February is here and nothing is better for the soul on a dreary day than to take a walk and see nature telling us spring is nearly here. February is a month of hope, whilst we can still get snow and cold snaps, on those mild days we are having it is great to get out and see what is waking up in the garden.
My snowdrops are starting to come out and it is great to see that the 100 bulbs in the green I planted a couple of years ago are starting to really bulk out. Having the bees has really made me think about the year round pollen because as soon as the sun hits the hive the bees are out foraging. In a couple of months, the bluebells will be out down the woods but in the mean time I decided the bees need some more early pollen so the Hellebores have gone down there and I bought some crocuses to go down there in the hope the squirrels don’t dig them up and the bees will benefit.
As expected Longacres has filled up with everything you need for planning the year ahead in the garden. Seeds and summer bulbs have arrived and I have spent hours there over the last few weeks. I use the opportunity to learn as much as I can about the plants I’ve never heard of. This is the beauty of gardening, the constant ability to learn more.
The selection of seeds available is huge and gives gardeners the opportunity to grow a much wider choice than buying plants later on in the year. So much choice I was quite restrained in only buying some Nicotiana Affinis and Nicotiana Lime Green. I will hold off planting them until the end of February/March when there will be more daylight available. Too often gardeners are raring to go planting seeds too early in the year and end up with weak, leggy plants, we’ve all been there and learnt that lesson. In the meantime, make the most of the time shopping and planning.
I bought 3 Arthur Hambley Dahlias to replace the red dahlias that I had last year. The red dahlias have been gifted to my father in law to brighten his garden and I can’t wait to plant up my new dahlias next month and put them in the cold frame to give them a head start.
I’ve decided that I will try and limit my plastic use in garden wherever possible. Listening to an RHS podcast recently I was interested to hear that plants that are grown in pots that can be planted straight into the ground end up as healthier stronger plants due to lack of root disturbance, so I have bought some peat free fibre pots to plant some of my seeds in. I will re-use the plastic pots I already have and will continue to do so until they are no longer usable. Take the time to look for alternatives or ask on local gardening groups if they have pots to recycle, we can all play our part.
My daughter has started thinking about her flowerbed and we took a trip to Longacres together to see if there was anything she wanted for her flowerbed. She chose a Sweet Love Dahlia and a Fuzzy Wuzzy Dahlia to go with a couple of lupins and some carrots. I feel this bed may be a traditional country style bed with vegetables grown amongst flowers, and I love that idea. The key to engaging her and keeping her enthusiasm will be success. I need to help her make the bed flourish so she doesn’t get disheartened, so we will buy some larger plants for a bit of instant impact later on in the spring. We have dug in some manure and transferred some of her existing plants and the lupins, so it is the start of exciting new beginnings for this flowerbed.
So far, this winter has been a mild one, even so though we need to keep feeding the birds. Favourites in my garden are the Peckish complete suet bites and mealworms. I am sitting here writing this whilst watching the bluetits, nuthatch and robins making the most of it.
Nothing quite beats watching nature on your doorstep.
