I've managed to power jet spray all the paths and patio in the back garden today. Lovely mucky job but looking much better after a good clean down afterwards. At least it'll be safe underfoot now, it was getting a bit slippy in places.
Quite a busy day for me. It was a lovely, sunny day (17 degrees) so I ventured out to catch up on some tasks. I weeded some pots, the vegetable raised beds and part of the long border. I cut back some dahlias but some are still flowering. I took some succulent cuttings and potted on an established one. I potted on some seedlings and watered the plants under cover of the verandah. Collected more fallen fig leaves to make leaf mould (lots still to fall from the tree). Quite a few flowers still, shield bugs, a few bees and red admiral butterflies. Probably go out again tomorow if the weather remains mild.
Martina Franca, Puglia, southern Italy Love living in Italy but a Loiner at heart
Brrhhh! Winter seems to have arrived with vengeance. But it is dry! The thermal underwear is out along with the wooly hats and gloves.
I have been itching to get outside to catch up on work in the garden but have a ridiculous 2 weeks of attending health appointments, another tooth to be crowned, sub-committee and committee meetings, bracing dog walks, feeding my daughter's cat, and last-minute shopping and cooking for club Christmas events, Homemade Soup, crusty bread and Mince pies with Cornish Clotted cream anyone? So no gardening yet. I have my fingers firmly crossed I have not lost too many tender plants to the frosts, I have had plans to move several into shelter be it the greenhouse or conservatory, for the past week or two.
The dwarf iris I planted are all pushing their noses through, a promise of what is to come. The Nov. sown onions are still doing well so far and the mini cyclamen on my bathroom window sill are pushing up lots of flower stems, lovely. The winter flowering honeysuckle is coming into its own, getting ready to be enveloped in a cloud of perfume as I walk past. Yum. The witch hazel I gave my daughter is thick with flower buds, it is such a shame it does not have any scent, I would get rid of it and replace it with a scented one, I have offered to buy a replacement but my daughter wants to keep this one. This year I am planning to give her a Callicarpa as she admires mine each time she visits me, it is spectacular at the moment, a real splash of colour in the garden at the moment.
Hello , got back off holiday this week Everything frozen including water butts , next door put fleece over greenhouse plants 🪴, a couple have not survived Put extra fleece around Orange & lemon bushes
Sorted out seeds collected in the garden, put them into marked envelopes with informationabout them for our son with his first garden as part of the festive present.
Not much doing with the ground still frozen (despite 3 degrees above). So I cut back my nettle patch. Filled a whole brown bin with it, which felt a shame because I'm sure it would be great for the compost heap but there were just too many seeds to chance it.
Yesterday I cut back some more dahlias. Swept up, including lots more fig leaves (tree is now bare) for mulch. Planted some Dutch iris bulbs and tulips - quite a few more bulbs to plant (Farmer Gracy sale) but a job for another day. Was a lovely, sunny day and I was accompanied by a red admiral, a few bees were still buzzing around - focussing mainly on the borage and salvia leucantha - and a hummingbird hawk moth. Evicted some caterpillars from my calabrese - just moved them a bit further afield.
Martina Franca, Puglia, southern Italy Love living in Italy but a Loiner at heart
Posts
Love living in Italy but a Loiner at heart
I have been itching to get outside to catch up on work in the garden but have a ridiculous 2 weeks of attending health appointments, another tooth to be crowned, sub-committee and committee meetings, bracing dog walks, feeding my daughter's cat, and last-minute shopping and cooking for club Christmas events, Homemade Soup, crusty bread and Mince pies with Cornish Clotted cream anyone? So no gardening yet. I have my fingers firmly crossed I have not lost too many tender plants to the frosts, I have had plans to move several into shelter be it the greenhouse or conservatory, for the past week or two.
The dwarf iris I planted are all pushing their noses through, a promise of what is to come. The Nov. sown onions are still doing well so far and the mini cyclamen on my bathroom window sill are pushing up lots of flower stems, lovely. The winter flowering honeysuckle is coming into its own, getting ready to be enveloped in a cloud of perfume as I walk past. Yum.
The witch hazel I gave my daughter is thick with flower buds, it is such a shame it does not have any scent, I would get rid of it and replace it with a scented one, I have offered to buy a replacement but my daughter wants to keep this one. This year I am planning to give her a Callicarpa as she admires mine each time she visits me, it is spectacular at the moment, a real splash of colour in the garden at the moment.
Everything frozen including water butts , next door put fleece over greenhouse plants 🪴, a couple have not survived
Put extra fleece around Orange & lemon bushes
Love living in Italy but a Loiner at heart