Winter slumbering in the open air, Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring! ~ Coleridge
WordPress have once again taken payment for another year prompting me to evaluate the worth of this gardening blog. But without a doubt, it has been a benefit. The initial motive was to create a plant registry and not only document all the plants I have but to record all the requirement for upkeep. To date there are approximately 170 including bulbs and succulents.
emerging white tree peony – 1 of 170 garden plants
Last year I instituted a Seed diary and it proved useful enough for me to want to carry it on and record this year’s sowing times and outcomes. The pompom dahlia seedlings sown last month on my windowsill needed potting on. They require cooler conditions but there’s only the unheated greenhouse so I’ve put them under an extra protective pop-up cover, . Even so with current dips in temperature, I may yet lose them.
And since the seed sowing season will soon be here in full swing, now is a good time to have a moan about composts. Those renowned brands that I buy from the local garden centre stand out in all weathers there and I’m sure they lose their nutrients in the process. Hence my plants always look as though they are making the best of a bad job rather than positively thriving. I’m including all the specific John Innes blends from seed, to young plants etc. And in potting composts, the added water retentives also aid the growth of moss on the top and can really only be suitable for summer annuals. I might try making my own mix of peat free with top soil and added fish, blood and bone. The bracken/wool mixes of some Lakeland products are intriguing me now.
The constant winter wet weather on my clay soil has meant there is little work to do in the garden. I’ve mostly been cutting back branches and ivy in the woodland and I’m pleased to see the wild daffodils there (Narcissus pseudonarcissus) which were all blind in their first year after planting are now full of bud. Eranthis hyemalis are still few and far between though. There’s a plentiful show of Pulmonaria now alongside sporadic primroses, and some early venturing bees have been feeding on them, brought out by the earlier, milder weather
blue lungworts – Pulmonaria officinalis
But February ended with some overnight frosts and March has taken up the baton with more sleet forecast. With a fortnight holiday due, I shall miss most of this but also may miss the best of the Spring bulbs in pots . I’m hoping to be back in time for the tulips though.
the old and the new on clematis orientalis
When I return there will be more landscaping jobs to do including plumbing the pond and cascade and hanging a new garden gate. Again this blog has been a boon for recording all the plans since 2021 -without it I’d never have been able to recall just how much effort and transformation there’s been in the garden.
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7 thoughts on “The boon of a garden blog”
I find my blog a great source of information – seeing what was flowering and when. I don’t even attempt to sow any seeds until late March as it is still cold in the conservatory and I have very little room in the house. This wet winter has been very challenging though. I wonder what effect it will have on my perennials, already I can see how much the Heucheras have suffered.
some seeds are winter sown in order to mature enough for their first summer blooms but March still thinks it’s winter and so a semi heated greenhouse would help 😌And as you say the garden blog is also good to see previous years for comparison
We’ve also had some late February frosts, but the forsythia bush is already starting to bloom; which means I’ve got to hurry up and cut down the roses… So many good intentions but haven’t gotten to it yet. Hope you still get to enjoy most of your plants on your return!
I like how Forsythia is your roses pruning signal- sort of plant lore. A neighbour’s bush is blooming now but my ‘mikador’ will probably not emerge till after I return mid – March –
info from Wikipedia shows how the flowering time of Forsythia suspensa in Bavaria has changed between 1951 and 2020 so perhaps rose pruning occurred at different times then!
I remember from my childhood that we always had some forsythia branches in a vase. These days it’s possible the flowering period’s almost over by Easter…
ahh but because Easter is a moveable feast the forsythias cannot keep up with the timing 😉
My Japanesque Garden 
I find my blog a great source of information – seeing what was flowering and when. I don’t even attempt to sow any seeds until late March as it is still cold in the conservatory and I have very little room in the house. This wet winter has been very challenging though. I wonder what effect it will have on my perennials, already I can see how much the Heucheras have suffered.
some seeds are winter sown in order to mature enough for their first summer blooms but March still thinks it’s winter and so a semi heated greenhouse would help 😌And as you say the garden blog is also good to see previous years for comparison
We’ve also had some late February frosts, but the forsythia bush is already starting to bloom; which means I’ve got to hurry up and cut down the roses… So many good intentions but haven’t gotten to it yet.
Hope you still get to enjoy most of your plants on your return!
I like how Forsythia is your roses pruning signal- sort of plant lore. A neighbour’s bush is blooming now but my ‘mikador’ will probably not emerge till after I return mid – March –
info from Wikipedia shows how the flowering time of Forsythia suspensa in Bavaria has changed between 1951 and 2020 so perhaps rose pruning occurred at different times then!
I remember from my childhood that we always had some forsythia branches in a vase. These days it’s possible the flowering period’s almost over by Easter…
ahh but because Easter is a moveable feast the forsythias cannot keep up with the timing 😉
You’re right – how did I not consider that!?