I know it is still winter but Woohoo....!
...my first broad bean has broke the soil surface, three of my raspberry plants have new shoots emerging from the soil and my rhubarb plants have lovely fat pink tips on the verge of exploding to life. :)
Oh and on continuing my winter digging of soil not dug in a few years, I noticed that the big tap roots and little weed seeds have woken up too! >:(
I know! everywhere you turn there are fat buds and bulbs going for it now.
Gives you a boost of energy and hope for the next few weeks.
My iris are in flower this morning fabulous!
Shame that the greenhouse is in peices on the ground!!
x sunloving
That is a shame. I spent at least an hour repairing wind damage the other day. Always a few steps forward and one back
My chickweed is doing well. :'(
The almond trees are just beginning to come out in flower here - it's a beautiful sight.
I cleared up the comfrey bed at the weekend and found it full of green shoots but although it's 15ºC, bright and sunny here I remember the heavy snow we had last March. With the cold, it wiped out much of the almond crop so fingers crossed we don't get a repetition.
Yes its Back..the spring magic.
Snow drops and aconites are flowering in garden and lottie.. ;D Japanese quince's flower buds are almost breaking open..AND..I have finally sown first seeds into propagator..YEEAAH ;D
Oh, the daffs tops are showing too, garlic is through, chives are showing little bit of green too ;D
Lots of bulbs peeking out joined by their weedy counterparts
yes spring is just around the corner !!
garlic and chives all showing green shoots
roll on march, then its onion sets, and sharpes express potatoes will be planted
i just cant wait, a magic time
jim
Yeay, spring is indeed coming. It was light at 7.30 am when my alarm went off today.
I have snowdrops, crocuses, hellebores, primroses, and the first, very early, daffodils in full flower. A few wallfowers (it is an early-flowering strain in its second year) but the plants are a very sorry, straggly sight.
There are later bulbs poking through everywhere, and fat buds bursting, as well as signs of life bursting up from herbaceous plants in my south-facing border.
;D ;D ;D ;D
Lots of snowdrops flowering, but it would be risky to call it spring yet. There's no sign of life from the blackthorn, though one of my hives was bringing in a little hazel pollen yesterday.
Not spring yet but after such a hard winter I find every sign delightful, bulbs emerging, buds on shrubs and roses starting to open, even weeds appearing. Even from time to time the sun with just enough warmth to be felt.
Cant come soon enough but when it does I'll be too busy sowing, planting and weeding to take properr stock!
It sure has! :)
I spent all morning working on the plot for the first time this year. Both robins said hello and these yellow crocus opened in the sunshine.
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Just been on holiday to the Isle of Wight, and saw loads in flower ;D Forsythia, Gorse, Bergenia, Snowdrops, even an Osteospermum and some other flowers and tree blossom (a bit too far away to ID) ;D ;D ;D Sad to have to come back to mid Winter in Yorks, though at least my snowdrops are up!!!
Oh yes!
Yesterday, in the sunshine, all the early-flowering crocuses were wide open and looking gorgeous; there was a ladybird in the sunlounge and the first bluebottle of the year in the house!
But best of all .............
...........I was lucky enough to be given a 'Birdcam' for my birthday - (it's a bird box with a camera inside so you can watch what happens on the TV). It was only installed eleven days ago and yesterday a beautiful blue tit visited several times! I was SO excited!
Lots of spring magic around!
Yes yesterday was wonderful, lots of crocus out plus my new rockery iris, the birds were singing & I had my lunch out on the verandah, after givng my campervan a good clean.
It was like high Summer at the plot today, and had to take my shirt off!! 20C in the greenhouse and have planted my first seeds, leeks, in the greenhouse.
Cyclamen are flowering away and the species iris are just beginning to flower. An amazing blue. All the bulbs are showing through and the daffs have flower buds on them. Even the tulips are showing through. Yes Spring is just around the corner.
Can't understand it, just about all my autumn and winter sown broad beans are looking wonderful, with very few gaps. I really thought the snow and frost would have seen them off this year as it was worse than last year, when most of them died. Even the few blackened ones are putting out green leaves and reviving.
Thats great news! I sowed mine about two weeks ago, brought them in for a bit and 8 out of 15 have sprouted so I have returned them to the cold greenhouse before they get carried away.
Can't sow direct as the mice dig them up.
Alsea craig onions have sprouted as have my cauli's. Noticed that the weeds are realy picking up though
. . . i am itching to get started!!
