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03/27/2006
Spring at last
Nice mild day on Saturday - was out in my t-shirt. See Ladybirds all year round, but there were swarms of them this weekend - no going to be a good year for the aphids, I think. Saw a couple of bees and also a solitary Brimstone butterfly - picture below.
This site says they feed on aubretia, buddliea, lavender, purple loosestrife, runner bean & scabious. We have all of these in the garden, but I reckon this one might be a bit too early, as I don't think any are in flower ( the runner beans are still in the seed packet).
http://www.overthegardengate.net/wildlife/btemplate.asp?i...
Planted the jostaberry out in the fruit cage. Advice from several sources seems to be to cut it right down to a couple of buds above ground when planting, which seems a bit harsh, but that's what I did. Used the prunings as hardwood cuttings - we'll see if they take by autumn I suppose. Also took some cuttings from the 'Congo Cockatoo' impatiens indoors, which was getting a bit leggy and also from the side shoots of the fuchsias which are intended to be trained as standards.
Sowed parsnips, with radishes as a marker row - haven't tried this before. Not had any problem with parsnips before. Also sowed beetroot - haven't grown this for a few years. Planted out lettuce seedlings under the cloche. Put all of the early potatoes out - will do the maincrop in a couple of weeks. The varieties (2 of each!) are Catriona, Celine, Mimi, Orla, Rooster and Sharpe's Express, I think, plus one other.
Cut back some of the winter jasmine now that its finished flowering. Didn't do all of it though. Cut some tulips for the house and brought various narcissi, hyacinths & muscari that were in pots indoors - a nice set of flowers and some lovely scent from the hyacinth. Had the last of the leeks for lunchtime soup. The hungry gap is almost upon us - only a few parsnips left in the garden and a few herbs in the greenhouse.
Sad garden job was burying our guinea pig 'Bill' who died at the vet on Sunday Morning. He will be missed. His brother, Jo, is certainly missing him and I think we will probably be visiting the pet rescue centre for a replacement. We will probably get Bill neutered and introduce one or two females, as I think two unrelated males might fight.
Here's a picture of the butterfly. The books say the males are yellow and the females green. I would've described this one as yellowy-green, so am not sure which it was!
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