January 2011

Sunday, January 23, 2011

A very Happy New Year! At last it has warmed up a bit (most of the time), the nights are getting lighter (slowly) and late winter flowering plants are beginning to grow away. It's been a tough couple of months for sure in lots of ways but I really can feel my sap rising again and it's great!

I have recently had another masterclass in website design from my guru Ed - where he gets the patience from I don't know - and I think I have now just about got to grips with posting pictures on the site, so no more 1000 word description of plants just a picture. What a great idea! I apologise for bombarding you with pictures this month but I am just making up for lost time.

Hope you have come through OK so far (there is bound to be more winter to come) and that you don't lose too many plants. After last year I have become more philosphical about this but have insured myself against losses by taking advantage of the Wyevale (AKA Garden Centre) 50% off all plants sale. Some real bargains on quality plants.

Weather

Continuous cold and frost for the period 15 December - 7 January. A record minimum of -17.8c on Christmas Eve night and a Christmas Day maximum of -7C!! A white Christmas to remember. Only one brief spell of rain in w/c 10 January with some strong winds which have been rare this winter. This rain finally cleared all the traces of snow away

Garden Update

Needless to say the garden hasn't liked the cold weather much and some shrubs weakened last winter have finally succumbed. It was with some sadness that I recently removed a large viburnum tinus and an arbutus unedo. Shrubs seem to have fared worse than herbaceous plants which had been tucked up in a a foot of snow for nearly a month. Only time will tell though what has survived.

There are some essential maintenance jobs to do such as replacing the retaining wall alongside the stream garden which has been damaged by frost and undercut by the stream over a number of years. I also have to repair some of the edgings to the vegetable garden and begin to re-design some of the House Garden borders which have become rather tired looking. There is also the not inconsiderable task of cutting back all the dead stems on the perennial plants all over the Gardens. Regular visitors can imagine what a big task this is! I never cut them back in the autumn as the seed heads provide much needed food for the birds and this winter the basis for some wonderful patterns covered with frost and snow.

What's looking good?!

Not much but let's hear it for cyclamen coum. There are plenty out already especially under the beech tree by the small tunnel in a great ranger of pink shades from near vermillion to almost white and the ants, in carrying the seed around over the years, have started new colonies some way away from where they were originally planted. There are good collections too alongside the beech hedge walk. Wonderful plants for dryish shade that have the ability to take the worst of the weather and bounce back when its over. A must have for the winter garden that can flower from November to April.

The first hellebores (garden hybrids) are coming into flower much earlier than last winter. It's interesting to observe over the many years I have grown them that the yellow forms are usually the first into flower, possibly as the result of their cross parentage from species like cyclophyllus and odorata which in the wild are early into their stride.

Seed sowing has started in the propagation tunnel and some autumn sown seed has already germinated. Autumn cuttings of tender perennials have done well so far and made bushy plants. The hot bench makes a big difference to successful striking of cuttings and rapid germination of seeds. I think I am going to show more restraint this year with my seed sowing, only planning to sow about 300 varieties!! It is the greatest fun and sense of satisfaction you can ever have in the garden and keeps you gardening in the warm when the weather prevails against work outdoors.

Wildlife

It has been a tough time for all kinds of wildlife but the birds have been fortified by the feeders around the Gardens and thoughtful overnight accommodation provided by the polytunnels (wrens, robins and blue tits being regular guests!) Breakfast for the tits is courtesy of the whitefly which incredibly are still in evidence on some plants. A few mice have also found the warmth of the tunnels to their liking and had a few bulbs especially tulips but so far they haven't do too much damage to other things (but they had better leave alone my recently planted sweet peas!)

Rabbits had been much in evidence when the snow was on the ground and took a liking to sprout leaves but left the sprouts untouched fortunately. There were plenty of tracks in the snow including otter tracks in the snow on top of the frozen Paddock Pond. The other 2 ponds have the benefit of running water from the filter systems which kept just enough water running to stop them freezing over. The fish in them are fine.

Sadly this is not the case with the Paddock Pond. It was frozen over for nearly 2 months and impossible to keep open. When the thaw set in it was clear there were dead rudd, frogs and newts. Unfortunately the early onset of winter in mid November meant that leaves that had fallen into the water from surrounding trees had only just started the decomposition process when the ice formed. The rotting continued whilst the pond was frozen over and the gases given off in the process which could not escape, killed many of the pond's inhabitant's. The only evidence of life I have found to date are a few dragonfly nymphs.

There were many more rudd in the pond than the dead ones I found so at great personal risk!! I went into the pond in my chest waders last week (not something I would recommend lightly in the depths of winter) to look for more evidence of life underwater but could not find any , but at the same time I could not find any more dead fish etc. Moira still harbours the hope that some may have survived and I can only hope she is right. The pond has been there for 17 years and its sad to think that the whole community (all of it bar the rudd entirely endemic) has been wiped out in the space of a few short weeks. Pond life however is capable of regeneration almost as quickly as it left. I do hope so.

Visits and talks

A couple of weeks ago we had a great trip to the National Botanic Garden for Wales, the newest in the UK, and our spirits were lifted by the Great Glasshouse. Mediterannean plants from around the world coming into flower and the colours and scents you normally associate with late Spring rather than midwinter. All very uplifting on a cold raw day, none more so than the South African garden with the proteas, leucodrendrons, aloes and pelargoniums especially, putting on a terrific show and the promise of so much more to come in the next few months. Catch it if you can before the end of January and its free admission for all. We are so lucky in this part of Wales to have it on our doorstep and to be able to enjoy it for nothing is incredibly generous.

By way of complete contrast last week when staying with our friends Tony and Sylvia in the Cotswolds, we went to Oxford Botanic Garden, the oldest in the UK. Beautiful, well kept with wonderful planting, and a range of glasshouses set in the middle of the City of dreaming spires. When it opened as an apothecary's garden in the early 1600's it was said that so much had been spent on the hard landscaping especially the magnificient Cotswold stone walls surrounding it, there was no money left for the plants!! You would not guess that now with such varied plantings and excellent labelling throughout.

After a brief lull the garden talks programme begins again in February with numerous talks in a variety of venues from Whitland in the west, Brecon and Hay on Wye in the east, the Gower Peninsula in the south and Llandysul in the north. The Llandysul talk coincides with the Winter Gardening Weekend there on 18, 19 and 20 February. Aside from talks there are floral displays, plants and other garden related products for sale and refreshments. For more info. go to www.llandysul-ponttyweli.co.uk

We are still taking bookings for talks this year and visits to the garden during the summer months. We already have 10 visits confirmed including coach trips from Hilliers Garden Club and possibly 2 Dutch garden tour companies. All this in addition to our Open Day on Sunday 24 July. All our openings are for The National Gardens Scheme. If you would like to arrage a talk or visit please get in touch.

And now the moment you have all been waiting for!! They will get better - I hope!!

A BOWL OF FLOATED HELLEBORES FROM THE GARDENS IN MARCH 2010