Easter Thoughts

Another week curtailed due to bad weather sees me exhausted from watching the skies and trying to evaluate my chances of work each day, so I'm having some time off! Hopefully the climate will produce something more clement when I once again don gardening gloves. One or two highlights to mention before I go, my long suffering cold frame finally collapsed the other day so I was on the look out for a replacement, it was therefore serendipitous that when shopping in Lidl (that well known gardening emporium!) I chanced across one. I took it home and managed to construct it, the metal frames will not rot on this one and the perspex is of better quality than the old one which came from the RHS shop, so pleased was I that I purchased another one. This means my seed sowing can get under way properly now and sod the weather! Last morning at college today until after the holidays saw us polish off another plant identification test and then retire to the greenhouse for the pricking out of seedlings, I know it's easy but I suppose we must be seen to complete all the tasks. We got to take home our efforts as usual but I was especially pleased today with the foxglove seedlings on offer, they may grow like weeds in other peoples gardens but somehow fail to do so in mine and I hadn't grown any last summer. I also came back with two nice lupins because Clare didn't want hers, she says her slug population rules out the effort to nurture them. So all in all not a bad week, I do love a bargain!
Happy Easter to you all.

"Well pleaseth me the sweet time of Easter, that maketh the leaf and flower come out"
Bertran de Born 1140-1215

Not bad for a cheap supermarket find is it?

A Frozen World

My garden still in freezing lock down this morning

Against all the odds I made it into work on Monday morning and was astonished to see how little snow was left at Norton Conyers. I suppose I expected the conditions to be worse there because it is so rural, when in fact urban Bilton had bigger snowdrifts and footpaths like glass bad enough for me to consider another day off work, a good thing I rang and checked with Alyson the night before. A morning mulching the blackcurrants with wood chip kept us warm and in the afternoon we dug up the Nerine bowdenii, splitting the congested clumps giving us enough spare bulbs to expand into new sites, they will look very fetching in their new homes come next autumn.

"Faith sees a beautiful blossom in a bulb, a lovely garden in a seed, and a giant oak in an acorn"
William Arthur Ward

A very happy birthday to my Dave, a good time to buy Nogger a beer?!

Primula vulgaris Hose in Hose

Snow Again

Well this isn't going to be the longest post in history, what can one write about gardening when the world is a white out once again? After taking Chum for a snowy walk in the Valley gardens Dave and I retreated to the pub for the rest of the afternoon, it turned out to be a really enjoyable time as most of my gardening chums seemed to have reached the same conclusion as us, during our visit I met up with four of them! I have my doubts about making it into work tomorrow too, I'm not sure this snow will melt in time and I've taken next week off for Easter so March has been a bit of a waste of time, roll on April and show us a change in weather please!

"Under the snow blossoms a daring spring"
Terri Guillemets

Chum loves the snow

A monochrome world enhanced by a high vis vest!

"Daffodils that come before the swallow dares and take the winds of March with beauty "
William Shakespeare

Community Gardening

It was with a glad heart that I made my way to Skipton this morning, throwing off several days of snowbound boredom. We knew we were to practise rose pruning but were pleased to find out this was not to be within the confines of Craven college but out in the community working on the diamond jubilee memorial garden constructed by the college students last year. The piece of ground chosen had been a neglected green space surrounded by sheltered housing, how pleased the residents must have been to have that boring space enhanced and were probably entertained by all the comings and goings. The beds were themed to the Olympic colours and many appropriate roses chosen along with herbaceous perennials, bulbs and trees for all season interest. Besides being a boon to the people living there it is also of great benefit to the college students who so rarely have the opportunity to get hands on tuition in all aspects of the job from general maintenance to hard landscaping and stone walling.
It was the usual bun fight of course as there are rather a lot of us but we are enthusiastic if nothing else and a bunch of gardeners working together cannot fail to have fun. I wonder if Harrogate council would let a bunch of amateurs take over one of its green spaces, somehow I suspect not, which is a shame when their own workmen often produce unimaginative municipal plantings!

