Tree following, December 2019

Liz –  A month ago today I opened my curtains here in Lexington, Kentucky to see the witch hazel looking like this!  It was pretty but thankfully didn’t last long.

The blooms continue to delight as seen below.

Both branches and leaves are good for drying, using one part glycerin to three parts water.

Branches are often used as dowsing, or divining, rods for finding underground water sources as this University of Vermont article explains.

 

     

 

Mike – By the end of November the apple tree only retained a few leaves.

It’s sad to see this tree neglected and poorly pruned as I’m sure that with some care and attention it would produce plenty of decent eating apples.

Our thanks to Pat, The Squirrelbaseket, for hosting Tree following as usual.  If you want to see what it’s all about, and perhaps follow one as well, please click on the link over on the right-hand side.

Have a good weekend!

The strawberry patch

One of the first jobs I’ll be doing in early spring is digging up the strawberry plants which are now well past their best.  I would have done it in October if I hadn’t been otherwise occupied revamping the shed/compost bin area.

 

I’ll then dig the area over and add plenty of compost before replanting the smaller, younger plants like these two.

It’s generally recommended to do this in fresh ground but there’s nowhere suitable.

I’m not that fussed about strawberries so only grow around ten plants, and won’t be too concerned if I don’t get much fruit next summer.

Have a good week!

I’ve always preferred….

going to the plot in the mornings generally around nine o’clock, and sometimes earlier in the summer or later during the winter.  However at this time of year it’s often cold and dull first thing but warms and brightens up by late morning so on days like that I have an early lunch then go.   Yesterday I got there around one o’clock and spent a pleasant couple hours working until the sun disappeared behind the nearby flats.

Over the years I’ve tried growing various flowers in this area by the dogwood without much success so I’m pleased to see that these pot marigolds have not only grown there but are still looking okay.

I don’t recollect them flowering but hopefully they’ll survive the winter and will next year.  It’ll be nice to have some colour on what has nearly always been a bare patch.

Have a good weekend.

Although it’s the first day….

of winter it’s rather pleasing to see some of the crocuses already starting to appear like these I noticed yesterday, which I think are the yellow variety Romance. 

I’ll be keeping an eye out for the others,  and the daffodils.

 

 

 

The vinca has taken several years to get established but at long last it’s beginning to grow over the log pile.  I know that it can be somewhat invasive so when I tidy the area in the early spring I’ll make sure that it hasn’t spread too far.

 

 

I’ll also make sure that the ivy around the rose Pretty Lady doesn’t get out of hand.  At the moment it’s keeping Foxy warm for the winter.

 

 

It’s the last day of National Tree Week and to celebrate it here’s a picture I took yesterday  of the wonderful willow just outside the allotment site.

Have a good week!

Talking of tomatoes

I’ve only made two brief visits to the plot this week as the weather has been miserably damp and dull.  Thankfully from tomorrow and over the weekend into next week it looks like being colder but mostly dry with some welcome sunshine.

Needless to say I’ve been doing plenty of armchair gardening thinking about what I’ll be growing, and where, next year.  I’ll be endeavoring to grow less better again, especially tomatoes as I grew eleven plants last year which is almost twice as many as I usually do or need.

Talking of tomatoes I’ve been given an unopened packet of Little Sun which are well past the sow by date.  I’ll give them a go regardless and see if I can grow one or two in pots on the windowsill at home.

 

Further to last Sunday’s sunflowers post how about this painting by Gary Bunt titled The Sleeping Gardener. 

 

Have a good weekend!

 

Saturday sunflowers

It was a miserable, damp and dull, day yesterday so after lunch I settled down to finish sorting out the sunflower seeds that I’ve saved for Toni at The Big Sunflower Project which she’ll be sending to people to grow next year.  They include about 3,000 knee-high MusicBox and 1,000 prize winning Ring of Fire.

 

I also did a rough draft of a blog post which I’m writing for her about the sunflowers I grew this year, and what I hope to grow next year including a new for me variety.  When its published I’ll mention it in a post here along with the link so you can read it too.

Have a good week!

I’ve done little more…

than have a quick look round most mornings this week as it’s been cold. On Tuesday there was a hard frost as shown by these pictures of some pot marigolds, primroses and the last roses Pretty Lady.

Whilst taking the photos I was distracted by a flock of at least thirty ring-necked parakeets flying around before they settled on one of the trees in the adjacent ecology park.  This is the most I’ve seen at any one time, and they appear to be resident as they’ve been noted daily by several people over the past few weeks.

Have a good weekend!