Downsized

Now the rain has stopped – more or less – there is a chance to do stuff outside. The ground is waterlogged so no digging, lifting or planting for now. I went out with a torch and saw lots of shoots had appeared under my bamboo. I thought it odd not to have noticed them sooner. Closer inspection revealed bamboo leaves had been dragged into the soil with half their length still sticking out. The worms have woken up.

Here are my six for the week.

1. This is a seed pod from Cobaea scandens. I’m not sure what to do with it as it seems to be showing no signs of ripening. Given the flat shape of the seeds I’m hoping there will be loads inside.

2. The bottom bit of my garden, waiting to be remodelled into a foliage area. Only posting to show the railway line, with a train heading for Penzance.

3. Chrysosplenium macrophyllum. An easy and vigorous member of the saxifrage family which grows in the shade and multiplies by runners. I find it really useful, though the runners are very brittle

4. Spuds. These are Swift which will be planted in the polytunnel next week.

5. I am in love with this willow. I bought it last year at huge expense, and then it got eaten by a neighbour’s sheep. This is the one surviving shoot. Salix gracilistyla ‘Mount Aso’. I have not tweaked the colour.

6. Hellebore. It’s lumbered with the name Ice n’ Roses Red.

That’s it for this week. Thanks again to the Propagator for hosting.

Another wet week apart from Friday which was dry and sunny and not too windy. Some things in the garden are hanging on from last year, overlapping with stuff starting into growth for the new year.  When I lived in East Anglia it was a cleaner break between one year and the next.  Sometimes I miss that, but I admire those plants that are hanging on giving colour.

1. Geum Scarlet Tempest

This is a hanger-on but it performed spectacularly over the summer.

2.  Eccremocarpus scaber

I could call this a hanger-on, but it’s still making lots of new growth, particularly on the other side of the fence out of the wind.

3.  Greenhouse

I finally got round to tidying up the greenhouse.  It was a pleasure to find properly dead plants which can be binned, and a relief to be able to walk in without stepping over mess and debris,  And now I have space …  for more plants.  Pellies and dry-or-die stuff on the right, work station at the far end, succulents on the left with shady babies under the bench.  And staff room in the middle.  I don’t think it will stay like this for long.

I made a pleasing discovery during this process.  A Karcher windowvac will remove algal deposits from the glass.  The windows were already wet with overnight condensation, and the vac just took it all away.  No hoses, buckets, or water down your sleeves.

4. Spare succulents

These are the offsets and broken bits saved from last season.  All unwatered since October.  They will be sorted and replanted or given away in the spring.

5. Casualty

I moved this pot and the whole plant fell off.  Blasted vine weevils.  Must have missed it with the nematodes.

6. Damp atmosphere

Presumably the constantly damp atmosphere we’ve had for the last three months has led to this proliferation of aerial roots.

 

Joining Six on Saturday hosted by The Propagator.