Hobbies and Crafts

No gardening today, dark and damp outside, been raining off an on, not really cold though so good for the garden to get a bit of rain.

Maryana, your last sentence is the best maxim to have until about Easter weekend. No good rushing. Things will catch up. Different circumstances for different parts of the country.
When I see gardening projects in magazines, advising the setting of seeds about mid Feb., I despair. Think these gardeners must have under soil heating, and heated poly tunnels over the seed beds.
Only thing to be gained from early planting, is the loss of seed, and a waste of time.

Julia in Derbyshire

:-D Maryanna! I cannot speak for Prickles, but I DO love to visit pastures new so don't forget to chat to me now and then! :-D <3

Tidied up today, everything coming up nicely now. Daffs Oh so nearly out, a lovely patch of crocus and some Snowdrops I don't remember planting.

Won't be long and the Forsythia will be out and the Hawthorne hedge is really quite green.

What I would like to know though is, what ever have Buttercup and Prickles been doing in my garden over the Winter. My flower beds are full of tiny Holly trees and Buttercup plants !!!!!

Am itching to get my seeds going, but one sunny day does not a Spring make and I must resist temptation.

What a lovely day.. M

That is all we are doing, tidying up after the winter.

Sounds nice Mersey, somewhere to sit with a coffee, or glass of wine?

Have just come in from doing a bit of tidying in the garden although there is warmth in the sun the soil is still freezing cold and very wet in places, I wont be doing anything other than more tidying for a few weeks yet.

Hi all

I am loving this thread, im taking note of all the plants and tips too. I now have a gravel patch with a sandstone bench and sandstone bird bath I got at the weekend and looks lovely with the passion flower climbing up the back wall which is all tidied and cut back. :-)

The Koi carp are begining to stir ,looks like its Springtime a coming, start feeding more regular and start up the pump.**M**.

Just been walking round our garden and it is lovely to see all the spring flower blooming. The crocus have all opened up to the sun and the Helebores also look lovely, and the smell from the Mahonia is lovely too. Aaah spring. (for a few days at least.)

Such a stunningly lovely day here in London, I was even able to tackle all the dust and dirt on my patio caused by building work behind our flats. Have wrapped up my new rose (thanks Merlin) with a fleece that our lovely Daff sent me. My new rose is called Aloha and promises to be very fragrant and abundant! Can't wait!

Happy sunny day to all you gardeners :-D <3

BC XX

I am resisting all temptation until the end of the month.

But, last week we went to the garden centre, first time this season, and got our compost, seed potatoes, peas and bean seeds, and onion sets. We have already got the beetroot seeds, which will be the first thing I set along with the tomato seeds, on the kitchen work top.

Yes it is that time of year again, busy,busy.LOLOL

Julia in a Sunny but Chilly Derbyshire

Isn't life wonderful when it's sunny and you can have a day gardening! Just cut back some of the hellabore leaves to show of the flowers better and they are so beautiful and so wide ranging in colour.

Sorted out all the seeds and will sow the sweet peas soon but am resisting sowing seeds in the progator until later with the rest of the month looking on the colder side and remembering the cold spring last year.

If you think it might get an overnight frost rose cover it with fleece,got lots of shoots on my roses but am keeping an eye on the weather in case of frost.got some day lilies shooting well and the daffs are going well.

my daffodills are now in bloom
to me its the first sign spring is on its way :-D :-D

The sun is out! it seems like ages since it was ( actually last Tuesday lol) , There is a tiny shoot on my new rose, about half a dozen purple crocus ( crocii?) some snow drops ( thanks to a kind member on here who sent me them 2 years ago) the mint is showing, so is the lemon balm, and the other thing that I can't remember the name of lol...something to do with the sun but in latin ;-)

We have hellebores (my avatar is one of them), primula a, Dutch Iris, Mahonia, snowdrops a few Daff's and crocus out so very spring like even if very cold out there today.

My poor garden is totally waterlogged. We're on a very heavy clay that takes forever to dry out and then usually bakes rock hard. It's a wonder anything survives. I have lots and lots of daffs but I don't think they are going to bloom for a good while yet, though the snowdrops are looking good.

In August we were at Bodnant Gardens and I bought some small semi-evergreen fuschias that were supposed to be hardy to -15 but they don't have many leaves left and are looking pretty dead at the moment. I'm leaving them in the hope that some new shoots will appear later on and then I'll cut them back a bit.

What I don't understand is how the weeds keep on growing when nothing else does!

I've got loads of snowdrops and lots of weeds :-D

Can't wait to get stuck in :-D

Im so looking forward to tending my garden this year, started last year and have to say its not looking too bad considering the weather.....Its only small but big enough for me :-)

It might be a bit early. We plant them in the autumn and over winter them. I think the ones sown for the spring market may be a bit far behind with the cold weather. I didn't see any at the local centre yesterday

At the moment the dwarf blue iris, hellabores and snowdrops are in full flower and do look very spring like.