Almost Wordless Wednesday ~ 20/02/13

Irises at the Royal Horticultural Society London Plant and Design Show,Vincent Square, London ~ 19/02/13.

Snowed Under

Top row, l-r - Galanthus plicatus 'Diggory', galanthus 'John Gray' and galanthus 'Mrs Thompson'.
Middle row, l-r - Galanthus 'Lapwing', galanthus 'Alan's Treat, galanthus 'Lost Labelus'
Bottom row, l-r -  yet another Galanthus 'Lost Labelus', galanthus 'Wendy's Gold, and galanthus elwessi' Mrs Macnamara'.

I've been snowed under this February - not with work or with cold white flakes but with snowdrops. Regular visitors to this blog may have noticed that I have have a weakness for these plants so please bear with me. I've really enjoyed and appreciated my 'drops this year. The colder weather has seemed to extend their flowering period, so that they are really living up to their delightful name of 'Fair Maids of February'. I would be hard pushed to name a favourite but this year my soft spot has been for 'Alan's Treat', bought as a dormant bulb last summer, in remembrance of my dear Dad whose name was Alan.

When I've not been admiring my little collection of special snowdrops, I've been out in a freezing greenhouse with hail hammering on the roof, camera in hand trying to to do them justice. Back inside I've been watching Ebay auctions amazed at the prices some folk will pay for these flowers. What intrigues me is that the snowdrops which can be obtained from specialist nurseries at reasonable prices often selling for astronomical prices on Ebay. A snowdrop I grow has been selling for up to £50 on Ebay this winter - I bought mine for less than a fifth of the price. I feel that I am letting a lucrative business opportunity pass me by.

In the cosy warmth I've also been pouring over a recent addition to my bookshelf 'Snowdrops' by Gunter Waldorf. I wish that I had come across this book a few years ago as it is at just at the right level for anybody starting off growing these bulbs. I will try and write a review soon. Of course as I read through it you can imagine that my wish list is just growing and growing.

It's also been a pleasure to discover fellow bloggers who have a similar fascination for these bulbs - Pauline over at 'Lead up the Garden Path', Cathy who blogs at 'Rambling in the Garden' and it now looks as if Helen of 'The Patient Gardener's Weblog' may be succumbing to white fever too.

I think that this will be more or less be my last completely snowdrop themed post for a while but no promises. Time to turn my thoughts to other matters.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day ~ February 2013

I soon put the February grumps behind me yesterday morning, when some most welcome sunshine and these flowers greeted me. There was a distinct hint of spring not being so far away. The hellebores are all unnamed whilst the snowdrop clumps are galanthus nivalis and the double is galanthus nivalis f.pleniflorus  'Flore Pleno'. The left hand snowdrop in the middle row is a named snowdrop - let me introduce you to galanthus nivalis 'Blonde Inge'. She was discovered in 1993 in a Germany cemetery. The name was derived from an old German song, 'Wenn Ich die Blonde Inge mit nach Hause bringe' which translates as 'When I will bring golden-haired Inge home'. If you look closely though at one of the flowers, I think that this Inge is in urgent need of the peroxide bottle for a retouch.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is kindly hosted each month by Carol over at May Dreams Gardens.

Wordless Wednesday - 'Dancing Queen'

Grumpy

I'm not sure whether I look as grumpy as the above snowdrop but I've definitely been out of sorts these last few days. There is domestic upheaval with the imminent arrival of new carpets, the weather has been dire so no chance to escape to the garden and my plans to start seed sowing yesterday were thwarted by a lack of vermiculite. I searched the greenhouse high and low but absolutely no sign of that bag that I'm sure that I never finished last year. Oh well thank goodness that February is only temporary. Hopefully normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

P.S. There is a snowdrop with the name of 'Grumpy' although the above does not answer to that name.

Almost Wordless Wednesday ~ 6th February 2013

Just look what difference a few days in the sun has made - from a sickly yellow to an almost healthy shade of green!

Puzzled

Needless to say there are plenty of things that I should be getting on with. Himself bought the heated propagator down from the loft yesterday, seed packets have been arriving in the post, the allotment annual master plan needs fine-tuning etc. but I am now seriously side-tracked. Whilst clearing out a cupboard last week I came across a jigsaw puzzle. How, when and why it entered this house is beyond recall. It must have been lurking in the cupboard though for some time and has never been assembled as the pieces were still sealed in a bag. Maybe it was a gift at some point or I bought it only to put it to one side only to promptly forget its existence. 