After dead heading & doing a general tidy up recently, all the new green growth is
emerging.
I LOVE SPRING-TIME ;D
Lots to look forward to- seed sowing,warm days, frog 'song', ladybirds emerging. . .
Its the simple pleasures in life that make you feel good to be alive ;D
Debs 8)
The first yellow crocus is open and I'm sure I saw something move in the pond ;D
Loads of snowdrops around now, lovely crocus and lots of daffodil shoots at Temple Newsam in Leeds this afternoon, and I've started my potatoes chitting. It's nearly here!
It was a nice warm springlike day yesterday, with the bees flying freely, but today it's colder and miserable.
Cold and miserable here too... but I've succumbed and put some Aquadulce to soak ready to plant later.. ::)
Its nice to think that spring is on its way. The snow drops are lovely and the forsythia is almost there another sunny day and it will open up. Daffs also nearly there, but I am not convinced we have finished with winter yet.
Sowed some broccolli in pots on windowsill and some carrots under plastic bottles.
Well all my broad beans are in the ground, staked and have one or two leaves up :) The Rhubarb has a two inch stem with a leaf but the gloomy clouds and icy feel to the air are still here.
Just goes to show that although still winter, how happy things get with a blast of sunshine
Cold and dark here but at least the plum tree is showing signs of comming into bud :)
Seen crocuses around and even a few daffs. No flowers on trees yet but surely can't be long. It was 13deg C here today :-)
I will start chitting early potatoes this weekend and plant my echalotes and a last lot of garlic.
Aubergines and peppers and leeks are started off in pots on the windowsill (actually on top of the piano...!)
The flower buds on my Cambridge Gage are just beginning to swell a little.
Oooh, I'll have to check mine on Monday... dark now and I'm going away.. ::)
Yes but disappointingly my first snowdrop flowered in September. The rest having been flowering since mid January. Crocuses are flowering. Gooseberry is coming into leaf...and some raspberries. Damson buds are swelling and the blackcurrants are close to bursting.
I also know it's spring because a muscle in my back is in spasm...shifting wood chip!
Three daffodils. ;D
Yesterday I noticed the flower buds forming on the hellebores in the garden :)
The snowdrops on the bank in our allotment wildlife area seem to be earlier than last year - perhaps its because we had the cold snap in early December and then January was reasonably mild. They've made huge clumps this year so will divide them up - most came from my garden at home but they didn't do very well so they are much better on the allotment for all to see
Lots of frogs about (so the crows are having a feast!) but no spawn so far
I have a mass of violets in flower on the rockery, all the crocus are out, & the daffodills are showing colour.
Something (no fish) is obviously moving in the pond as one of my cats has spent all day on her rock peering in to it.
Primroses flowering at the sides of the plot, daffodils nearly open, perhaps tomorrow they will be open fully! :)
Loads of snowdrops at the side of the roads, must be nearly here now! ;D
Quote from: Kea on February 18, 2011, 17:50:08
Yes but disappointingly my first snowdrop flowered in September. The rest having been flowering since mid January.
Why is that disappointing? There's a species - expensive - that regularly flowers in autumn. Wish I could afford some!
Quote from: Robert_Brenchley on February 18, 2011, 19:45:06
Quote from: Kea on February 18, 2011, 17:50:08
Yes but disappointingly my first snowdrop flowered in September. The rest having been flowering since mid January.
Why is that disappointing? There's a species - expensive - that regularly flowers in autumn. Wish I could afford some!
It's just not as exciting to have 'spring' flowers arrive so early and flower continuously as well (I've had snow drops in flower most of winter), it ruins the surprise.
It wasn't anything special as far as I'm aware I bought it in the green as just one of the most common forms. Though next year I'll have a closer look and check it's not a different more special variety.
You must have had a much warmer winter than we have! Everything was frozen hard for several weeks before Christmas, and the snowdrops didn't emerge till mid-January.
Found one lonesome snowdrop in the garden but my hellebores look beautiful, noticed the mornings are getting lighter and the evenings are drawing out. started sowing few seeds, tomatoes, lupins, chilles, in the spare room. Bought few wilkos petunis plug plants and potted those on - early i know but couldnt resist.
off work at mo as have pulled muscle in my back so looking out at my garden is as near as i can get - think id get stuck in the car if i tried diving to lottie :(
Wonderful Welsh spring - Happy St. David's day everybody. Snowdrops in gardens, along roads, under hedges, daffs waiting to burst there too and primroses, violets and crocus.
