Looking at photos is a great tip. At this time of year it's hard to believe just how bright the colours get in summer. This winter has been so snowy that I think I might cry when I see the first coltsfoot.
Iβm so over-the-moon excited for my garden to start bursting with color! One of the most exciting things about this time of year is walking around and noticing all the little signs of spring βΊοΈ
That giant fennel is quite something! I aspire to hellebores, but the only ones I have so far are the Corsican ones, which grew to mammoth size in my garden in Edinburgh. I'm hoping they'll be a bit more restrained further north. The bumble bees do love them. It's far too early for me to sow yet, quite apart from the permanent cloud we've been under for weeks now. I checked the amount of daylight we'll have today against that of Oxford as a rough benchmark: we have 8 hours 52 minutes, and Oxford 9 hours 30 minutes. However I do have a few snowdrops, the rhubarb is starting to unfurl leaves, and my Lonicera 'Winter Beauty' now going into its second year has some flowers. I'm disproportionately excited by the last one.
Thatβs a big difference in light levels from north to south. It makes a huge difference. Yes my giant fennel is making me very excited. But I am slightly dreading how tall it will get, possibly 4 metres! Iβm hoping it will look at home among the hollyhocks, which can sometimes get up to about 3-4m tall in a good year, but I donβt want it to look like a meerkat above everything else.
Re chop and drop: there are some things (eg hostas) which don't make enough foliage somehow to create a mulch. But I'd say that generally a full border produces more than enough - enough to keep both weeds and desirable self seeders from germinating. Well worth waiting for regrowth to shine through for those challenged by overwhelming garden work. (Otherwise it's bare soil, or finding, importing and spreading mulch?)
I love the whole concept of chop and drop and I really want to keep doing it but last year it just didnβt work because it hardly broke down at all - when I started clearing and dividing in autumn it was all still there, intact. And my borders really suffered in the drought, like everyoneβs, and I felt that they missed out on the moisture thatβs kept in by a dense mulch. But I donβt want to overfeed everything - itβs a real conundrum and Iβve written again about it in this weekβs post, about to drop tomorrow.
Im on the west coast of British Columbia, Canada. This year Iβm experimenting with the winter seed sowing method using milk cartons and leaving them outside. The problem is itβs been very warm here so we shall see. Ammi Visnaga has sprouted along with Calendulas. Sweet peas planted in January have germinated and are in the greenhouse along with snapdragons and rudbeckia which are almost ready to prick out. Itβs exciting. In the garden Ammi has self seeded everywhere and has flower heads. Iβll leave it for now and cut it for huge bouquets soon. Happy Gardening!
I have ammi self seeding everywhere too but it must be much warmer with you as mine is nowhere near flowering! My January-sown sweet peas are also in the greenhouse but just tiny shoots at the moment. I love the anticipation of what these seedlings will become!
I found that my own sweet pea seeds collected last year and kept in the freezer have almost 100% germination while last year was a struggle for me with bought seeds.
Thatβs interesting. I also grew mine the previous year from my own saved seed - the germination was great but Iβm not sure the plants were as floriferous as they had been the first year.
Sweet pea, Calendula and nasturtiums germinated..& now trying to slow them down in our Summer House (pretending to be a greenhouse this year!) Saw the snowdrops at Waterperry last week on the only sunny day of the week! Wonderfully restorative. Enjoy your seeds in Feb and thank you for all the gardening inspiration Clare. Katie πx
PS pls could I ask what colour your front door /windows are..I have got myself in a twist about paint colours here!
Just jumping in Katie to say that I planned a border around the paint colour of our doors and windows. It's the closest border to the house so I wanted something that wouldn't jar. The paintwork is a sage green (and there's an unbelievable number of RAL shades of sage green, so we went through many testers), and the planting is pale blues, soft yellows and some silver. I was pleased with the overall effect in its first summer last year.
Oh thanks soo much Linda. Thatβs decided then (as I think my planting sounds similar to yours/or will be when my seeds have grown!) I tried Little Greenβs Sage and I think it could be the one ! Thank you πx
Yes in this wet weather you just have to keep focused on the easy wins! 50 larkspur seedlings sounds good. I sometimes find larkspur can be tricky to germinate - it seems to need greenhouse cool rather than indoors heat.
Looking at photos is a great tip. At this time of year it's hard to believe just how bright the colours get in summer. This winter has been so snowy that I think I might cry when I see the first coltsfoot.
