(1)This time of year a variety of birds flock to the garden. The come for both water and sunflower seeds. Am I being too generous? I had to pick off a couple of caterpillars with my own hand, and left it on the wire basket on the feeder. I am surprised this robin had not gobbled it up, but I think he was too busy keeping guard on his patch. As soon as the temperatures rose, birds came to the birdbath.
(2) Some may be willing to run out and cover plants with fleece, but I'm not one of them. Here Phlomis purpurea Matagallo has been severely nipped. I think with it having been very wet, it just could not shrug the icy conditions. It needs a cut back, but I wonder if left, the foliage will help protect the stems? Will the outcome be removal and something altogether hardier sought to fill the gap?
(3) At its feet a few Iris Reticulata Harmony have survived.
(5) Salix chaenomeloides/ gracilistyla 'Mount Aso' is great for a little spring cheer. I think I need to try a different pruning regime, or maybe even a Chelsea Chop. I would like the shrub to be a little bushier. The strong prune I gave it last spring has resulted in some very strong, long lax stems, albeit well covered in pink catkins. As they were emerging I was powerless to resist going out and picking off the little coverings which at that stage were balancing on the ends. Hope some botanist can come up for the name of those little bud coverings.
The other activity which has helped me shift the blues this week is thinking up items for this weekly post. Looking back over previous Six on Saturdays, I can see how plants fared in previous seasons, and realise that the garden is simply going through its usual winter blues too. Thank goodness for the Propagator who thought up this weekly get together and has persevered keeping us together. He is still running and finding things to do in his garden.
Pheasants adore peanuts. I simply go out the door and whistle and they arrive for their peanuts - a brilliant trick for my grandchildren! They don't do a lot of damage, to be honest. That gift - Trumps! A fabulous snowdrop!
ReplyDeleteMay your grandchildren absorb your brilliant gardening magic too. Our garden is far too small to feel that we would want to welcome pheasants with hardly a blackbird's width between plants. If they kept to the steeping stones it would be different. Have a good week Paddy.
ReplyDeleteSorry to see the damage from the cold weather. Still, plants can be pretty resilient.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great photo of the Salix - it looks brilliant!
Thanks Andrew, the corydalis are waiting another week.
DeleteI have a thyme that isn't looking too promising after all the cold and wet. The iris are lovely.
ReplyDeleteI am almost too afraid to check the creeping thymes which was been trodden underground by the pheasant et al.
DeleteThat Salix is so pretty. We used to be visited by pheasants but not recently. In spite of lockdown, the local "shoots" were still allowed (why?) so that could affect numbers. The irises are such a dramatic colour.
ReplyDeleteThere are no shoots round here at all. As you ask I too wonder how are 'shoots' essential in any case?
DeleteI can see that I'm not the only one who has rosemary that has brown stems. I nevertheless have a few flowers that have already arrived on the new green stems. Like you said, the cold and the humidity must be the reason. Pretty salix kittens !
ReplyDeleteTwo other varieties of Rosemary nearby have survived intact thankfully. It is still far too wet to garden.
DeleteI think I'd be tempted to cut the willow back hard then pinch the new shoots before they'd got very far, give it the maximum amount of time to grow away again and form flower buds. Disclaimer: I've never grown this plant or anything like it!.
ReplyDeleteI was beginning to formulate something very similar, and with such an experienced person as you, was will try that. Afterall there is another year to try something different.
DeleteWhat a lovely gift to come home to after your injection. I hope you manage to get the salix stems to bulk up as the catkins are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThe Salix catkins look pretty with their frosty covers. Does that one grow very big? The only willows I know of are large, so I'm guessing that's a small variety or you are keeping it smaller with your 'Chelsea chop'.
ReplyDeleteI love your dear little robin.
I've seen it growing quite compactly. It must be the way it is being grown and trimmed. I'm in The Gardening Bubble, which was the HPS group, on Facebook, and several good pictures were posted by Caroline Stone showing hers branching out and about the height I envisaged. She had not pruned at all.
DeleteI have heard horror stories of pheasants in other bloggers' gardens but what a shame if it forced you to remove the pleasure of your birdfeeder...Interesting to see your Mt Aso and know that it is becoming bushy. I bought one last year after seeing Chloris' one and it seems to have settled in OK. Mine us a half standard but I don't want it to grow much taller, but a bushy top would be good. Nothing like a new snowdrop to bring you pleasure!
ReplyDeleteI'll cherish that snowdrop Cathy. It is now in the soil in the 'Snowdrop bed'. It will be well looked after.
DeleteI'm so pleased to hear that you've had the vaccine Noelle. I was also a received my first injection on Tuesday last week 😂 I hope that the rosemary perks up. Oh those pink catkins are such fun aren't they? A most lovely gift to come home to from Cathy.'Trumps' is not only beautiful but it soon makes a substantial clump.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip on Trumps. I've placed it in the garden today. I've cut the rosemary back after attempting to cut off the really damaged shoots, as it still looked very misshaped. If it does not leaf up this spring, then there are two spaces looking to receive something else!
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