Six on Saturday 28/11/20

It’s been a mostly dry week with some very cold nights, frosty mornings, some bright sunny days and also some foggy days. Luckily, I had got the glasshouse winter ready just in time. Outside, I’ve been lifting Dahlia tubers and starting to dry them off for storing. After all of the rain some of them were starting to rot off in my clay soil so I hope I’ve got to them in time. I also planted some more bulbs this week and was so near to finishing the job when I was tempted by an email full of reduced bulbs. Before I knew what had happened I’d ordered some. Madness! There’s still a lot to see in the garden, I just have to look a bit closer.

• The frosty mornings give a completely different look to the garden and also show how busy the spiders have been, especially in the Beech hedge.

So many different sorts of webs

• With one of the frosts came a beautiful blue sky and the Birch tree looked great against it. The male catkins appear in the autumn with the female ones following in the spring. My tree doesn’t usually have many catkins but this year is an exception.

• I’ve moved a lot of the succulents into the glasshouse to give them some protection from the wet, rather than the cold as I don’t have anywhere outside where I can provide overhead cover. I need another cold frame but where to put it? They’re not all in there yet (I’m running out of room). Still outside is Echeveria ‘Black Prince’

• Also, Pachyphytum ‘Dark Red’

• My soil is definitely on the alkaline side of the pH scale and so my Hydrangeas are pink. A couple of years ago I fell in love with a blue one at the RHS Spring Show. I’ve kept it in a pot of ericaceous compost, watered it with rain water (except during a prolonged dry spell when the water butts were empty) and fed it with acid plant food. It remained blue last year but…….

Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Blue Star’

It’s definitely more ‘Pink Star’ these days. I thought it seemed too easy and obviously need to do some homework. Looking this good at the end of November though it more than earns its place in my garden.

• Several of the Clematis are having a very late spurt of growth. This one has looked like a collection of brown stems for quite a while then a few weeks ago sprang back into life and has managed to flower, despite this weeks cold snap. It’s these unexpected things that add such pleasure walking around the garden.

Clematis ‘Diana’s Delight’

It’s a bit murky out there this morning but the overnight rain is drying up so I’m going to try to find some more bulb room (more pots?). I’d rather a frost followed by the cold sunshine than the dreary day we have here today but at least I can get outside. Have a great weekend and stay safe.

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