Iβm so over-the-moon excited for my garden to start bursting with color! One of the most exciting things about this time of year is walking around and noticing all the little signs of spring βΊοΈ
That giant fennel is quite something! I aspire to hellebores, but the only ones I have so far are the Corsican ones, which grew to mammoth size in my garden in Edinburgh. I'm hoping they'll be a bit more restrained further north. The bumble bees do love them. It's far too early for me to sow yet, quite apart from the permanent cloud we've been under for weeks now. I checked the amount of daylight we'll have today against that of Oxford as a rough benchmark: we have 8 hours 52 minutes, and Oxford 9 hours 30 minutes. However I do have a few snowdrops, the rhubarb is starting to unfurl leaves, and my Lonicera 'Winter Beauty' now going into its second year has some flowers. I'm disproportionately excited by the last one.
Thatβs a big difference in light levels from north to south. It makes a huge difference. Yes my giant fennel is making me very excited. But I am slightly dreading how tall it will get, possibly 4 metres! Iβm hoping it will look at home among the hollyhocks, which can sometimes get up to about 3-4m tall in a good year, but I donβt want it to look like a meerkat above everything else.
"Meerkat" π
Re chop and drop: there are some things (eg hostas) which don't make enough foliage somehow to create a mulch. But I'd say that generally a full border produces more than enough - enough to keep both weeds and desirable self seeders from germinating. Well worth waiting for regrowth to shine through for those challenged by overwhelming garden work. (Otherwise it's bare soil, or finding, importing and spreading mulch?)
I love the whole concept of chop and drop and I really want to keep doing it but last year it just didnβt work because it hardly broke down at all - when I started clearing and dividing in autumn it was all still there, intact. And my borders really suffered in the drought, like everyoneβs, and I felt that they missed out on the moisture thatβs kept in by a dense mulch. But I donβt want to overfeed everything - itβs a real conundrum and Iβve written again about it in this weekβs post, about to drop tomorrow.
Im on the west coast of British Columbia, Canada. This year Iβm experimenting with the winter seed sowing method using milk cartons and leaving them outside. The problem is itβs been very warm here so we shall see. Ammi Visnaga has sprouted along with Calendulas. Sweet peas planted in January have germinated and are in the greenhouse along with snapdragons and rudbeckia which are almost ready to prick out. Itβs exciting. In the garden Ammi has self seeded everywhere and has flower heads. Iβll leave it for now and cut it for huge bouquets soon. Happy Gardening!
I have ammi self seeding everywhere too but it must be much warmer with you as mine is nowhere near flowering! My January-sown sweet peas are also in the greenhouse but just tiny shoots at the moment. I love the anticipation of what these seedlings will become!
I found that my own sweet pea seeds collected last year and kept in the freezer have almost 100% germination while last year was a struggle for me with bought seeds.
Thatβs interesting. I also grew mine the previous year from my own saved seed - the germination was great but Iβm not sure the plants were as floriferous as they had been the first year.
Sweet pea, Calendula and nasturtiums germinated..& now trying to slow them down in our Summer House (pretending to be a greenhouse this year!) Saw the snowdrops at Waterperry last week on the only sunny day of the week! Wonderfully restorative. Enjoy your seeds in Feb and thank you for all the gardening inspiration Clare. Katie πx
PS pls could I ask what colour your front door /windows are..I have got myself in a twist about paint colours here!
Just jumping in Katie to say that I planned a border around the paint colour of our doors and windows. It's the closest border to the house so I wanted something that wouldn't jar. The paintwork is a sage green (and there's an unbelievable number of RAL shades of sage green, so we went through many testers), and the planting is pale blues, soft yellows and some silver. I was pleased with the overall effect in its first summer last year.
Oooh! Ps - which Sage did you use in the end please?! xx
I'll excavate the RAL colour from the house renovation file and let you know.
Pls donβt worry at all..Iβll look at various sage greens!
Oh thanks soo much Linda. Thatβs decided then (as I think my planting sounds similar to yours/or will be when my seeds have grown!) I tried Little Greenβs Sage and I think it could be the one ! Thank you πx
Yes in this wet weather you just have to keep focused on the easy wins! 50 larkspur seedlings sounds good. I sometimes find larkspur can be tricky to germinate - it seems to need greenhouse cool rather than indoors heat.