Spring is definitley on its way for me. Up to seven daffs, forsythia is now gorgeous, trying to shame the sun into some actuion. And I have seen my first lambs.
My asparagus is showing - a month earlier than last year! Now that really is magic...
I think spring is actually here! Seem to get so distracted by the cold that I fail to see it happening right under my nose. Buds on the pear trees and hedges, new growth of things on the rhubarb and rasperry, green manure is now going for gold and the broad beans which are in the ground are galloping.
All the crocus and snowdrops are out here... along with some of the iris species... and the hellebores.. :)
Lots of signs of spring here in Suffolk; on the allotment crocus and snowdrops out, also a really lovely new Daffodil on my plot - Spring Dawn, which has been out since mid January. Also lots of violets and primroses. Lots of frog spawn in the allotment pond now but the Crows are getting the frogs, last year we lost all our just hatched tadpoles as someone put some 'American Crayfish' in our pond and we had a very dead pond but hopefully the crayfish have moved out so our school groups can enjoy looking for the tadpoles and young froglets this year
someone put some 'American Crayfish' in our pond :o oh dear...I don't want to sound too negative..but two years ago we did go through hulabaloo with signal crayfish..somebody had some in captivity and they got out..we had some walking about all over the lottie..first I though I saw things ::)
Anyway..long story shortened..it is ilegal to anybody have/keep some in most of the Enland...and any seen MUST be reported as they are serious treat to our wild life..so I would get in touch to your local environmental health unit who can put you in touch to right people..basicly you could get in big trouble because somebody else dumped the crayfish in you pond..
We ended up picking all crayfish up..freezing them to death and then putting them into bin..with advise of the 'expert'
seems like a waste. could they have gone on the barbie? ;D
Broad beans, peas and spinach in mini greenhouse sprouting and looking strong
Potatoes chitting away nicely in spare room
On plot, onions and shallots have survived winter. Picking and enjoying kale and cabbage. Rhubarb sprouting and fruit has green shoots. Fruit Trees not faired so well with 1 apple pretty defunct, but cherry and plum showing signs of survival
Every week more shall appear :D :D :D
Garlic's all up, blackcurrant bushes bought bare-root adn potted up over winter seem to have survived.... look slike my Stella cherry (bare-root and potted) might not have..... WIll get another one Thursday.....
chrisc
seems like a waste. could they have gone on the barbie?
Mmm..yes but we didn't know what sort of 'water'' they were kept on so thought better not..tastes nice though ;D
Well my elephant garlic is finally up...they were really slow this year..and I've had some cuts off from chives already.. ;D
If weather keeps ok..first planting outdoors happens this weekend..winter onions,..I know, late.. garlic pips and wild leeks are ready for bit of fresh air...
Some of the dandelions are showing odd flower buds.. :o
Fresh hedgehog poo !! On the path down the side of my house !!! It is officially Spring :)
(although the February Gold daffodils are only just peeking up above the ground).
Our Tete-a-Tete are out but the hedgehogs don't seem to have surfaced yet... seen frogs in the pond again today... :)
No, it is very cold here today, in not so sunny Enfield. Still washing the mud out of my clothes from last time I went to the allotment, and my shoulder hurts. Digging in the wet. :( :(
the sap is rising- I feel it in my bones !
Magic of spring? Are you kidding? We have the magic of storm damage to arbors, big branches down, wood fencing torn off by animals, sheets of ice and a few piles of snow from the plow.
On the plus side, the goldfish survived and right against
the house bulbs are coming up with buds so hubby took down the Christmas lights.
There are little holes dug in the soil under the trees, actually the hedgehog has been digging for weeks in the lottie. Nice yesterday for a brief while, But today when it is so cold and dull it is very difficult to think it is spring.
I suppose on comparison with you GrannieAnnie things are quite warm here.
Came home tonight (with rotavator) to discover a lot of seedlings up in the propagators.... tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, chillis, some onions (they weren't even heated).... lots more sowing to do this weekend.... forecast says -3 on Monday though......
REally beautiful day today - spent all day up the allotment. Did have a few layers on but lovely in the sunshine. Feel like I am beginning to be ready for the spring rush!
The Sun, 8), was out today and I was on the lottie by 2.30pm in my T shirt, a rare treat for the chicks on site. :-*
Until you did the soil test... ::)