Ceratonia

Went out last night to get some more veg. We have parsnips, sprouts, leeks, rocket and swiss chard at the moment. Parsnips (white king) have done very well, so have the leeks (Musselburgh) - much bigger than previous years. The sprouts are a bit tiddly though, possibly due to the pigeon damage earlier in the year. Also had to put the heater on in the greenhouse - it was below 0 by 6pm. Everything in the greenhouses seems to be surviving OK so far.

Sowed some more seeds as well - mainly ones I'd collected myself or got for free. Not sure I have a use in mind for any of these plants, but nothing ventured, nothing gained - they're not going to grow left in the packet.

Smyrnium Olustratum (alexanders - mediterranean plant like cow parsley, which the romans introduced to Britain as a vegetable).

Smyrnium perfoliatum (a relative of the above)

Gentiana asclepiadea (willow gentian - really nice alpine flower)

Asclepias curassavica (these are indoors)

Mixed hosta (self collected) and mahonia (likewise), plus a couple of shrub/tree seeds - Myrtle (myrtus communis) and Cotinus coggygria

Well, Saturday morning saw some snow here, so not much opportunity to do much in the garden.

We put up a new bird-feeder which I'd made form bits of wood during the week. This allows the small birds (finches & tits mostly) to eat the seed I put out each day, rather than the pigeons who ate most of it previously. The pigeons weren't so keen on this change and spent some time chasing the chaffinches away from the food, but they seem to have got used to it now.

Alexander and I also painted a bird box I'd made and put that up above his den, in the middle of the conifer trees.

We (for a laugh) used up an old can of spray paint and painted the old christmas tree gold and put it in the garden. It looks quite naturalistic, which is not what I'd expected. 

Finally, we spent a couple of hours in the rain collecting old leaves - got a total of 12 sacks of squashed up leaves, which were mixed into one of the compost heaps. Still rather a lot of leaves to collect, though!

Well, managed to do three simple tasks in/around the garden today.

Sowed some seed of the following:

Anthericum lilago - collected by my dad from his garden when we visited on Dec 30.

Helleborus 'Miss Jekyll's hybrids'

These both need a period in the warm for a few weeks, then cold for a couple of months, then warmer conditions. So will leave inside until mid-Feb, then outside in the cold to overcome dormancy.

Also, Cordyline australis - I managed to germinate a few of these in the summer, so this was just using up what's left of the packet.

I moved some plants my dad gave me in small pots into the greenhouse - Lathyrus aureus (a golden flowered plant of the sweet pea family, from the Taurus Mountains originally it seems. Only a couple of feet high. Also, he gave me some Allium hybrids (flavum crossed with some other A. species, possibly olympiacium or similar?)

I also hung a bee's nest that mum & dad gave me for christmas. It's a wooden box stuffed with hollow bamboo tubes, which bees, lacewings and ladybirds can over-winter in.

This blog wouldn't be complete without giving details of a seed order. The final one for this winter, from Kings

Artichoke (Green Globe), Beetroot (Crimson King), Pumpkin (Jack O'Lantern), Florence Fennel (Romanesco), Parsnip (White King), Runner Bean (Prizetaker), Sweetcorn (Kelvedon Glory), Eucalyptus gunnii (for flower arranging) and Festuca Glauca.