May I be the first to wish you a Happy New February! Makes a change don’t you think? I thought I would save my New Year good wishes until February only to be different you understand … ’twas ever thus’ she who must be obeyed would say! In any event please have a happy, successful and bountiful year in your garden.
Speaking of royalty I was conversing with her Ladyship the other day, or to be accurate I was seeking an audience to speak with her ladyship. I was eventually tucked in between training the new servants and counting the corgies. We were discussing where in the world we would retire to for the period of time that the team of domestics manfully attended to the annual spring clean of the 23 turrets at Penny Towers. We are currently undecided upon the family property in Norfolk or a little Island we have acquired in the Seychelles. It is a difficult decision because the Gulfstream G550 is currently being serviced and we find it really quite tedious in Norfolk for when one arrives at the gate house of the Norfolk estate one then has an eight mile drive through ones’ manicured land before arriving at the Baronial pile SO tedious. One might point out here that one might have one’s lands’ but one doesn’t know where ones’ apostrophe should go!
Isn’t it lovely that gardening is almost an international language and barrier breaker, no matter where you are in the world plant lovers seem to find a way to communicate. Did you know that in Laos a garden is a vaj, in Southern Africa the Xhosa tribe call it an igadi, in Swahili it is a bustani, in Japan they have senzai and in the Philippines the ilongo call a garden a hardin. I wonder however, if any of you lovely readers know which nation calls their garden a wIghachHom? The Answer is at the bottom … how exiting!
Moving on did you know that the rare Bolivian herb Puya raimondii was discovered in 1870 (no, shame on you). Never one to hurry, Puya, to his mates, grows steadily for 150 years, develops a flower panicle and then dies off. My question is how do they know? It is only 144 years since the plant was discovered. It should be mentioned here that many an evening this vexed subject has kept Lady Penny and myself amused nay riveted!
Have you ever been outwitted in the science and nature section of Trivial Pursuits or left floundering in a quiz? No, me neither but I have heard that some lesser mortals surprisingly do so. If you so do so do so do so the following list of collective nouns may come in handy. A cete of badgers, a dissimulation of small birds, a peep of chickens, a business of ferrets, a tiding of magpies, a richesse of martins, a wedge of swans and one of my favourites a piteousness of doves, how charming.
Spring is just around the corner now, it really is a magical time there is a brightness and bloom everywhere, there is a belief in the future, an air of hopefulness. A strange expectancy and optimism of life in the most inhospitable of soils and climate, even the moon on the window pane seems lighter, brighter somehow cheerful. Such times turn our hearts to the desire for brightness, beauty and delicately scented plants and the most wonderful thing of all is that it almost never disappoints.
JOBS FOR THE MONTH
Let’s start with the Queen I mean Clematis of course. When the bad frosts have gone cut late flowering clematis down to about 60cm. (2ft)
Have fun planning your vegetables and flowers from the magazines.
Any compost left outside will be very cold so bring it into the greenhouse/shed to warm up.
Dead head pansies they will bloom again I promise.
Feed beds and borders also when frosts have gone use up any old unused plant food rather than throw it away.
Check your plants for any damage or rot, cut out weak or damaged stems
Re-firm any plants that may have been loosened by frost or winds.
It is time to clean greenhouses, tools, staging using one of my favourite products- jeyes fluid.
Troughs, window boxes and containers will benefit from a clean also….. Jeyes again.
Prune deciduous hedges and buddleia down to mid-calf height (leave buddleia globosa, the orange one untouched other than to remove damaged stems)
Harvest winter flowering broccoli, leeks and sprouts.
If we have deep frosts that have frozen the pond melt the surface rather than breaking the ice, fish hate and are damaged by the vibrations of the ice being smashed.
Start slug patrols to catch those pesky slugs before they become a real menace.
Always check that greenhouses are correctly ventilated
Spray almonds and peaches with your preferred fungicidal spray.
This is the last month for deep winter digging
Warm the ground up with cloches or fleece
If we have snow brush it off evergreens to save the branches from being bent under the added weight and possibly damaged.
Also keep off lawns if frozen and do not be tempted to give a hard early cut of the lawn, the first two cuts should be a very light indeed with the mower set on the highest cut.
Big month coming up so enjoy a nice cup of tea.
Did you guess which nation calls its garden a ‘wIghachHom’?…It is the peaceful Klingon nation from Star Trek!
Happy Gardening to you all.
David Penny