greentapestry : End Of Month View - November 2013

Saturday 30 November 2013

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.


16 comments:

  1. Lovely Hellebore Anna. I don't know if there are early ones here. I shall have to wait till spring to see mine!

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  2. oh, still thinking about moving to WP?

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  3. I like the image of all those precious snowdrops safely snuggled up in the greenhouse where neither cats nor severe winter wet can get to them. Your bulbs sound exciting, look forward to hearing all about them next year, I have been tremendously restrained so far on the bulb front, still feeling my way. And wasn't "Strictly" wonderful?! As for wordpress its ridiculous what wp.com users are having to put up with. Hope they sort it out soon.

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  4. No sign of life at all from our Hellebores. I have a wordpress blog and up until yesterday was having a nightmare commenting on blogger, it seems to have come good now.

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  5. I've just googled allium Purple Rain, it looks a beauty. I've bought some allium Spaerocephalon to join the Purple Sensation in the front garden but I haven't got round to planting them yet, they're on the to do list. So many jobs, so little time.

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  6. Another geranium, you have quite a collection now! I had a peer at my hellebores today but no sign of flower buds, interestingly there was a mixed response at the HPS meeting yesterday on who had hellebores in flower but then we do come from a wide area.
    Thanks for joining in again this month

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  7. Another geranium, you have quite a collection now! I had a peer at my hellebores today but no sign of flower buds, interestingly there was a mixed response at the HPS meeting yesterday on who had hellebores in flower but then we do come from a wide area.
    Thanks for joining in again this month

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  8. It's never too early to think about spring, especially when you start to see glimpses of Hellebores :)

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  9. Flower buds on your hellebore... grrrr! Seriously, how exciting - and thanks for the mention. You also reminded me that I bough Faringdon Double last year as you and others had mentioned how early it was to flower - must check that out when it's light outside! Your geranium sounds very new and intersting - must check it out. Interesting that you say others have had problems accessing their own WP blogs as I have too but assumed the WP platform was just busy - although I could access it as an outsider so that clearly wasn't the case.

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  10. You have me inspired to get a few special snowdrop bulbs and grow them in the greenhouse. What could be more cheery at this time of year?

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  11. Puh, still no luck with commenting. You seem to be of the impatient kind, Anna, moving your snowdrops into the greenhouse ;), but I admit I moved my Camellia sasanqua under cover and the silky petals are already showing, looking very promising! Thanks for refering to my blog, very kind. The marker is great, no fading up to now. Have a nice week :)

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  12. Great you've planted all your bulbs, I do know what you mean about running out of spaces to plant them. I'v ebeen successfull this year in planting them all within a week, certainly a record. I often have problems commenting on blogger so there's probably something incompatible between them.

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  13. Hi Anna,

    Look at you with your Hellebore buds! I really must get some of those myself, especially if they regularly begin to bloom this early. I'd love to have them at this time of year.

    I always find this time of year frustrating.. spending lots of time planning, but when I get home from work all I want to go is go to sleep and by the time I've woken up again it's then dark! Can't get anything done at all really, and weekends are so precious with the C-word rolling in that nothing gets done.

    Thankfully no problems with wordpress here; never had problems with it. But I am always having difficulty with BlogSpot and actually is the reason I made the move across. Try making safari or firefox your usual browser - I've always struggled with chrome and gave up using it a long time ago (actually find it worse than IE but to each their own).

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  14. Hi Anna - what a great find your blog is!

    I have just come in from the garden and was excited to see big buds on a couple of my hellebores too. I am very jealous that you are about to have snowdrops - my first ones will not be flower in early January. Maybe I will buy some extra early ones to keep in pots this year. It is so nice to find other folks gardening and planting bulbs at this time of the year - most of my friends think I am slightly mad to be outside in December!

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  15. I'm a bit fair weather too. In fact I remembered the other day I hadn't been in the greenhouse for one reason and another for over a week. I went in there yesterday thinking I would find dead plants. Fortunately they were all OK. Hibernation mode has definitely kicked in. I have spotted signs of daffs and crocus which fills the heart with joy at this time of year. I certainly don't want to wish time away but I am looking forward to spring.

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  16. I'm a fair weather gardener, too, Anna. But for me, that also means the very hot days of summer--I don't like to freeze outside, but I don't like to sweat much either:) I do have all my bulbs in, but that's only because the ground is usually frozen here by early December. How wonderful to see those buds on your Hellebores with the promise of blooms in winter!

    Hope you and I get our Christmas shopping and decorating done soon:)

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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

Namasté

- Anna.