A LITTLE BIT OF SNOW

We had a little bit of snow.  Did you?  Just enough to colour the fields and put a stop to gardening activity.

This photo was taken on Friday afternoon at 2.30 pm.  The snow had mostly melted, but in some places it lingered.  I have made the Rose Garden in the coldest part of the garden it would seem.

On Thursday morning the view from upstairs was like this.  I didn't venture further.

Earlier in the week, before the cold snap started, I continued on with my mulch spreading.   The compost bays needed emptying ready for the start of the new mowing season so I used what was available on the vegetable garden.

The Raspberries were pruned, while I was there, but the artichokes, which have been left standing since last Summer, are perhaps ready for the chop now too.

I sowed tomato seeds this week, and I see that the broad beans have started to emerge.  These are seed I saved a couple of years ago, so I'm not sure whether they will all germinate.

Since we cannot produce enough compost to mulch all the beds, I've also bought some Strulch.

I'm spreading this in the Knot Garden, where I'm hoping it will do the job of suppressing the weeds which are a bit of a problem in the border shown in the photo below.  The drainage from the road and fields opposite disgorge into this corner of the garden, washing all the roadside weed seeds into the border too.

Can you make out the green sticks poking out of the ground in the photo below?  Are they roses?  

Yes they are Rosa 'Prosperity' which is a hybrid musk.  It turns out that I didn't already have enough roses.  Who knew?

I grow 'Buff Beauty' which is also a hybrid musk, and a very nice healthy rose, so I thought it would be nice to grow another one in that group.  If you want a foretaste of what it will grow into the link to the website I ordered it from is here.  

I have done a little more plant ordering this week, although these won't be arriving for a month.  The cold temperatures in December did for my Pelargoniums.  Usually I find that at least half of them will survive the Winter in my unheated greenhouse, but not this year.  But every cloud and all that.  It's given me a chance to order some new varieties from Fibrex., although I was surprised to see how many varieties were out of stock already.  They'll be going in pots to decorate the terrace in the Summer.

This cold spell has held back flowering yet again, but the buds are all there waiting for some sunshine and warmth.  For my last photo I've chosen this Tulipa turkestanica, as my eye was caught by their snake like buds coiled and ready for Spring.

That's all I have for you this week. 

Don't forget all the Six on Saturday posts can be found on Garden Ruminations where 'Cornwall Camellia Jim' collates all our garden ramblings