February 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
It's a great experience and a thrill to launch our new website
and we hope you will enjoy reading about our garden. We have been
opening for the National Gardens Scheme for 10 years and raised
over £12,000 for the charities supported by the NGS. Our Open Day
this year is on Sunday 25 July from 1.00 - 5.00pm and it would be
good to welcome you. If you can't make it then why not get in touch
with us to arrange to come at another time? We are open for
visitors by prior arrangement between June and October:also for
coach parties up to 50 people. We are 12 miles from Aberglasney
Gardens and 18 miles from National Botanic Gardens for Wales so a
visit to Cilgwyn Lodge could easily be combined with one of those
gardens.
We aim to provide a monthly update on what's happening in the
gardens - and hope that when things get really busy from May
onwards we will be able to keep this up!
So here goes - what has January been like as if you didn't know
already! Like almost everywhere else it has been snowy and very
cold with 2 nights of temperatures at -16c which is a record in our
time here. It is the first time that we have had no hellebores in
bloom during January and they do look pretty sorry for themselves.
However they are tough and can be relied upon to give a good show
later in the Spring. The snowdrops are just beginning to flower but
stars of the garden at the moment are the cyclamen coum which have
been flowering well since before the snow and will go on until
March.They are worth growing in a shady, well drained spot and with
the help of ants, seed around over the years to give sizeable
clumps.
There are worrying signs of stress on some plants especially
ceonothus, cistus, lavateras, lavenders, penstemons and drimys
winterii. We will have to wait until April or early May to see how
many have come through. It pays to be patient as some of them may
come back, and sad as it is to lose mature plants it presents
another planting opportunity. We fear too for some perennials
particularly kniphofias, crocosmias and salvias, but most notably
the dahlias which we have left in the ground for the last 10 years,
but will they make it this year?
We took plenty of cuttings from half hardy and tender plants
during the Autumn (things like penstemons, cistus, salvias,
diascias, abutilons, arctotis, verbenas and fuchsias) which are
growing away well in the polytunnels and greenhouses. It has been
expensive to keep them heated at just above freezing but the
majority of mature overwintering plants are still alive. We have
also started the mammoth task of seed sowing on heated benches and
have over 300 varieties to sow between now and April. Sweet peas,
leeks, early lettuce and cabbage are through and its a very
exciting time of year as seedlings start to show. We need to keep
them growing and keep damping off and botrytis at bay. With the
nights slowly getting lighter we can feel our own sap rising with
all the promise of Spring to come. Let us hope that February brings
some respite and that we and and our beloved plants can
flourish,
If you feel like a day out in February why not visit the Winter
Gardening Weekend in Llandysul, Carmarthenshire, which takes place
on 19, 20 and 21 from 10.00am - 5,00 pm. There are displays, plants
for sale and a range of talks on various topics by a range of
speakers. Keith will be speaking on the 20th. His subjects are
Growing Vegetables and The Magic of Hellebores. For more
information please go to www.llandysul-ponttyweli.co.uk