A day of two halves

Well, after the snow of last Tuesday, the temperatures have never really got much above 9 and even the greenhouse has only just remained above 0 some nights.
But it was dry and not at all windy in my arrival so it was straight on the back with the knapsack sprayer and I sprayed off  all the paths, round the greenhouse, the veg bed and the area surrounding it, and a wide strip below the lower herbaceous border.
Despite the overall drop in temperature, the borders continue to progress and green up and it is good to see that most, if not all the plants are coming back bigger, better and stronger than last year, which for many was their first.

There are tulips starting to  open now, just as the daffs are starting to fade a wee bit (their lifespan wasn't exactly boosted by last weeks snow), including these ones in the top border

Similarly , down in the greenhouse the perrenials due to be planted out next month are really getting a shift on and despite a few casualties, most are looking really healthy. The ones pictured below, Verbena hastata "Blue Spire",  have really put on a lot of growth in the last week or so

Elsewhere in the greenhouse, I potted on the lupins grown from self-saved seed - there were 54 cells sown and we have got 48 young lupins so I'm quite happy, These are destined to form a "wall" below the hedge of the lower of the two herbaceous borders.

Also in the greenhouse are the sweet peas, both for the borders and for the exhibition cordon growing trial. These have already had their grwoing tips pinched out and the sideshoots are beginning to grow away well. The pots pictured below are the variety Daphne which are one of the three varieties to be grown as cordons.

Finally in the greenhouse, the onion sets are going to need planted out in the very near future - let's just hope it warms up soon.

Still on the veg front, Sally had put the seed tatties in the potting shed to chit a couple of weeks ago. However, see what happens when you feed the friendly mouse with pizza -this is how he / she / it repays you.

The trays are now balanced on top of two Morrisons Flower Buckets - hopefully this should stop any further damage.

As the title of this weeks entry states, this was a day of two halves. Fine and dry in the morning, really wicked heavy showers in the afternoon. I spent the afternoon with my mattock, continuing the removal of dockens, dandelions, nettles and old currant bush roots from the fruit bed. Finally, I pulled some leeks for Sally before I finished. There are another half dozen or so left and that's them done.

As you can imagine, I was pretty well soaked through by the time, so it was time to head home and get the stove on - bliss! See you next week

Scorchio No More !

What a chamge from last week. When I got up this morning there was about 1/2 inch of snow in my own garden. However I am only a couple of minutes walk from the coast and only about 100m above sea level. Scotsburn is a bit further from the coast and 400m above sea level - and what a difference it makes. There was between 3 and 4 inches of snow lying in the garden on my arrival and throughout the morning, several more small but nasty falls kept it going for a while longer.
Here is what I was met with this morning...

And the view from the potting shed..........

Whilst it was still this miserable, I decided that the potting shed could do with a clear out and set abot sorting everything out and sweeping up the detritus of 26 or so years, so now I have a place for everything and everything in it's place ..........

As you can see, the weather started to brighten up soon after I finished and the aftenoon was actually very pleasant indeed. Whilst clearing the potting shed, I came across an old piece of a cardboard box which originally held hyacinth bulbs

More to the point, there were handwritten notes below each picture stating where they should be planted and what with. From the right,  Jan Bos was to be planted in tubs along with Parrot tulips and Anemone blanda, L'Innocence was to be planted in bowls along with Lily Tulips, Ostara was to be in bowls on its own, City of Harlem was to be planted in a row in the front border of the house along with Parrot Tulips and Lady Derby on it's own in bowls.

Although there was still snow on the ground, it was retreating from the edges of the walls as the weasther brightened, so I got the Mantis out and rotavated the ground for the first line of the cordon sweet peas that Sally wants to grow for showing this year. This bed had already been dug over and the Mantis made short work of the soil. Then it was in with the canes at approximately a size 10 welly distance apart. The canes were then strung together and staked at both ends. There is another row to do next eek when I bring over some more canes.

By now it was actually getting quite warm and various plants were beginning to show themselves.

There was the ornamental quince, Chaenomeles japonica, of which there are two in the garden - one with a white flower and the other with the more common red flower.......

In the long borders, the three Paeony "Sara Bernhardt" plants are looking well .......

And up by the summerhouse, the Viburnum looks good, especailly against a clear blue sky !...

Down in the greenhouse, things continue to grow on well, and yet another tree paeony has appeared, giving us four plants from seven seeds sown. The first of the brassica seeds are germinating......

And the self saved lupins continue to appear - there are now 51 young seedlings in the tray (don't try and count them - some cells have two seedlings in!).....

After watering everything that needed it, I decided to set about the fruit border next. Now this is full of old blackcurrant bushes, bramble roots, nettles, thistles, dockens etc etc, so Ibrought my old mattock out of retirement especially for this border.........

And that's about it for this week - nothing done that was planned to do but still quite a lot achieved in spite of the snow. See y'all next week.