Gardening Interlude...
It's not raining, so I went out into the garden today to continue with flower bed excavation.
I'm almost finished my first bed - I'll be planting the last of the crocuses and the violas next weekend, and I have also further added my personal stamp on the garden by rehabilitating the first of the refugees from my previous garden. These were the pretty lilac primulas that I found growing in my Aunt Olwen's garden when she lived - all too briefly - in Scotland.
The sense of co-operation with the garden is growing. But it still seems quite sterile in terms of its wildlife. One odd benefit of the move is becoming apparent, though. The time has come to take the tuberous begonias indoors for the winter (they're volunteering to make the move now, I'm pleased to say). So I'm using the spare begonia compost to mulch the new stretches of bed before I plant the violas and primulas. The amount of worms that are pouring out of this compost is extraordinary, and they all seem quite happy to be granted a nice new home. I'm sure that before long they'll be doing a grand job, too.
My daffodils and tulips are on order from Thomson and Morgan. I don't know whether I'll get the beds prepared in time, so this year I might just put the bulbs in pots for the spring then move them across to their future flowering places as I get the place transformed and rehabilitated.
And the birds... Oh my goodness, the birds!
We have great tits, blue tits, coal tits, house sparrows, greenfinches, goldfinches and chaffinches in abundance. The tits turned their beaks up at the peanuts a month ago, but now they're guzzling them, so I guess conditions are now right for them to be seeking out the extra oil and protein. We have our usual Privy Council meeting of rooks, the odd carrion crow and a squad of jackdaws, plus the occasional woodpigeon and collared dove. The robins are there or thereabouts whenever I'm out gardening, and the blackbirds have been around, too.
In short, it feels like a proper home. The garden's got a long way to go until it feels right for me, but I'm sure that once I create the conditions, the wild things will soon more in here.
And now I have to edit a novel and water some orchids, so adieu!!
I'm almost finished my first bed - I'll be planting the last of the crocuses and the violas next weekend, and I have also further added my personal stamp on the garden by rehabilitating the first of the refugees from my previous garden. These were the pretty lilac primulas that I found growing in my Aunt Olwen's garden when she lived - all too briefly - in Scotland.
The sense of co-operation with the garden is growing. But it still seems quite sterile in terms of its wildlife. One odd benefit of the move is becoming apparent, though. The time has come to take the tuberous begonias indoors for the winter (they're volunteering to make the move now, I'm pleased to say). So I'm using the spare begonia compost to mulch the new stretches of bed before I plant the violas and primulas. The amount of worms that are pouring out of this compost is extraordinary, and they all seem quite happy to be granted a nice new home. I'm sure that before long they'll be doing a grand job, too.
My daffodils and tulips are on order from Thomson and Morgan. I don't know whether I'll get the beds prepared in time, so this year I might just put the bulbs in pots for the spring then move them across to their future flowering places as I get the place transformed and rehabilitated.
And the birds... Oh my goodness, the birds!
We have great tits, blue tits, coal tits, house sparrows, greenfinches, goldfinches and chaffinches in abundance. The tits turned their beaks up at the peanuts a month ago, but now they're guzzling them, so I guess conditions are now right for them to be seeking out the extra oil and protein. We have our usual Privy Council meeting of rooks, the odd carrion crow and a squad of jackdaws, plus the occasional woodpigeon and collared dove. The robins are there or thereabouts whenever I'm out gardening, and the blackbirds have been around, too.
In short, it feels like a proper home. The garden's got a long way to go until it feels right for me, but I'm sure that once I create the conditions, the wild things will soon more in here.
And now I have to edit a novel and water some orchids, so adieu!!