Through the garden gate in February

NailTamie Mayıs 06, 2022

Welcome to through the garden gate for February. The keen eyed among you will realise as this is Brixham it isn't my garden gate and the sailor isn't my husband! It does look however a good gate for a coastal garden!

So what has been happening in the garden this month?.......

Well the first minature daffodils have appeared and also our first tulip. With drier weather this weekend the grass has been cut for the first time and that makes everything look so different. Has anyone else cut theirs? There was mention on the radio the other day that grass cutting had begun!

I bought some snow drops from the market to replace the crocus bulbs I previously mentioned had disappeared. It always good to buy from the market, as not only are they cheaper but it comes with free advice, I was told that when the snow drops heads go yellow -tread on them and rub them into the ground and it will help increase the clumps. After I had bought them I also learnt that mice like snowdrops too! The bulbs dry in the ground over the summer and are full of starch, which the mice love. Apparently the way to avoid this is to plant them 4 inches deep.

This time of year my thoughts always turn to what to grow in the summer. One of my birthday presents was a voucher for Sarah Raven catalogue. It has taken me a week to decide what to buy as I couldn't make my mind up - there was so much choice! I eventually decided on a clematis and cosmos and zinnia seeds.

I also bought a pot of red pelargoniums plantlets to pot on from the garden centre. It contained 18 tiny plants, we shall see if they all survive!! We have moved them out of the greenhouse and into the conservatory, as we have had a few frosty nights.

The kale and mixed salad leaves planted in the greenhouse are giving us a good crop. Unlike the kale crop in the vegetable garden, which the pigeons have also discovered. They were even trying to pull the fleece off it the other morning after we had taken steps to hide it!