Six on Saturday - 28 January 2023

 Last week Jim under whose 'cold frame' we gather each Saturday for our Six on Saturdays chatterings asked about my sowing of the cyclamen seed at this time.  I sowed the seed in a 'dark place' and keep them in a warmish place.  I can't quite find the exact instructions without skim reading, and it may have been on an online forum.  I tried three of my book on cyclamen, and since the seeds have yet to show their first leaf, the system may not have been effective and they will have to go out into the garden.

2.  This time of the year green leaves with a bit of a pattern shine out in the more gloomy days.

Arum italicum 

3. Gloom and damp make the mosses grow.  With no lawn where mosses for some are a nuisance, any little growths are to be admired.  I had taken this picture of a moss growing across a small stone on one of the little bonsai dishes I had planted up. 

Then Mr S called me in for coffee, and he was suggesting programmes in the coming week that I may enjoy and there is to be one this coming Wednesday called 'The Magical World of Moss', which will be on catch up after that( BBC 4 TV).  How serendipitous was that?

4. The old pots with self sown moss and self sown wild ferns from my garden in Kenilworth, are taking on a beautiful mature look.  Still with a few leaves on side crowns, I love to watch the leaves on these unfurl as spring progresses. In a few weeks I shall cut off all this growth the better to enjoy the new growth.

5.  I can't but add a snowdrop or two.....Galanthus gracilis 'Vic Horton'.  I bought it last year and followed the advice on this one and planted it in a patch of well drained soil.  It also had several doses of dilute sea weed feed. It has improved well here, and its ovary, although infertile,  is a lighter shade of olive.  Its leaves are fine and twisted and the whole plant is small and dainty. It is an excellent doer in this garden.

Just further along the same bed, is one another snowdrop: the ovary is yellow and this 'bleeds' out to the pedicel, spathe and down the scape.  It is a form of the common nivalis but with some yellow colour gradually increasing through its flowering stem up to the ovary. It increased from one to two this year: Galanthus nivalis Sandersii.

6.  I ventured to 'Gooseberry Bush Corner' and found a tangle of crossing thorny branches.  

Thank goodness I am in time to do a winter prune, and found some good advice. I have two gooseberry bushes: the one in the furthest corner is Invicta which comes into fruit early and had a good heavy crop of green goosegogs.  There is still a few jars of gooseberry conserve, which I enjoy with my yogurt. 

The one which I am peering over here is  Rubus uva-crispa Hinnonmaki Red. Last year I covered this one as the berries were turning dark red with an old net curtain.  You know the type, the ones you had in the loft from years back that you think will come in useful.  They did indeed become very useful to blackbirds were very carefully hidden behind them and could enjoy a bountiful crop hidden from my gaze.  One morning I saw a faint movement as the blackbirds were reaching the extreme of the branches getting to the last gooseberries, and when I went out, the bush was more or less stripped!  

This year I shall watch the blackbirds and pick as soon as they deem them to be ripe enough.  I now read that there are thornless varieties and may be tempted to try some perhaps another year if I get some good personal recommendations.

This week I became owner of a 'green waste' bin, have bought large sticky number to go on, and will be delighted to throw the pruning of the bushes straight into it.  I shall still of course carry out my bin duties each fortnight for the close!

I'm off to join in with my gardening pals, and you can use the link at the top of the post, for gardening conversations. Have a good week.