"A community is like a ship, everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm"
Henrik Ibsen

A Wise Descision

Another balmy spring morning!

One glance out of the window yesterday morning and my commitment for work began to teeter. I was up and dressed at the usual time and had made the trip down to feed the birds when it started to snow yet again, a little research on the Internet weather sites convinced me that a trip to Norton Conyers was not on the cards this particular Monday. Even Giles concurred when I rang as it was the worst sort of snow, wet and sloppy, the type of weather that will soak through your waterproofs in the first five minutes and leave you questioning your sanity for the rest of the day. I bet the others turned up though, but I have no regrets as it was a really filthy day, I reckon I've done my share of working in bad conditions this year so I'll just hunker down and wait for spring.

"By three methods may we learn wisdom, first by reflection which is noblest, second by imitation which is easiest, and third by experience which is the most bitter"
Confucius

A Matter Of Taste

We went back down to the lake first thing yesterday morning  to plant three Metasequoia glyptostroboides, that's the deciduous redwood to you and me. They should grow ten metres high in ten years and make a bold statement both with the colour of their bark and the foliage which turns butter yellow before leaf drop in the autumn. Whilst there we noticed the woodland floor was littered with blue herons egg shells which means that the babies have hatched way up high in their swaying nests of sticks, how they don't get blown out of the tree tops I will never know. Speaking of bold statements I have a small gripe with my neighbours, nice enough people all, sociable and usually quiet but they certainly aren't gardeners as I will now prove. One side recently came home with some plastic topiary which looms above our fence and so frightened the dog at first that he wouldn't go out the back door without barking.

However that is knocked into a cocked hat by the other side who have installed a three foot tall waving plastic gnome, I nearly dropped the recycling yesterday morning as it loomed out of the darkness. What's wrong with a nice tree for goodness sake!

"They are much to be pitied who have not been given a taste for nature early in life"
Jane Austin

Recollections

Iris reticulata in the chilly spring sunshine

And so the cold and unpredictable weather continues with more snow forecast for next week, it prompted me to look back at this time last year when it really was spring. It seems that I was full steam ahead with my seed sowing, we'd already started to mow the grass at Norton Conyers and were about to have one of the hottest March spells since records began. I doubt that will be the case this year but despite my moaning I would prefer it to warm up gradually, then we might see a proper summer in due course. On Wednesday Diana and I finished pruning the orchard and turned over the raised beds ready for the addition of her lovely home made compost, we just have to wait for the heaps to defrost before we can harvest it! Brilliant blue skies coupled with a concrete hard frost tempted us outside at Harlow Carr this morning for a walk around the gardens pinpointing many of the plants we have been tested on so far, cold on the toes but warming to the heart when you realise you can recall the Latin names!

"We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future"
George Bernard Shaw

Strange shapes are appearing in the vegetable garden, I like this one so much I wish I could take it home!

Snowflakes And Peach Blossom

Some days I think I might actually be soft in the head, this being the scene that greeted my eyes when I got to work yesterday. The weather conditions have certainly been challenging of late, yet still I go! I guess I've got the gardening bug pretty badly. On days like this there is only one thing to do, so we were back in the woods keeping warm by lumber jacking again, I wont bore you further. However one thing did make me smile, the juxtaposition of the blizzard outside against the peach blossom within. We may have to pollinate them by hand as no bees will dare these snowy skies. Giles has asked Shandy to catch us a rabbit so we may use the tail for the job but she hasn't been forthcoming as yet, so it will probably have to be a fine paintbrush!

"Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake"
Francis Bacon Sr

Cold

Forgive the damp lens, some days are too wet for photography

I don't think I have ever been as cold as I was yesterday morning since I started this gardening lark. I was sorely tempted to stay in bed but turned out anyway as I knew the others wouldn't be put off by the weather, I soon regretted it as we doggedly continued to trim and tie in the willow hedge only stopping when our fingers were too numb to make the knots any longer. Break time and lunch time were hellish as we sat in the orangery in colder temperatures than outside, but at least the persistent rain and icy sleet couldn't reach us in there. It was almost a pleasure to load wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow with wood shreddings to mulch the beech hedge in the afternoon as it thankfully got our circulation going again! Enough ramblings for today as I'm going back to bed for a mothers day lie in,(blogging and letting the dog out must come first!), then I shall visit my own dear mum and spend the rest of the day in front of the fire contemplating the prospect of a repeat performance tomorrow!

