Winter Clear Up

The Winter baskets have finally been filled up with a mixture of winter Pansy's,Violas,and Sweet Williams.Cat joined me in the garden clear up.The table has held the plants for weeks before we planted them in the Baskets.Two baskets fell off the fence due to high winds and a jumping Squirrel (called Hogan now after he did a flying clothes line onto the hanging basket.The weight of the basket,soil,and Squirrel pulled the bracket clean off the fence).I hope that these baskets add a little colour whilst other plants and bulbs are dozing in the soil.

I found my metal Frog fence ornament on the ground behind the Hostas.This was one of Cats baskets.The Hostas are all dormant below the baskets.I need to top dress them with fresh compost so they absorb some of the nutrients.They are Cats favourite plants,especially when they flower in white and purple blooms.A garden shared can be a pleasure.I do the heavy digging and moving.Cat cuts the grass and helps plant things.She is getting braver as time goes on.She is also great at potting up plug plants which we have bought from mail order companies.The Sunken border needed revamping after the builders had trampled all over it.The conservatory needed a gap between it and the damp soil.We went shopping for some bamboo fence posts.These run about six inches from the bricks separating the border from the conservatory.The warm Winter had caused the creeping Buttercups to have taken over a large area of soil.The Teasel also had dropped loads of seeds into the soil and onto the grass.I removed them.I think I will grow Teasel in pots to keep them easier to manage.They are prodigious in the amount of seed each comb seed head makes.They are like spiny giants in the garden.I trimmed the Ceanothus so its more centrally structured.It has beautiful central bark running up with all the branches coming away from it.I hope that the Bee's will fly back for the honey scented flowers on this American Shrub.I moved the Honeysuckle in its pot to the area between the Conservatory and the fence.It kept falling over in the wind.I will try to work out how to secure it to block off the area behind it.A narrow hell strip.

I moved the black feathery leaved Sambuca Nigra with its effervescent pink flowers to the right hand side of the border.Last year it got tangled under the Butterfly bush.The Buddleja has been trimmed as well to keep it horizontal.It too has a lovely woody stem.Winter makes you appreciate the structure of plants normally hidden by leaves or flowers.I dug over the soil removing the weeds,and seeing which plants had survived.I found several perennial roots which have been replanted.It will be good to see what grows where.The Camellia survived a Workman's boot which snapped off one of the branches.I hope it will flower this year. They are such pretty plants with shiny glossy leaves,and sumptuous flowers.This plant has survived the winter and has lots of flower buds on it.These turn into pretty scented white flowers.It was one of the original plants that we inherited.There is a green Hebe,and a Pieris that were here when we moved in.This is the side on view of the newly dug over sunken border.Our grass is very soggy and has mud patches.The mole seems to have left us for a while,with no more mole hills along the path.I had spent one afternoon looking at online websites.I ordered all the Vegetable seeds and thought I want to try to grow Grapes inside the greenhouse.Web research suggested that two good varieties were Suttons Seedless Grapes, and Black Munich grapes.I found this plant on the Daily Telegraph garden shop.This experimental plant can grow in the greenhouse during the summer,but can be moved outside during the winter to kill of pests.

It sat on the windowsill waiting for a large pot to plant it in.I hope it grows well,and will record its progress on the blog.

It is the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch over the weekend.I need to spend an hour counting what birds come into the garden from my corner chair in the conservatory.