Time to catch up with my somewhat neglected virtual garden diary. It has been a really beautiful weekend here. Calm, blue skies and sunshine throughout. It has also been a most pleasant temperature - yesterday was so mild that I was able to potter about in the garden wearing a t-shirt rather a warm fleece which is my normal November gardening attire. We have still to experience our first hard frost although there was a slight trace of white on our neighbour's roof one morning last week. It soon evaporated though. My priority this weekend was filling the green waste bin which will be wheeled up our lane on Monday ready for the last collection of the year so of course I just had to cram in as much as possible. The service resumes in the third week of February and by then the bin will no doubt be full to the brim again. Earlier this week the monthly speaker at my local u3a gave a talk on the subject of waste disposal which after a dry start turned out to be more interesting than I had anticipated. It was fascinating to find out out what happens to the contents of each bin once it is emptied.
There was time though after the hard work for exploration. The most exciting discovery was to see some seedlings of arum mamoratum italicum poking through the ground. I wasn't sure what they were at first until I saw the distinctive black spotting on the leaves. Funnily enough I recently saw an episode of Carol Klein's great television series on autumnal gardening, in which she sowed fresh seeds of this striking foliage plant. The next day I collected the bright red berries from my plant to sow. Obviously nothing has happened as yet but was I most delighted to see these self-seeders. Funnily enough I had been talking to a friend about sowing these the seeds and she mentioned that she found them self-seeding in her garden but this is the first time I have had the pleasure. I will have to extract them sooner and later as they are in a place where they could easily be accidentally trodden on and somebody in this household does have rather large feet.
On the subject of Carol Klein one excellent series has finished but a continuation of the programmes where she visits one garden over the course of a year has replaced it. This is on Channel 5 on Thursdays at 7.00 pm and well worth watching whenever you can.
In the same border another surprise was waiting for me - the not unexpected signs of snowdrop snouts poking through the ground. The first to reveal themselves this year are the early flowering 'Fieldgate Prelude' and 'Philippe Andre Meyer which I thought flowered later. Of course there is always the possibility that the squirrels might have been switching the labels for fun so I will just have to be patient and wait to see what happens. I have previously noted that my pots of special snowdrops had snouts coming through but these are the first to come through in the garden.
Another bulb that is showing and is not far off from flowering is the diminutive and early flowering narcissus 'Cedric Morris'. The flower buds are very much in evidence but no sign of colour yet.
In other news the pile of bulbs to be planted is I'm glad to report slowly diminishing. The containers that were virtually emptied over the weekend and contents snipped for the green bin can now be planted with the tulips that have been patiently waiting in the shed. In the meantime I'm tempted to order one or two more packets of bulbs at half price and then of course it will soon be time to seriously start to study seed catalogues in earnest. First and foremost plans are afoot to sow some sweet peas next month - a first for me so the supplies need restocking. I wonder what everyone is else is up to in their gardens at the moment.
The arum leaves are beautiful. I can never understand why they stop collecting garden waste at a time when the garden is being tidied up. I still have lots of 'old' bulbs to plant into the borders.
ReplyDeleteNot T shirt temperatures here or am I just soft?
The cut of date for the collection of green waste is beyond me too Sue. I know that it is a year round service in some local authorities and I wish that it was here too - even just once a month in the winter would be great. I had another t-shirt gardening session after writing this post. I think that perhaps it is usually that bit milder in the west. It's too cold for any gardening this weekend!
DeleteI envy you the stretch of pleasant weather, Anna - it's been very hot here and definitely unsuitable for getting much done in the garden. It was interesting to me to learn that your garden waste pickups are seasonal but I guess that reflects the differences in our climates too. I love the Arum foliage!
ReplyDeleteHope that you get some more agreeable weather for gardening activities soon Kris. The frequency of garden waste collections varies in this country according to where you live and in some areas the service is all year round.
DeleteThe birds spread the Arum round my garden, no work needed from me, not always in the right place but they are soon moved! Thankfully my green bin collection doesn't stop for the winter, I know I can still fill it each week right through the year. Our 2 light frosts have worked wonders on the autumn tints, I think they are at their peak now.
ReplyDeleteOh your birds must be better trained than mine Pauline 😄 I'm green with envy at the thought of your year round green bin collection.
DeleteIt's funny the arum self seeds all over my daughter's garden but it never does here. I think my Cedric Morris has disappeared. Christmas won't be the same without it. Lovely to see the first snowdrops though.
ReplyDeleteIt is strange how it seeds in some gardens and not others Chloris. It really took me by surprise seeing little seedlings when there never have been others in previous years. I;m so sorry to hear about your Cedric. Such a welcome splash of colour at this time of year. Mine has flowers but they have still to open. They were already open this time last year if my memory serves me right. I have the first snowdrops on flower too which is indeed quite a lovely sight.
DeleteGreat to read about your goings-on Anna and you can be sure I am off to deposit some arum berries in the woodland this afternoon! I found spikes of John Long on my ramble this morning 😊 Thanjs to you I have caught up with the CK series but was puzzled when it hinted at others which were not on My5 - sounds as if this is what might be coming up?
ReplyDeleteI hope that your arum berries go forth and multiply Cathy 😄 I imagine that the other programmes are the series that's on at the moment, which is a continuation of Carol visiting well known gardens over the course of the year. Another excellent series - she is off to Llanover Garden this week.
DeleteWill the seedling go on to develop the silver patterns as it matures? Also you are very fortunate in having the Daffodil Cedric Morris, it is quite a special one. Do you try to hand pollinate it so as to get viable seeds, and then sow them? It would take about three year to get the bulbs to flower.
ReplyDeleteI very much hope that the silver pattern appears with time Noelle as otherwise the seedlings will go the way of the compost heap. I have tried my hand at hand pollinating but could have a go in the spring. I quite honestly hadn't thought of doing that so thanks for the suggestion 😄 The bulbs are multiplying but very, very slowly.
DeleteI've just looked up a post on the Scottish Rock Garden Club and found that it is very nearly sterile, which may explain why it flowers for so long.
ReplyDeleteI thought that might be the case Noelle 😄
DeleteArum leaves are so pretty, so it is good to hear they are spreading themselves around. I also saw that Carol Klein programme while I was in the UK recently. Sadly it is literally impossible to watch from here. But some older programmes are in YouTube. I do love her enthusiasm about everything, and her own garden too! It must be a juggling act for you disposing of garden waste in the winter. Lovely to hear your update. Happy gardening Anna!
ReplyDeleteI hope that Carol's recent programmes make their way to YouTube Cathy then as they have been first rate 😄 Yes the garden waste issue is a problem. Although I fill it at a slower rate the green bin still fills up and will then just sit there until late February when the collections resume. Oh well we can always take it to the council tip.
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