Archive for ◊ February, 2010 ◊

Author:
• Sunday, February 21st, 2010

Today we’ve had a mix of all types of weather which has not been favourable to gardening. Snow, rain and sun succeeded throughout the day. As the ground is still too wet to dig I decided to get on with clearing and cleaning the greeenhouse. First I removed all my pots of succulents and autumn cuttings from the greenhouse and cleaned all the window panes. I also removed any old grow bag and leaves left from last summer’s tomato and pepper crops.

Then as it started to rain it was time to bring back my old wooden bench from the shed into the greenhouse and set everything back in place. A little inquisite robin got trapped in the greenhouse as I was preparing a couple of pots for sowing. I sowed some sweet peas (of mixed colours) as well as some passion flower seeds which are both lovely climbers and which I will keep indoors for now.

Amaryllis Aphrodite

Amaryllis Aphrodite

I am in the process of sorting my seeds and getting all my pots cleaned and ready for the succession of sowings to come. This is probably one of the coldest and longest winters that we’ve had for a few years. In fact I was reading in a gardening magazine that magnolias which traditionally flower earliest in Cornwall are still not in blooms. This is due to the cold snap in that area. Hopefully by March they will be in blooms at Trewithen near Truro.

On this cold day I also bought some potato seeds from an early variety called Red Duke of York which I have never grown before. I intend to start chitting my seeds in the next couple of weeks. It was good to see my local garden center selling so many varieties of loose potatoes sold by weight. Mine only cost 1 pound per kilo.

But right now back at home I am enjoying the blossom of my lovely Amaryllis from a variety called Aphrodite and I look forward to warmer days.