“Ah, shall winter mend your case
Set your teeth the wind to face
Beat the snow down, tread the frost
All is gained when all is lost.”
William Morris
The days are finally getting noticeably longer and both garlic and onions have green shoots inside. Potatoes in the pantry are starting to sprout so spring must be out there somewhere.
Longer days prompt me to finally look at the seed catalogues. This year I’m looking at buying more of the wild, colourful and frilly and possibly vulgar parrot glads. I ended up with a few of these last year in a mixture. Vesey’s has lots of them in this year’s catalogue. If you want something to horrify your neighbour with an all green Italianate garden these will definitely do the trick.
The glads are probably a safer bet than last year’s giant lilies which didn’t turn out to be giant at all. Or possibly it takes a few years for them to achieve giant status and I’m too impatient. If I cast my mind back, I remember that it took quite a few years for the ornamental rhubarb to produce its huge pink flowers. But when it did, it was definitely worth waiting for.
I am sometimes surprised by the new and supposedly improved plants for the coming year. Some improvements aren’t really any improvement at all. An example of an improvement that we didn’t really need is a new hosta called Lemon Snap which looks like mutant Swiss chard. It’s a not very attractive lime green and red. Why not just grow ruby chard which is quite striking and edible too?
Obviously I will never be in the market for the latest thing.
Indoor plants that have been dormant all winter are starting to perk up now that the days are lengthening. The new growth that I see in most of my indoor plants is encouraging. It’s time to cut back anything that looks leggy and scruffy and give all the plants some fertilizer. Anything grown in a pot with limited space for roots to spread out needs some help. Any water soluble fertilizer will do. I think I have Miracle Grow right now but I have found that it really doesn’t matter which one you use.
I’m reminded by a gardening friend that now is the time to take stored dahlias out and check them for mold or dehydration. I failed dahlia storage last winter and am determined to pass this year. I’m told that if the dahlia tubers look too dry they should be spritzed with a little water to tide them over until spring. We will see if I can’t do better this year.
Finally, on a sad note, the oldest of the resident cats, Timmy the church cat, died on Boxing Day. He had another life before he came here and was probably around nineteen or twenty when he died. He was the exception to the rule that all cats have egos the size of an old fashioned barn. Timmy had no attitude and was never anything but friendly and positive in his outlook. He will be missed.
By Jill Williams
