A frog he would a woo-ing go.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

 

PARTY TIME IN THE PADDOCK POND!

(try photographing frogs at midnight -- sorry they are not better framed)

 

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WELCOME TO THE PARTY !!

 

After a news headlines like that I hope you are still reading!! Yes folks the frogs are back in action and it is great to see them. After such a bitterly cold early winter we were worried if any of them would have survived but here they are in their hundreds and there are mountains of spawn all around the pond. It has been a good mild month for them and there are green shoots appearing all over the garden - our sap too is definitely rising again.

 

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THE FROG A WOOING GOES


 

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MASSES OF FROG SPAWN - THE FROGS ARE IMMERSED IN IT

 


Weather Report

A lovely soft. mild month with just a couple of light frosts; -2c the lowest temperature. Some rain, very little wind or sun but great growing weather. Too good I fear as there will surely be a sting or two in the tail before we can say that the worst of the winter is behind us. Good though not to have to dwell on exceptional weather events for once.

 

Garden Update

At last there is life returning to the gardens with snowdrops in abundance, cyclamen coum that have been in continuous flower from early January, pulmonarias, hepaticas, witch hazels and best of all our beloved hellebores.

There have been a number of essential repair and maintenance jobs completed. The stream banks have been rebuilt with sleepers and a small waterfall made (OK only 4 feet ). I know that because to try it out I stood underneath it and got pretty wet!!. I have also constructed a sluice to let water into the Paddock Pond from the stream. All the pipework has been in place since 1993 when the pond was made - now that is what I call progress!

I have also removed a large wild rose near the main drive to the house which had outgrown its allotted space and become absolutely dangerous, and removed a few dead shrubs from last winter. The edges to some of the vegetable garden beds have also been repaired. Next week I intend to widen the path leading to the pergola area near the house to make for easier and safer access for our visitors this summer.

Finally we have started the mammoth seed sowing programme. Each year we seem to grow more and more and so far have sowed over 200 varieties of seed and there is still as much again to sow. We (sorry I!) must be nuts!! Already many have germinated in the microclimate created by the hot benches in the polytunnels. Next comes the major task of pricking out the seedlings and potting on all the mature plants which have overwintered successfully in frames and polytunnels with surprisingly few losses. Hopefully there should be plenty of plants for the gardens and for our many visitors this summer.

 

What's looking good?

Hellebores, hellebores and hellebores! It is only at this time of year we realise quite how many we have throughout the garden. When I first came here in March 1976 there was one in the garden. I had never encountered them before. That one plant started a love affair, even though it was rather dull and uninspiring by today's standards. Since then we have acquired a large collection in a wide variety  exceeding well over 200 plants from major growers in the UK and our own seedling stock.

For me there is no spring flowering plant that can compete with them in spite of the obvious charms of snowdrops, cyclamen, daffodils and the myriad of other spring flowering plants. They have colourful flowers in every shade except true blue, they flower for up to 3 months, have architectural leaves that continue to grow throughout the summer months, brighten the dullest areas of the gardens especially when the low winter sun shines through them, are lagely trouble free and live for a very long time ( I still have that original 1976 plant!)

Although the flower stems when cut do not last long in water, if you cut off  flowers with just an inch of pedicle (flower stem) and float them in a shallow bowl of water they will last for at least 5 days in a coolish room and make a lovely and unusual  table decoration. This also affords the opportunity to study the flower parts from the comfort of your armchair. If you don't grow them, why not?!!! Now is a good time to start as it always pays to buy them in flower so that you can be sure exactly what you are getting. They should be readily available now in garden centres and nurseries.

 

Wildlife

I have said enough already about the frogs but it is so good to see all the movement and activity again in the pond especially as we fear for the worst for all the fish and other aquatic life that were under the thick ice in November and December. There are a few toads appearing now and their breeding will reach a crescendo during March.

Whenever there is food available predators quickly follow and already the herons have started work on the frog spawn. We never know how much they will take but every year there are always plenty of tadpoles to grow into the next generation of frogs. However there are also sadly some seriously chewed up frogs around the pond edges indicating the presence of mammalian predators such as mink or otters.

The numbers of red kites around us just grows and grows every year. Time was when when the occasionial one was a red! letter day. Now we see them every day, and groups of 5 or more are the norm suggesting that they have become resident here and will be nesting in the local forests and woodlands. They sit in the large trees along the river whistling to each other, a call it easy to mimic. If I whistle back they will often come quite close to check me out, but I have to say they always go away disappointed. There is no way I could compare with them!!

 

Visitors

For once we have become vistors this month. We have been very busy delivering talks throughout our part of Wales giving talks as far apart as Whitland and Hay on Wye and Reynaldston, Gower to Llandysul for the annual Winter Gardening Weekend. We have received a warm welome wherever we have been and met some great characters and good gardeners. We have also taken a good number of bookings for summer visits to Cilgwyn Lodge.

It looks as though we will have our busiest year ever of opening for The National Gardens Scheme. We already have 20 party bookings for clubs and societes including 4 from Holland (2 from The Dutch RHS) and Hilliers Garden Club. All this in addition to our annual Open Day on 24 July between 1 and 5 pm. Moira reckons she will be baking cakes non stop from May to September!

Finally next month we are going to Phedar Nursery in Stockport to see an amazing collection of species hellebores collected over many years by Will McLewin  to identify and classify forms of species hellebores. He is a major figure in the hellebore world and it will be tremendous experience to have the opportunity to speak to him and buy as many plants as we can pack into the pick up. An update on this will appear in next months news.

 

In the meantime Happy Gardening and lets hope this will be a year to remember for all the right reasons.

 

 

A LOVELY GREEN DOUBLE HELLEBORE


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A ROSEBUD DOUBLE HELLEBORE - A VERY UNUSUAL HYBRID FORM

 

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A PALE PINK ANEMONE CENTRED HELLEBORE

This has improved immensely over the last 5 years - from Aswoods Nursey I think.

 

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AND FINALLY TO MAKE A CHANGE FROM HELLEBORES: IRIS "KATHARINE HODGKIN"

 

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AND A DRIFT OF CYCLAMEN COUM IN THE SPRING GARDEN

 

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More pictures and updates next month. Just to cheer you up it will soon be time to start mowing the lawns again!!!!!!!!!!