Hello Spring ..

After a very cold and snowy winter and plenty of grey, bleak, January days, February has arrived with some warmth and sunshine. Yesterday I noticed a clump of crocus tomasinianus in bloom in the garden and a solitary snowdrop. My Hellebores are flowering in the back garden ..one palest yellow and the other is white flushed with pink. The ones in the front garden have yet to reward me and I am wondering whether they need to be moved to the back?

My other winter wonders are all in full glory..lonicera purpusii, cornus" Midwinter Beauty" and the wonderful red stems of Acer "Senkaki" by the front door to offer a warm welcome home. My Winter Sweet was glorious about 2 weeks ago but the flowers are mostly gone now. While they lasted, a fabulous hyacinth-scent greeted me every time I went to fill the bird feeders (almost every day!). Now I have the Daphnes to look forward to..the buds are about to break and the first may even be out now but I have not been to check yet, today being wild and windy..although warm (10 degrees C at 7am).

As usual, when I have time to write a blog, I have a cold, hence not outside! I wanted to take a load of stuff to the dump today, but when I got dressed I immediately realised that I did not have quite the enthusiasm for the job that I felt whilst still in bed. Typical. Earlier on this week, before being struck with a sore throat, I hard-pruned the vitex agnus-castus in the front garden. It has become a rather unruly beast and is also going rotten in one of the main stems. It completely overshadows the poor Rose, Charles de Mills, which, in consequence, has suffered badly from mildew in the past few years. As this variety of rose only flowers once a year, I feel that the time has come to dig it up and do something different. Anyhow, the heap of prunings is still by the front wall and needs to get DUMPED.

A couple of days ago I realised that I still had some bulbs left un-planted, in the cupboard! I hurriedly whizzed off to Long Acres and bought compost (peat-free, of course) and was also tempted by some gorgeous ruffled primroses in reddish orange shades and palest yellow (aka primrose!) plus a couple of those wonderful multi-flora Hyacinths. No trip to a garden centre without temptation winning. So, now I have some pots with late-planted tulips and lilies. Wonder if they will manage to flower this year?

On the weekend the RSPB's Big Garden Bird Watch took place. I could not devote a solid hour to watching the wee tweeties so just had a few minutes throughout sunday and monday, which I think totalled an hour. I was sad that the Song Thrush, which has been singing his heart out every morning, did not appear (and I have not heard him since..so hope nothing awful has befallen the beloved bard) however, several Siskins arrived and have been on the nyger seed for the last few days. So smart in their green/yellow/black combo. The usual Blackbirds, Doves, Wood Pigeons, Tits (but no Long-Tailed or Coal, which is odd, as they are usually about) Goldfinches and Jackdaws. I have decided that I should like to try and keep a log of the bird visitors. There have been several Redwings this year (January) eating the cotoneaster berries and I have a pair of Black Caps, but not seen them recently either. The Dunnock has a mate and the pair are flying about excitedly and there are two pairs of Magpies squabbling over a nest site. Valentine's Day soon..and the birds are already heavily into mating. Which reminds me, I need to venture out with a step ladder and refill the peanuts..

Au revoir

Twas a Dark and Stormy Night...

and a miserable wet week. Had to cancel two sessions due to the weather so I hope that next week is a bit brighter!.

The wonderful Liquidamber that I see on the school run has now lost almost all of its leaves and our lovely Larch in the back garden has turned golden. Although there has been a very slight touch of frost, the garden is a remarkably untouched by winter so far and is still a riot of autumn colour. It has been really soggy and warm all week and the garden feels like the inside of the Palm House at Kew, all moist and steamy. The Salvias are magnificent.

I still have not managed to plant my bulbs and have a mass of them waiting for a dryish moment when I can whizz out and stuff them in. I went to find Wallflowers at Thompson's nurseries yesterday, always the best value.Sadly, they have stopped getting them now. The only solution is to get some from Squires at £3 a bunch.

