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Some Garden-Related Musings
Dec. 4th, 2011 04:03 pmThe snow came early, unfortunately. I was supposed to be going down to some horsey store in Dundonald so J could get me a new pair of jodphurs as part of my Christmas present. My other pair are, quite literally, falling apart (nowhere embarrassing, I hasten to add!) so it seemed like a good idea. We were also going to take a trip to my local antiques dealer to see if he's got any nice bits of Charlotte Rhead ware in stock...
But with a slushy layer building up on the high ground, and ominous slate grey clouds all around us, we decided to be prudent and head back to Lochwinnoch. Where a small fortune was spent on bird food, and we then went on to our usual coffee shop for lunch.
Squinty the blackbird was a welcome visitor to the garden today. She appeared twice, and scoffed a huge number of raisins and RSPB issue 'Fruity Nibbles' on each occasion. Our garden has been overwhelmed by blackbirds, all of whom are very cheeky, and there have been some squabbles. Squinty, however, seems to have got her timing down to a fine art. She waits for the hue and cry to subside, then slopes in when no one else is around and gets personal attention. Unfortunately, I'm not often there to see to her because of work - it's now too dark for birds to be around when I leave in the morning. Hopefully, J will keep an eye out for her in my absence, though there should in theory be plenty of food to go around all the needy beaks - I stocked up today on various tasty snacks, including Peck n'Mix, Sunflower Drops, Fruity Nibbles, Fat Bars, Coconut Treats, plus the obligatory husk-free sunflower mix (bulked out with nyger). And I already had plenty of Ground Feeder Mix. I'll probably need to restock my feeder seed before Christmas, and maybe get a few more Fat Bars if the weather turns bad, but the rest should last till Christmas. I do need to get some more apples, however, and when the weather really turns I'll be adding grated Cheddar to the larder, too, so the wrens (what wrens??? Last one I saw got catted a good few years ago...), robins and dunnocks get a chance to get a look-in.
We have copious numbers of bullfinches flitting around the place. I hear them frequently, but they never visit the feeder. But hey, that's why I bought a flowering cherry tree. As much to feed the bullfinches as to produce flowers...
I've now put fleece over the chrysanths/fuschias/osteospermum that I've been decanting into pots for the winter. It still doesn't seem cold enough to bring them indoors - despite the snow forecast, I don't think we'll get below freezing tonight. My begonias are now all indoors: there was only one confirmed sighting of a vine weevil grub during their move to winter quarters, which seems a bit strange, considering the large numbers of adults I spotted over the summer (does 12 count as a large number? I'd say yes...) Perhaps their development has been really slow on account of the cold spring...
I've also managed to bring in most of my fancy geraniums. The rest have probably had it, but that's just too bad.
I also stumbled across a penstemon Osprey today in my garden travels - I'd forgotten all about it, which meant I hadn't taken cuttings. This ommission has now been rectified, I'm pleased to say.
As for the cuttings? My surviving Heavenly Blue seems much better now it's been moved out into the porch, and I've got one viable Sour Grapes chugging along quite nicely, too. I've also potted up two Hewells Pink plants so far, but I'm not convinced that one'll make it. The rest are still being very tardy about root production, but there's not much I can do about that except wait...
But with a slushy layer building up on the high ground, and ominous slate grey clouds all around us, we decided to be prudent and head back to Lochwinnoch. Where a small fortune was spent on bird food, and we then went on to our usual coffee shop for lunch.
Squinty the blackbird was a welcome visitor to the garden today. She appeared twice, and scoffed a huge number of raisins and RSPB issue 'Fruity Nibbles' on each occasion. Our garden has been overwhelmed by blackbirds, all of whom are very cheeky, and there have been some squabbles. Squinty, however, seems to have got her timing down to a fine art. She waits for the hue and cry to subside, then slopes in when no one else is around and gets personal attention. Unfortunately, I'm not often there to see to her because of work - it's now too dark for birds to be around when I leave in the morning. Hopefully, J will keep an eye out for her in my absence, though there should in theory be plenty of food to go around all the needy beaks - I stocked up today on various tasty snacks, including Peck n'Mix, Sunflower Drops, Fruity Nibbles, Fat Bars, Coconut Treats, plus the obligatory husk-free sunflower mix (bulked out with nyger). And I already had plenty of Ground Feeder Mix. I'll probably need to restock my feeder seed before Christmas, and maybe get a few more Fat Bars if the weather turns bad, but the rest should last till Christmas. I do need to get some more apples, however, and when the weather really turns I'll be adding grated Cheddar to the larder, too, so the wrens (what wrens??? Last one I saw got catted a good few years ago...), robins and dunnocks get a chance to get a look-in.
We have copious numbers of bullfinches flitting around the place. I hear them frequently, but they never visit the feeder. But hey, that's why I bought a flowering cherry tree. As much to feed the bullfinches as to produce flowers...
I've now put fleece over the chrysanths/fuschias/osteospermum that I've been decanting into pots for the winter. It still doesn't seem cold enough to bring them indoors - despite the snow forecast, I don't think we'll get below freezing tonight. My begonias are now all indoors: there was only one confirmed sighting of a vine weevil grub during their move to winter quarters, which seems a bit strange, considering the large numbers of adults I spotted over the summer (does 12 count as a large number? I'd say yes...) Perhaps their development has been really slow on account of the cold spring...
I've also managed to bring in most of my fancy geraniums. The rest have probably had it, but that's just too bad.
I also stumbled across a penstemon Osprey today in my garden travels - I'd forgotten all about it, which meant I hadn't taken cuttings. This ommission has now been rectified, I'm pleased to say.
As for the cuttings? My surviving Heavenly Blue seems much better now it's been moved out into the porch, and I've got one viable Sour Grapes chugging along quite nicely, too. I've also potted up two Hewells Pink plants so far, but I'm not convinced that one'll make it. The rest are still being very tardy about root production, but there's not much I can do about that except wait...