"I like these cold gray winter days. Days like these let you savour a bad mood"
Bill Watterson

"Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while but their hearts forever"
Anon

Model Students

Time for some more musings on the past weeks activities. At Spofforth we had collected a large amount of clippings to get rid of after last weeks pruning session so we decided to have a bonfire. Considering myself something of an expert after the last couple of months working in the woods I took charge and soon had a lively little blaze going, so it didn't take long to clear what had been a considerable pile. Di and I then moved on to pruning the apple orchard, feeding any more twigs and branches straight onto the fire, a very tidy way of working. We had to don our tidy hats again on Thursday when our class was let loose on the borders of Harlow Carr to prune the cornus. As far as I know this is the first time the RHS has allowed any student this privilege, we are of course suitably grateful as there is nothing like actual experience. We were all very tidy and removed all the rubbish in the hope that they may allow us to do something a little more challenging next time!

"Learn everything you can, from anyone you can-there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did"
Sarah Caldwell

A type of salix grown especially for this fasciation

Planting For The Future

I promise never to complain about being too warm ever again as we reverted to cold and miserable on Monday morning, disastrously I'd forgotten my beloved hat too so I was chilly for most of the day. Still it wasn't all bad as I was back behind the wheel of the tractor for the first time since October and luckily I managed to start it and remember how to reverse too! We loaded up and chugged along to the clock tower garden to lay a new yew hedge which ended up looking surprisingly good for an area that has been sadly neglected until quite recently. Giles has plans to include fragrant climbers, a magnolia grandiflora and some foolproof ground cover so that maintenance will be minimal, all we need now is time for the transformation to be complete. I hope I'm still working here when some of these plants reach maturity, but we gardeners are only ever guardians of the future.

"Who has learned to garden who did not at the same time learn to be patient"
H.L.V.Fletcher

Suitable protection for the young trees as it is bunny central around these parts!

Sunny March Morning

Another beautiful early spring day soon had me wishing I'd left my thermal vest at home as we went about the days business in unbroken sunshine. The old vinery was in need of cutting back and weeding, being the warmest part of the garden it was a good place to start as the over night frost had been hard thanks to the clear skies. Planting Jerusalem artichokes took up the rest of our morning, I can recommend them as the easiest ever vegetable to grow. Pop them in and weed them occasionally and eight months later they'll deliver you a good crop without any other assistance from you, of course you'll also never be rid of them and I here tell they can give you wind, but you can't have everything! We whiled away the afternoon with more border preparation as the sounds of the local hunt passing by drifted over the garden walls, just another peaceful day at Norton Conyers.

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold, when it is summer in the light and winter in the shade"
Charles Dickens-Great Expectations

Shandy making the most of a good sunbathing opportunity

Busy Assessment Day

How many horticulture students does it take to plant a tree?!!

Diana and I caught up with some pruning again on Wednesday, her orchard is lined on both sides with shrubs that required taming, unfortunately every single one of them seemed to be armed with vicious thorns. Gigantic blackberries that delighted in hooking onto any glimpse of uncovered flesh let alone hats and jumpers, and a mighty pyracantha  that had got too big for its boots, I came away with a few battle wounds but it was a gorgeous day and even warm enough to take a few layers off. Thursday was a big assessment day for us at Skipton college which meant a 5.30am start for me as I made my way to Leeds to pick up my lift from Clare, a circuitous route I know but I'm very grateful for the transport! The main task of the day was to plant trees, they turned out to be bigger than expected and the ground was horribly stony but the weather was glorious again and everyone helped each other with much merriment. Seed sowing, plant identification and perennial division were all covered as well making it a long day by the time I got home again at 6pm!

"When you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it"
Theodore Roosevelt