I was hoping for a chance to garden in the Jungle tomorrow, but a storm is on its way, with lots more rain and gusts of 70mph! I have already heard a lot of movement outside and occasional sounds of things being blown over. I hope there is no real damage.

A touch of Frost ?

Woke to a beautiful bue sky and early morning sun streaming across a very wet garden, glistening on millions of dew drops. I think there may have been a touch of frost lastnight (although OH informs me that the temp went down to 0.2C which, in fact, is NOT freezing!).

The Cannas were weighed down with dew and had a wonderful silver sheen. The bamboos were bowing down across the garden to make a feathery arch, almost touching the rampant rambling rose on the other side.

Feeling poorly but still planting

The heavy rain yesterday prevented me from working so I made a dash out to Anne S' garden today, during a dry spell, despite feeling shite with a sore throat. Anne's two lovable labradors had managed to trash a few more plants in the herb/mediterranean bed, but not too awful. One poor penstemon has copped it completely, but will grow back next year.

I am really pleased with the way this garden has developed, especially as I planted the med bed in July when it was very hot and dry (just before the summer hols!). The Salvias "Hot Lips" are still in full flower, as are the big purple penstemons "Blackbird" and the lovely "Benjamin Britten" roses (a David Austin variety).

Today I planted Allium "Christophii" and lovely orange lily-flowered tulip "Ballerina" (my fav) amongst the herbs. Further along, surrounding the large silver Phormiums I planted 36 tall Red "Appeldoorn" tulips. Along the edge of the border I planted several clumps of mixed species crocus. In the bed opposite, surrounding the beautiful Cornus (now almost bare of leaves and showing those wonderful red stems)I planted 30 "Toronto" tulips. They are dwarf gregii variety in shocking pink, and multi-headed! Cant wait to see what they look like in the flesh - packet photos are never accurate.

So, having planted about 1oo bulbs I then felt truly unwell as my meds had worn off. I packed up and just in time, as it started to rain as I drove home.

Just hope I feel well enough to plant my own bulbs soon!

Miss Muppet Fifi modelling leaf headgear

Beautiful cornus - can't recall where I took this pic, maybe at Wisley.

November 1st - Wild, Wet and Windy

Got back last night from a lovely week in Cornwall, where the weather had been warm and foggy. All the weather reports for the South East had been annoyingly cheerful and Mum told me that she had been sitting outside in her Southend seaside garden all week! I have not yet planted a single bulb in my own Twickenham Jungle and was hoping to get a chance today. Sadly, the day has so far proven to be dismal and I am grumpy as a result.

This time last year when I returned from the same lovely Cornish retreat I was unable to garden at all, due to a broken ankle. Before I left for that fateful holiday I had started a project in my front garden, removing what was optimistically called "lawn" (rank grass) from the area nearest the car parking. All the shrubs and grasses that I had planted around the edge of the "lawn" had all but taken over so I decided it would be much better to bow to nature and replace the dandelion nursery with gravel.

A year has now passed and the progress on this project has been NIL. Not due to the ankle so much as a lack of time for my own patch and lots of time in other people's. So, the winter being time for a bit of a rest for the other's gardens, it is the ideal START for the Twickenham Jungle projects.

Looking out of the bathroom window I am amazed, as always, by the gorgeous autumn colours. The Osakazuki is still clinging onto most of its firey red leaves and, right in front of it, the Callicarpa's brilliant purple berries make an astonishing and eye-catching explosion. WOW. The rest of the Japanese Maples further down the garden, create a lovley backdrop, with "Omurayama" creating a filligree of rainbow colours.

I am very pleased at the mature look that the back garden has acheived in such a short space of time. I only really started the designing and planting about 6 years ago, when I became a self-employed gardener. Up til then, working full time and looking after a child had meant that my gardening was always a bit haphazard. The expense of the plants themselves is a factor, but if you have a bit more time to plan and some patience, a great effect can be acheived with small groups of immature plants which will look amazing in even a 12 month period.