Through the garden gate--February

I decided to make a start on clearing the garden borders a couple of weeks ago. Although the wildlife might still need the seed heads and protection from the fallen leaves, if I left it all until later in the Spring there would be just too much work for me cope with.  We have a big garden so I work on a section at a time. I haven't got very far with it yet, but it's a start and once I 've got started I'm always very keen to keep up with it. So I have been down on my hands and knees with my hand rake, clearing away all the fallen leaves and debris.

After all the weather warnings about storm Doris, we survived with no damage to the garden (I haven't checked the allotment yet!), just a few more twigs and dead grasses blown about the garden.

The garden is gradually waking up, and clumps of colour are appearing in the beds. The snowdrops will soon be gone over and are now being replaced by crocuses and tete a tete daffodils. The crocuses get pecked at by the birds but provide welcome colour in February.  I love the mini daffodils which are starting to flower now.  They will last quite a few weeks. There are hellebores too which also last for a while.

One spot of colour I have been  enjoying this month is the witch hazel. Its yellow flowers start to open towards the end of January and continue through February. Its good to have some winter flowering shrubs.

The woodland garden is looking good now. Its best time of year is from now until about May or June. Once the tree comes into full leaf it becomes quite shady, but now the bulbs are carpeting the ground underneath. It's an out of the way place, so I have to make a point of going there. At the moment I usually pop up there every day, I don't want to miss any new flowers coming through.

This month I am linking to Sarah at 'Down by the Sea' for her monthly 'Through the Garden Gate' post.

Slowly

Slowly things are starting to happen down on the plot. For a few weeks there's not been much going on and I've tidied up as much as I can, in readiness for the Spring. I've enjoyed pottering about, there's always something to be done.  It's good to be down there, it's a good place to switch off from things at home, or think things out.

We have just a few little areas with bulbs and flowers and now we can see there's new growth. The spring bulbs and primroses are gradually starting to come through.They will soon be seen as little splashes of brightness.

The rhubarb is growing and there are buds on the fruit bushes. The strawberry tubs were looking a mess, they were full of leaves from the tree which overhangs the tubs. I removed the leaves, cut back the old leaves from the plants and got rid of the straw left over from the summer. I can now see the new growth and today I put a layer of compost around the plants. I have some new plants in the cold frame which are from the runners. I'm thinking of planting some of these up in troughs to put in the greenhouse for an early crop. 

Once my seed potatoes and onion sets arrived I felt things were really starting to happen. The potatoes  are now chitting in the back bedroom and the onion sets have been planted in cell trays to start them off. 

My seed order arrived too. There's always the dilemma of when  to start sowing seeds. My greenhouse is unheated and in the last couple of weeks I have started off chillies, sweet peppers, tomatoes, leeks, lettuce, and broad beans. The chillies and tomatoes I brought home to keep in warmer temperatures. This week the chillies, tomatoes and lettuce seedlings have started to come through. As usual it is so exciting to see those first seedlings germinated. 

And so little by little things are getting done. Soon in March there will be the mad rush of more seed sowing and planting. But in the meantime I am enjoying slowly pottering about.

Snowdrop time

It's that time of year when the snowdrops start to appear. They pop up all over the place. There are drifts of them in our local park. Down the lane where we walk every morning we see clumps of them peeping out from the garden of the house on the corner.  There are more clumps which have escaped into the hedgerow along the lane. I have some in the garden and at the allotment and every year I plant a few more in the hope of getting a lovely display.

The snowdrop seems to be loved by so many people.  For me they are a sign that life goes on, they appear at a dark time of year, one of the first flowers of the year and a promise of more to come. They grow, they flower, they die down, they have a rest then they come back again. I suppose that's true for many more flowers, but the snowdrop comes to life at a time of year which is quite gloomy It's a reminder of that hope which we so often need at this time of the year, a promise that Spring isn't too far off.

It's the start of the growing season. As we come out of the darkness of winter, more plants are coming to life and we can look forward to more colour in our gardens and in the countryside. Soon we can start work in our gardens and allotments--some of us have started already!

Into a dark world

a snowdrop comes

a blessing

of hope and peace

carrying within it

a green heart

symbol of God's renewing love