It's been more years than I care to remember since I've completed a jigsaw other than the occasional online puzzle. However with the weather being still too cold to tempt me outside the jigsaw came out at the weekend. I thought that I should give it a go. It's a MONSTER - coming in at 1000 pieces and measuring 72 x 51cm. It was designed and produced by the National Trust. I am presuming that the garden features and houses are linked to National Trust properties, although there are no details to confirm this. The house in the centre looks hauntingly familiar but I wish that I could put a name to it. 

I've been allowed the luxury of spreading this out on the breakfast bar. I think that himself sees this as a preferable alternative to plant pots filled with seedlings occupying the same space. Progress so far is slow - the outer perimeter is all in place bar one so far elusive piece. I'm now filling in on the left hand side slowly working towards the maze which looks rather challenging. What has surprised me is just how relaxing it is, so much so that I think that I could have another serious addiction on my hands. What about you and jigsaws - love them or would they be one of your candidates for 'Room 101'?

A Poem For February

'They dangle in thousands from the hazels, 
aligned by strict gravity, melodious notes 
swept along a fine staff of branches invisible 
against the dark confusion of February forest. 

Long winter-flowers, hovering, pale yellow 
with greenish tinge; their perfect profusion 
sings an orderly chord—you can hear the hum 
with your eyes.

We have survived the big storm, 
trees breaking beneath burdens of ice, 
broken roofs, camp dinners, candlelight, 
homes gone cold. We cancelled gatherings, 

postponed the overschedule, came back online
with stories--how we made it through. 
Here in the heart of winter, autumn 
has been carried way back in the runoff. 

Harbingers of spring are still folded-in, buried 
too deep to swell, awaiting any hint of warmth. 
But these catkins pronounce a golden fairy light
that chants to us through the veiled drift of mist:

                                            steady in the stillness, 
                                            glimmer in the dark.'

~ 'Catkins' by Don Freas.

Illustration by Cicely Mary Barker.

Wordless Wednesday ~ 30th January 2013

'Bring Me Sunshine'

"Bring me sunshine!" is what the above clump of snowdrops must have been shrieking out before I rescued them from a mound of leaves yesterday. My fault entirely for not doing this job before now. Changes in the garden last year, including the building of a wall meant that leaves had piled up more than they usually do. I filled two black bin bags yesterday with them so more raw material for making leaf mould, although this clump and two others have suffered. I only hope that they live to tell the tale.

The sunshine was around long enough yesterday for me to spend a little time in the garden although it was on the windy side. The day started off though with me perched on a stool looking out of the living room window for an hour completing the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. As usual on these occasions I'm sure that the birds know that they are being watched and therefore a number of regular customers were reluctant to show their beaks at the open all hours cafe. This year's visitors included blackbirds, long tailed tits, blue tit, coal tit, great tit, wood pigeon, dunnock, wood pigeons, magpies and robin. I live in hope of a parrot or eagle alighting at the bird table but nothing exotic to report this year.

Then outside in the afternoon where I rescued the snowdrops and did some sorting out in the greenhouse. The bite in the wind though made sure that there was no danger of getting carried away and after an hour or so I felt that the warmth of the house was a more attractive proposition. Here the sunny theme continued as we eat our one and only 'Sunshine' red kabocha winter squash for our evening meal. It was cooked in a sort of soupy stew - the other ingredients being onions, cannellini beans, celery, red pepper, herbs, stock and some sliced pork and leek sausage. Some crusty granary bread would have gone down nicely with it but there was none to hand. Having said that it was sufficiently filling without bread. The squash had a most sweet, nutty taste and is a must for this year. Sadly last years sowings which all germinated did not flourish when they were planted. I was fortunate that I had passed a plant along a plant to my allotment neighbour which thrived and that he was generous enough to give me one of the resulting squashes. It had been waiting patiently for just the right moment for consumption. No photo of either squash or stew to illustrate this post but the rest of the evening was filled with the warm glow of summer. Now that we have also consumed the last of the frozen strawberries there are only some shallots remaining from last year's harvest. Time to get sowing again!