Two pepper plants, one with a ripening fruit, and a kaffir lime plant (killed one last winter or the winter before) have made it fine so far in the porch- but it looks like a -4 or -5 possible tonight/ tomorrow night so, despite the good lady's frowns, they're coming in!

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Dwarf Iris (reticulata) in flower today's sunshine, in outdoor pots

I love those; we've planted them in several of the last 10 or so years but they only seem to last the season. What can I do- is it the soil (clay)?

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Sun is reaching across the lawns now; a beautiful display of crocuses showing.

One of the clematis has broken its way into my shed- looks quite nice though.

I need to cut back the budding blackcurrant today as it's bushed right out over one of the veg plots. 

I've just repaired the netting on one side- I spotted an intruder with whiskers checking out the fine till; got to it just before it adopted the squatting position! Hah!

 

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Just sowed lots of early peas- in the shed (March sowing outdoors). We will hopefully harvest these as pea shoots, with which the children continue to be enamoured.

Caught in a blustery shower- just about to sow turnips.

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We grew some chantennay carrots last summer. Only sowed them late, in a couple of rectangular planters, and never bothered to thin them out. When we came to pick some last autumn, the vast majority were too tiny and we had a meagre crop. I just left them in and forgot about them, only remembering at the weekend when I was doing a little tidying up. Harvested the rest and, although most could be accurately described as 'baby', there were well over 100 little carrots. Very tasty they were with Sunday dinner, too. Just shows how mild and easy the winter's been.

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We grew some chantennay carrots last summer. Only sowed them late, in a couple of rectangular planters, and never bothered to thin them out. When we came to pick some last autumn, the vast majority were too tiny and we had a meagre crop. I just left them in and forgot about them, only remembering at the weekend when I was doing a little tidying up. Harvested the rest and, although most could be accurately described as 'baby', there were well over 100 little carrots. Very tasty they were with Sunday dinner, too. Just shows how mild and easy the winter's been.

With so many of them, Saint, I would imagine they made an exciting tasty addition to the dish.

Indoor pepper is failing fast, but the two chillies are pumping out shrouds of bright white flowers. Fingers crossed.

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Such is the nature of this snow, that the spring bulb flowers are quite unperturbed; the crocuses are buried but the daffs are upright, seemingly not forced to bend as they would under wetter snow; one clump is shining egg-yolk yellow through the little cavelet they've made for themselves. Elsewhere, humps and tussocks of fine powder betray the location of my flowers!

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My TETE a Tete daffs are all knocked over due to the snow. They put on a good show of color. 

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First cutting of lawns today and a general helping of chicken manure pellets applied ..Need some rain now to wash the poo in 

First cutting of lawns today and a general helping of chicken manure pellets applied ..Need some rain now to wash the poo in 

 

I fed my lawn a couple of weeks ago when we had some mild weather. Reckon I might cut tomorrow weather permitting

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I’ve pruned my climbing roses today and tidied up the borders.  The lawns will have to wait but they’re not too bad yet.  My bro in law has a gardening business and they've been extremely busy with lawn services this week.  A sure sign that Spring hasn’t been cancelled. 

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I managed to get my lawn cut over the Christmas holidays as a little grass had grown since the previous cut in early November. I'm delighted I did because it takes the pressure off me now - I reckon that it'll be well into April before I have to wheel out the mower now as we've had so little growth in recent weeks.

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I managed to get my lawn cut over the Christmas holidays as a little grass had grown since the previous cut in early November. I'm delighted I did because it takes the pressure off me now - I reckon that it'll be well into April before I have to wheel out the mower now as we've had so little growth in recent weeks.

Cut our lawn for the first time this morning, Lionel. I put it off as long as possible to avoid stimulating growth too early - set the  cut high as I want to suppress the moss a bit. Very pleased to have done it, but not as pleased as the local cock blackbird, who treated me to a display of dominance, followed by careful inspection of my work and collection of a few snacks.

A great bird - he watches me through the kitchen window if I am slow to put out food in the morning - and threatens me with an aggressive stance!

Roger

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Cut our lawn for the first time this morning, Lionel. I put it off as long as possible to avoid stimulating growth too early - set the  cut high as I want to suppress the moss a bit. Very pleased to have done it, but not as pleased as the local cock blackbird, who treated me to a display of dominance, followed by careful inspection of my work and collection of a few snacks.

A great bird - he watches me through the kitchen window if I am slow to put out food in the morning - and threatens me with an aggressive stance!

Roger

I'm afraid that I'm not as kind to my lawn as you are - I tend to treat it as a kind of necessary evil. The lawn has to fit in with my schedule so mowing ties in with when I have a chance to do it as opposed to what is necessarily best for the lawn. My lawn is a bit moss infested in parts and quite clovery in others as a result. One benefit of the clover is that it can flower quite well in summer and the clover flowers are much appreciated by the bees. I'm sure that some gardeners would be horrified to see my lawn but my view is that if it's green, that's good enough for me and I'm not overly bothered as to which plants are causing the green. 

Plenty blackbirds on my lawn too, though none of mine seem to have quite the personality of yours!

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Been out in sunshine .Trimmed all the herbs. Need to refresh them now as getting woody. Strawberries plants are in the growing room. Cut mint in a pot of water has taken root.. Will plant them up soon. Basil is the next to be sown.   

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I'm afraid that I'm not as kind to my lawn as you are - I tend to treat it as a kind of necessary evil. The lawn has to fit in with my schedule so mowing ties in with when I have a chance to do it as opposed to what is necessarily best for the lawn. My lawn is a bit moss infested in parts and quite clovery in others as a result. One benefit of the clover is that it can flower quite well in summer and the clover flowers are much appreciated by the bees. I'm sure that some gardeners would be horrified to see my lawn but my view is that if it's green, that's good enough for me and I'm not overly bothered as to which plants are causing the green. 

Plenty blackbirds on my lawn too, though none of mine seem to have quite the personality of yours!

Yep!  That’s my thoughts on lawns too!  As long as it’s green, it’s fine for me. My bro in law is a bit of a lawn police force to reckon with though.  He cannot resist sending us some preparation or other, following a social visit, which always includes an inspection of our green patches!  

Our resident blackbirds are enjoying my occasional dig in the border!  They’re not daft are they?   As soon as they hear a spade or trowel scraping, they appear on the fence!  

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Yep!  That’s my thoughts on lawns too!  As long as it’s green, it’s fine for me. My bro in law is a bit of a lawn police force to reckon with though.  He cannot resist sending us some preparation or other, following a social visit, which always includes an inspection of our green patches!  

Our resident blackbirds are enjoying my occasional dig in the border!  They’re not daft are they?   As soon as they hear a spade or trowel scraping, they appear on the fence!  

 

Shine sun, seed grows, woman weeds, man mows.

R.

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Shine sun, seed grows, woman weeds, man mows.

R.

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Shine sun, seed grows, woman weeds, man mows.

R.

ooh! a sexist stereotype

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Mowed the lawn and planted 150 summer bulbs yesterday.....an extra hour of evening light from tomorrow too which I'm very pleased about

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