The mild south westerly winds that we have been experiencing last week, have woken up host of plants from their winter slumber. The Forestry Commision planted the area behind our house four years ago with a huge mix of native and some non-native trees and shrubs.

This weekend, while taking Finn and Molly for their walk, I noticed that, just in a week, the Corylus avellana ( Hazel- wheat coloured catkins ) and Alnus glutinosa (Alder --- black/purple catkins) have become smothered in catkins.

The difference in growth between these two plants is remarkable. All of the trees and shrubs were approximately 40-60cm (18”-2ft high) when planted. Four years later the Corylus are about 1.2-1.5m high, whereas the Alnus are about 4-5m high.  This is the reason many farmers and land owners use Alnus as a windbreak, because they attain a tall hedge fairly quickly. However Corylus also makes a lovely hedgerow, with the added bonus of Hazelnuts. Both these can still be planted now as bare rooted plants until late March.

Today I am going to share a very minor horticultural triumph, back in the autumn of 2009 I sowed some Paeonia mlokosewitschii or as a mere mortal like me calls it Molly the Witch. My wife has been sceptical looking at pots in which seemed very empty but patience is rewarded and they have come good. I have 2 coming up so far. I must confess to some surprise that any have geminated, and no idea of how long until we have a flower if they survive. I feel slightly guilty about mentioning this variety as we have none for sale but there are alternatives such as Paeonia lactiflora Festiva Maxima that is a lovely white variety.

If ever there was a lesson to be learned it’s not to buy cheap terracotta pots. No matter how lovely they look stacked up in the local garden centre decked out with dainty herbs – just don’t!!! This rather sorry looking display contained a lovely herb, Mentha x piperita Chocolate Mint. It’s wonderful added to a Mojito on a hot summers day. There’s a story there involving me, several Mojito’s and some furry dice, I wont go into details!. As I look around the garden I’m dismayed at the state of my lawn. “Great weather for ducks they say” but I can assure you its not. Three of my prize winning Teals dropped dead this winter from excessive cold. In my depression I stumble across a patch of crocus peeking above the quagmire and Snowdrops about to burst into flower. Little signs of spring that fill my soul with cheer but does nothing to generate the £500 needed to replace the aforementioned Teal. On a serious horticultural note my Veg seeds are organized in my special metal seed box, courtesy of my mum this Christmas ( its great!! and I’m very excited ). The Vegetable patch is to be dug over this weekend, spent grow bags added for extra bulk and a layer of well rotted manure added for those greedy veg.

These musing are inspired partly by a walk in my local woods, it is always good to find nature moving in a time of year a lot of people consider to be the heart of Winter. On a south-facing slope I came across a hazel almost in flower but close enough to cheer me up! There are cultivated varieties to be had for the garden such as Corylus avellana contorta some times known as Harry Lauder’s Walking stick. Another variety to consider is Corylus avellana aurea which has soft yellow leaves, heavier cropping varieties have been selected such as Cosford cob and Hall’s Giant and are available if you want to grow your own nuts for Christmas. There are some close relatives like The red filbert Corylus maxima and the Turkish hazel Corylus colerna that makes an imposing tree. Further along on the walk I noticed that the Lords and Ladies are beginning to push up lush green leaves, this made me wonder how the Arum italicum pictum was doing in my garden so on my return home I had a look and they are looking in the pink so to speak!


Back at work on a pleasant February morning there is time for a quick look around the nursery, out on the beds there is not much sign of life just what looks like empty pots. But do not be fooled in a few weeks there will be new growth! One of the beds that caught my eye is the one that has an experimental group of plants with a topping of bark chips to suppress weeds and save on herbicides (This will make the nursery more environmentally friendly than ever.) So can the hawk eyed amongst you tell what the plants are ? If we look into the tunnels there are a number of plants that are showing signs of growth such as the Sedum Herbsfreude used to be Autumn Glory and as my dad would call it an Ice plant (If some one could tell me why its called that I would love to know!) the new leaves always look new and clean in the spring resembling baby cabbages Last but not least I was arrested by a scent wafting from one of tunnels and on investigation the origin turned out to be Sarcococca hookeriana humilis, what a mouthful of a name great for impressing non-gardeners. It is a very useful plant growing happily in the shade and giving a lift to the late winter with its highly fragrant flowers even if rather small! The fragrance gives it one common name of Sweet box and its habit of flowering around Christmas gives it another common name Christmas box.

Last weekend was mainly a vegetable weekend. I managed to dig over half the patch, after clearing the bean canes from last year. Its amazing how quickly the weeds start to take over, even with the bad weather we have had over the last two months. I also put my seed potatoes into seed trays so that they could ‘chit’. This is done to ensure you get strong sturdy shoots at one end of the tuber. The varieties I am growing this year are Pentalin Javelin (first early) and King Edward (main crop). Also potted up my onion sets(Sturon) into small cells(usually used for cuttings or seed) in my greenhouse. I find that they establish faster if I can get some root on them, before they are planted out in the big wide world. Tops of bulb shoots are starting to appear in the flower garden. I noticed some tulips, (in a warm spot in the garden) and Iris reticulata, but these seem to be late this year? Snowdrops are still not fully up, but the best time for these is usually first two weeks of February.