Six On Saturday: Creeping towards spring

/ n20gardener

The joys of sixing! Thanks to our host The Propagator I get to really notice when things start happening in the garden and what a difference a week makes. Second joy of sixing – the front garden gets a tidy up: this week’s haul: three aluminium cans, a plastic bag and several pieces of polystyrene blown over from a neighbour’s skip. Not much storm damage to report here, just a few twiggy branches and a sodden lawn. Let’s see what Dennis dumps this week. On to the six:

One

The vinca that never flowers has flowered!  And this is not the only one, I’ve spotted at least four more.  It’s a start.  The flowering period for most vincas is given as April – September, this one is early but no complaints. Judging by the height I think this is a vinca major of some sort.

Two

A few more of the front garden crocuses have opened up and these are a good purple colour.  Thumbs up for these too.

Three

Until now there was not a sign of a daffodil but the sunny skies of last week have enticed the tete a tete to flower.

Four

Round the corner from the daffs I came across a very healthy clump of pulmonaria officinalis.  Flowering period March to May, so just a few weeks early.

Five

The primroses have been slowly opening up over the last few weeks but now they’ve decided to go for it.

Six

Lastly the front garden virbunum tinus, often maligned for not flowering very strongly is having a real go at it, mainly on the sunnier side of the shrub. There are two in the front garden and both were given a good prune last year.  They also received a good mulch for the second year running. so perhaps that has helped to move things along a bit.

All in all, a much easier six this week.  Things are definitely looking up.  The greenhouse felt positively warm this morning.  This can only mean one thing: it is time to start gardening again.  Time to finish all that soft fruit pruning and time to pull off the dead stems from the phlox as I’ve spotted the new shoots coming through.  Due to impending storm Dennis it won’t get one this weekend.  Time, I think, for an indoors sort through of seeds to be sown for week four of February.  Yes, time to be organised.

16 thoughts on “Six On Saturday: Creeping towards spring”

  2. I thought my daffodils were late but with the mild weather of yesterday and this morning, the first one is also open here … I have the same crocuses and I have a funny photo that I will post this afternoon or tonight.
    Superb vinca flower !

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  4. There’s plenty of colour for you to enjoy in your garden – and the vinca flowering must have felt like a moment of triumph.

    I hope the approaching storm doesn’t give you any damage, it’s been racing through our garden all morning and my conifers are taking a beating. But to be truthful, it’s not (yet?) as bad as last weekend.

    Happy gardening for the coming week.

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    • I’ve had ‘Sissinghurst white’ for a few years but a friend gave me a clump of these blue ones when we moved here. These don’t get eaten by slugs and snails and the bees love them. They divide really easily and grow in shade so they are an all out winner for me.

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