Today I’ve spent a pleasant afternoon in the flower garden. The weather once again was sunny and cold, which will do just fine. Everything is pretty wet after last nights rain, (not suitable for kneeling down or digging) so I decided to turn my attentions to a geranium, a few foxgloves and the ivy growing around the bottom of the conservatory.

When we moved here 10 years ago we brought a vast number and variety of plants with us. Some have thrived, others such as my Anthemis Tinctoria ‘EC Buxton’ (Golden Marguerite) and Peter’s beloved Candelabra Primulas have not. The plants that do seem to do exceptionally well here are geraniums and foxgloves, plus of course the ivy. We like these plants, but I fear they are getting out of control in places.The foxgloves are easy to spot and pull out, but the other two are a little more tricky.

primulae-c-buxton

I started in flower bed 1 and dug out one of the geraniums that was in danger of taking over the entire bed. I know I didn’t get it all out by any means, so I will be expecting to see it again in Spring, but at least it should be greatly reduced in size by then. I intend to sow some perennial seeds in the next few weeks, and the resulting plants will eventually go in the space I’ve cleared today.

As regards the ivy, well it’s one of those things that seemed like a good idea at the time, but with the benefit of hindsight, perhaps we shouldn’t have planted quite so much. It grows up the front and side of the house, which undoubtedly looks lovely, but it’s a nightmare to trim every year, and because it would involve me going more than 3 rungs up a ladder, I’m afraid Peter has to do it. I’m in charge of the stuff lower down which is what I was trimming today.

It’s so vigorous, I trimmed it back in Autumn, but it has still put on loads of growth. It’s so tough as well, and plays havoc with my hands and fingers, particularly in these January temperatures. I only wear gardening gloves for the really painful jobs like trimming the hedge, so it’s my own fault I know, but I think it’s like washing your feet with your socks on, and I prefer to feel what I’m doing. I don’t wear rubber gloves when I’m washing up for the same reason.

Whilst I was out I noticed the tete-a-tete that I planted a couple of years ago are just beginning to show their heads in the border by the back door. The ones I had in pots were taken out and kept dry over the summer, to be planted back in their tubs in Autumn. No sign of them yet, I hope I haven’t killed them. I wonder if the bulbs are poisonous? When I was replanting them in tubs last year one escaped and when I found it some weeks later I nearly mistook it for a shallot!

At 4.30pm I noticed there were 7 long-tailed tits on the bird feeder. They really are cute little guys, and so sociable, not squabbling all the time like the starlings. They go around in a group and move through the garden together from tree to tree. I’ve seen them before feeding like this at dusk. My bird book says their main food is insects, spiders, seeds and buds, but it looks like this particular gang like peanuts too.