safari. Just thought I would mention it in case anybody else is being thwarted in their blog visiting and commenting.