Nearly, not quite...

I will restart my three word gardening posts soon because I am getting itchy feet to grow again. In the meantime, I will show you what has been going on over the winter.

We are being tempted with slightly longer days giving us an after school slot to walk the dog, feed the sheep and chickens. This is also making me want to start thinking about the garden again.

The emergence of winter flowers like snowdrops are making me get excited about which bulbs are going to pop up again in the front border.

Considering this was just my grandfather's antique potato planter in some soil last year, I am pleased that the front garden at least has something on show in January. If it can look this good when it should look bad, gives me hope that I have planned it out well. The little piles of hay are protecting my ranunculus when we have hard frosts which we get on top of a ridge here.I gave this border a good weeding last week and saw tiny bulb leaves peeping out.

Indoors I am welcoming the longevity of my Christmas poinsettia and the explosion on my spider plant which I know to be a sign that it is pot bound so maybe a mammoth houseplant re-pot is on the cards soon. Also it is making me want to get my macrame stuff out and hit my crafty side.

I am loving the return of daffodils to my weekly food shop. My mum bought me some bulbs too for my birthday which is next up on my list of things to plant.

In much bigger and somewhat historical news, I have given a piece of land to my friend Beth to use. She is a bridal flower grower and designer. Last year after removing all the old building rubbish from a paddock at the back of the new house I found myself staring at a huge piece of ground. I was going to plant an orchard on it but as I stood there with a mug of tea I thought it would be a much needed growing space for my friend Beth to expand. Beth works on her own, and so do I, so it was a collaboration that meant we both wouldn't feel isolated. On a more selfish note, I would gaze at a sea of seasonal flowers from my kitchen window and not have to weed it!

She and Andy spent late Autumn rotavating it, splitting it into beds and adding a whole trailer load of manure.

Currently, it has 100's of foxgloves in all different colours laid out in one bed and fifteen rose bushes in a rose bed. I made a peony bed too but it is a bit weedy! As the ground slopes away she has shrubs and perennials in other beds. It is not much to look at now but I will love showing you this cut flower garden as it changes throughout the year.

With Beth and her plantsmanship skills on hand a few days a week, I have was able to pick her brains about what to plant in Autumn 2021. I have sweet peas overwintering in the greenhouse.

I took cuttings from all of my trailing geraniums doubling my stock for filling pots in Spring.

My cornflower seeds have been pricked out and are now outside hardening off. Beth informs me they are OK up to -10 degrees.

The veg plot is still under its tarp staying all warm and weed free. The only veg I have on the go at the moment is a good garlic bed. Meg planted these in late Autumn in cell trays and we put them out last week. By the time they are ready to pick, tie and dry I will hopefully replace this bed with the sweet peas.

Thanks for dropping by. I hope you found something of interest in my garden. Jo xx