After a few days of clear sunny days and blue skies, even with a hint of warmth in the sun on Thursday, it was almost inevitable that we would soon be seeing our first frost of the season - and so it was, arriving like a thief in the night. Temperatures dipped to -2°C in the early hours, and haven't risen above 5°C for the rest of the day, finally putting paid to autumn for this year.
It is too soon to see the effects of the frost on the garden - my dahlias, usually the first to display frostbite, were lifted in another burst of enthusiastic garden activity this week, and stored in the sitooterie to dry off, having deduced that no more buds would be opening.
Just like the previous week, it has been another most satisfactory week with everything garden-related, boosted by a message from Anna of Green Tapestry, informing me that amaryllis/hippeastrum were currently available in Lidl, an occurrence that ground to a halt after Brexit, with bulbs in both Aldi and Lidl severely restricted. Not surprisingly, I have taken advantage of this knowledge!
Following progress with the leaf mould last week, once the cage was emptied I moved on to emptying the 2022 compost heap, a task that is easily put off - last year till after Christmas, even though the active heap had been all but overflowing for a few months. This year, however, having polished the job off in just 3 or 4 hours, I have realised how much easier the job is when done in more clement weather, and it seemed a minor miracle to have an empty bin so quickly!
The compost was spread around roses, hellebores and rhododendrons and would normally be spread on the cutting beds too; however, we have plans to 'rearrange' this area (an idea that, unusually, came from the Golfer but which I immediately could see was sensible), to enable the working greenhouse to be re-orientated to allow easier maintenance. As the still-in-its-infancy scheme will not happen until after our February opening, I have temporarily heaped up the rest of the compost on two of the cutting beds that will not be affected by the changes, now looking suspiciously like freshly dug graves...
When spreading leaf mould and compost in the woodland edge border, I began spotting the first green shoots of native snowdrops, something that always seems so early but is actually pretty typical. Having so far put off pootling around where my named snowdrops have been planted, I allowed myself a sample investigation under the leaf litter and was rewarded with a few spikes of one or two varieties - things are hotting up! In the meantime, autumn or early winter flowering 'Barnes' is in full bloom:
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Seeking blooms for a posy, I picked some from a pot of surprisingly still-floriferous argyranthemum that sits outside our front door, and took the decision to bring them inside and overwinter them to provide cuttings for next year. I normally buy a batch of plug plants each year and they are the mainstay of several summer pots, so I wouldn't be without them. If the cuttings are successful, it would be a far more economical and environmentally friendly option but, if not, although I usually order them around now to ensure their availability, I may still be able to buy them later in the spring.
Thank you to Jim of Garden Ruminations for giving us the opportunity to share six things from our garden each Saturday
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