Hyakinthos

My kitchen growing Hyacinth has started to flower, the scent fills the kitchen when im making coffee...
The name comes from the Greek myths. A young man called Hyakinthos was loved by Apollo. A jealous rival caused the wind to blow hard when Apollo and Hyakinthos were practising with a discus. The young man was fatally wounded, and where his blood came out flowers blossomed.
Apollo called them Hyacinths after the young man.
Beloved by children who watch them grow in glass jars to see the roots forming, and by gardeners who love them to flower early by forcing them.
The lilac scented flowers bring some cheer as the Siberian winter weather is blowing in.
Its cold outside....

Late Garden Bird Watch

I sat down today at the kitchen window for an hour looking at the garden counting the birds that flew in throughout the hour. My own late Garden Birdwatch.I have submitted my results to the RSPB online. The fat balls hung by the kitchen window had seen some action.I was suprised to see the two House Sparrows fly upto it a few feet from me to feed...

A pair of Blue Tits hang onto the fat balls.I forgot to take the green netting off these and they seem to have lasted ages, compared to the fat balls with no netting.They are so quick in and out of the garden from the privet.

A pair of Female House Sparrows hopped around the right hand border. You can see the green tips from the spring bulbs growing out of the tubs.
A Robin, and a Blackbird came into the garden too, high above in the trees a Crow and a Magpie watched on.
This years bird watch surpassed last year when none appeared in the hour that I watched.Its good for the soul to sit down and watch them with a cup of coffee in hand.
I will look at the new Thompson And Morgan plant catalogue I got yesterday.They are offering plug plants and pot plants.I may cheat and buy a few from them to give the summer garden some colour and scent.

New Growth

The Sedum has all new growth at the bottom of the plant. It has the leaves curled up like little Roses that capture the fallen rain between them. Little gems of water.
I went to the allotment on friday to dig some of the beds. The rain had turned the soil very sticky and cloggy.
I left the big bed to dig, and two new ones to form. I moved the Broadbeans to the Cabbage bed, and the two Garlics I found in the soil as I turned it.
No seeds have come yet from Marshalls, maybe tomorrow.
I want to move my Strawberry plants into a new bed by the Rhubarb. It has died back to the ground but has little red spears appearing from the crown.
I worked the weekend and missed the great garden birdwatch. I will try to do an hour watching this week to fill my form in.
The seeds I planted have started to germinate. The Leeks, Red Onion Florence, Cabbage Excel, and the Peas in the paper pots.
One of my Hyacinths has flowers on in the kitchen. I will photograph that tomorrow in daylight.
January is speeding by so quick. Things are growing now.

Garden Jobs And Growth

The left hand border yesterday. There is signs of new growth on many of the plants with new buds formed and leaves growing.
I planted some pass along plant bulbs today, some Red flowering Crocosmia from a man at work.
They had languished in a plastic bag for a month or two. They are in one big pot, and two little pots.
I have been tidying up the house plants and garden today moving the baskets down ready for clearing and replanting. I have trimmed the Rose bushes and took the dead leaves off.
Its too damp to sweep up, but when its dried I will.
The Tulips, Hyacinths, Daffodils, and Crocus are pushing up from the soil. Little green swords are growing slowly from the soil.
I replenished the birds food and changed the water so it was fresh.A few Blue Tits dive bombed in for food, but otherwise it was quiet on the garden birds front.
It was a day for doing garden jobs. I find its easier to do a few every day, rather than trying to do it all in one day.

The Patayter Caper

Taken today in the cold, grey day the one Hellebore with a flower bud growing over the birds water bowl.These had spectacular flowers last year, with the most amazing design in the centre. I like the blurred feel for this flower bud, above the cold and damp soil, with last years leaves fading in the soil.
I went out today to find seed Potatoes at Wilkos. When I got there they had all sold out. I cant believe how quick they emptied their stock!
I walked to Homebase and was leaving when I found Seed Potatoes on a trolley by the exit.
I have two mini bags of New Potatoes called Charlotte and Nichola for the garden grow bags. I will start them off indoors like last year on the kitchen floor...
The allotment Potatoes are Sharpes Express (first early) and Maris Piper (maincrop). I bought some Leek Musselburgh seeds which I have sowed tonight. I bought a Horse Radish root too from Wilkos, and a Hot Chilli Tabasco seeds to grow in a pot.
The birds got a bag of bird food. I got a text saying did you buy any food for yourself? Which of course I had not!
I need to order some seeds from Marshalls. I want this year to grow some Pumpkins, Butternut Squash, and Patty Pan type Squash. I could not find any Squash seeds so I'll mail order them.
The gardeners book has come out so I can write down what I have sowed and when. To try and keep track of the garden and allotment.
Spring may be a few months away but I am preparing for the coming growing season. Buying seeds and tubers makes me happy for things to come and vegetables to harvest.
The blog post title comes from the musical Oklohoma which I watched with Cat. I loved the rural spellings in the songs...

Spring Plans

The cold weather does not seemed to have slowed down the slugs in the garden. They have been feasting on the colourful Polyanthus flowers.
In a almost bare garden these splashes of colour are a welcome relief from the wind and rain. It even snowed a bit but it was too wet for it to lie.
I will go shopping tomorrow for some vegetable seeds and the seed potatoes for the allotment. It is that time of the year when the new stock comes out in the cheap shops (like Wilkos) and the garden sections of the DIY stores (like B and Q).
I have Cabbages and Parsnips planted. Hil's gave me some Onion sets ready for the late March planting. I want some Leek seeds, Carrot Seeds, Squash seeds, and Purple Broccoli seed...
I need to plan the summer Plants I want to grow from seed. I am saving newspaper to make seedling pots from newspaper. There are fifteen pots made so far.
Hopefully one of the Hellebores will flower soon.The bulbs are growing slowly in the wet ground. My camera batterys have been recharged ready for some new photos.

Rhodie

The Rhodadendron Shamrock has these delicate flower buds on it.I cannot wait for it to flower with its lime green flowers.This was a pass along plant from Hil's.
It seems quite resiliant to the cold winter weather and being in a pot because of its need for Ericaceous soil..
I hope the flower is as pretty as the bud.I'm working all weekend so it will be short posts.
I enjoy nurturing new plants and trying to make them flower, and fufill their potential..
I have been like that since my first trick of growing a Spider Plant.
D.G.Hessayan has a lot to answer for :)
His houseplant books inspired me to look for the plants within his book.My mum gave me it for Xmas one year.The passion for gardening exploded from then.
Their is something satisfying in seeing a plant grow, and flower with your care.I have been hooked since!