27th January – Making me smile this week

Until Sunday there were white frosts every morning and some days the temperature only rose above freezing by a few degrees, the beginning of this week has had greyer skies but it has been warmer.  On Sunday we were treated to a wonderful sunset, which is the thing I probably enjoyed more than anything else this week.

In a vase on Monday – Spring offerings

After a week of heavy frosts I wasn’t sure what there would be to pick for A vase on Monday, when Cathy at Rambling in the Garden challenges us to fill a vase with flowers from our gardens or surroundings.  By repotting some Iris reticulata from the greenhouse and picking from the garden I was able to fill three, miniature, zinc buckets.

GBFD – January when foliage counts even more

Welcome to Garden Bloggers’ Foliage Day (GBFD) when I ask you to consider the important role foliage has in all our gardens whether we put it first on the list when choosing new plants or whether it is incidental, the result of our choice of flowering plants.  I have reached a time in my gardening life when I admit that foliage is THE most important consideration when buying new plants, that and their suitability for my conditions and climate.

January 20th 2016 – What I’m enjoying in the garden this week

Continuing my plan of writing about what I’m enjoying in the garden each week.

In a vase on Monday – fun with red

Cathy of Rambling in the garden  in the garden who hosts this popular meme guessed  what would be in one vase today when she read my post last week about what I was enjoying in the garden, so to keep her interested and surprised I picked some flowers in a colour I don’t think I’ve ever used before – red!

Greenhouse – Sowing begins!

The wind is howling and the temperatures are falling; I just checked the forecast and terrifyingly we are threatened with temperatures falling to minus 5°C for the next two days and remaining cold for at least the next week.

Certainly it isn’t the time to be out in the garden but it is relatively warmer in the greenhouse and seed sowing has already begun to supply plants for the vegetable and cuttings garden for the summer to come.  Last year I sowed some seeds in the early autumn but the plants grew too quickly and were leggy by the time they were planted out.  There are some plants that I will sow later this year because I discovered they need more heat to grow strongly.  Zinnias, although I can’t complain about the crop would benefit from a later sowing so I’ll sow those in early spring.

January treasures – 13th January

I never, or hardly ever, manage to be completely wordless so I intend to use Wednesdays to share with you some of the views, vignettes or individual flowers that I am enjoying each week.

In a vase on Monday – First bulbs

How times passes, it is already the 11^th January almost half way through the month and still the weather isn’t cold; although we are threatened with snow and ice from Siberia at the end of this week or the beginning of next.  Monday is when Cathy at Rambling in the garden challenges us to pick material from our own gardens to put in a vase to enjoy indoors.  As always Cathy has come up with a charming vase and an intriguing title.

In a Vase on Monday – The year begins

A very Happy New Year to each of you; I hope 2016 will bring peace and tranquillity to the world, but I realise that is rather a big ask so perhaps I will also wish you a good gardening year.

Monday morning and I am at home and able to join again with Cathy’s meme where she asks us to find flowers from our own gardens to place in a vase and share.