The weather has been pretty mild this month and, at times, very wet. Today, there’s a marked change – a cold wind from the east and much, much colder. But there’s masses of clearing up to do – whether in rain or sun. Tidying up the summer garden seems to take for ever – especially the nepeta - and I've been trying to fill at least one trug of dead stuff every day. Some days I've even managed three or four.
But now we’re getting frosts forecast so I’m glad I put straw round the artichokes some time ago. And today I put some more around a couple of echiums and over dahlias which are still in the ground. Good side of the chilly weather is that it’s meant to be getting drier.
Because it's been so mild, there's a lot of new growth on all sorts of plants. Today I noticed the artichokes were producing globes already. Primroses flowering in October, roses in November, daffodils in December ... will they all survive a sudden cold spell?
We've had hard frosts down here the last two winters - down to -8C . The first year I lost all the artichokes so last winter made sure to mulch them and they came through, as did melianthus. Several shrubs got badly cut back but all came through in the end.
Because it's been so mild, there's a lot of new growth on all sorts of plants. Today I noticed the artichokes were producing globes already. Primroses flowering in October, roses in November, daffodils in December ... will they all survive a sudden cold spell?
We've had hard frosts down here the last two winters - down to -8C . The first year I lost all the artichokes so last winter made sure to mulch them and they came through, as did melianthus. Several shrubs got badly cut back but all came through in the end.
The straw was a useful part of Jeremy's Christmas present from Hannah and James - it was the packing around a rhubarb forcer. We put this in position early in January and yesterday harvested three beautifully pink, fat blanched stems. With the addition of a few unblanched stems, they made a very tasty rhubarb and ginger upside down cake, a recipe from Dan Lepard. His new book, Short & Sweet, has become the new baking bible round here . Tried loads of bread recipes, some cookies and some savouries - not a failure yet.
After dark, it's down to sorting through seed packets – flowers and vegetables, ordering up fresh supplies. Yesterday I used some of the older veg seed to start some mini salad leaves – beetroot, red cabbage and pak choi. Got the inspiration from the Veg Plotting blog. Looking forward to some good, fresh salad leaves. Must keep sowing once a week and try microgreens too. | The paperwhites planted in October have kept on coming into flower since Christmas, and bulbs in pots outside, especially the little Iris reticulata (J.S. Dijt, Purple Sensation, and Katharine Hodgkin) have lifted the spirits too. |