Hazel's Garden.

WELCOME  TO   2012

Another brand new gardening year when once again we say to ourselves, " I'll get it right this year", We are well aware that we probably will not, but we will learn something for next time. 

Once again welcome to all friends and visitors to Hazel's garden.

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MAY 2012.

Spring is in the air and the weather forecasters are suggesting that we will have a long spell of very warm weather in the middle of the month, I very much look forward to that, fingers crossed.

The summer bedding plants have appeared at the local garden center, where I live there is still a chance of frosts so I will put off buying for a couple of weeks yet. I do have a plan for my garden this year, not sure of what plants yet but I have decided on this years colours. There will certainley be an area of blue, purple and pink shades and it will deffinitely include the ever lasting wallflower as it flowers for the full summer.

I have planted several bulbs that I bought at a bargain price from a local store, they were on special offer and cheap enough that should only a quarter of them eventually give me blooms I will still be content.

There appears to be a health problem for humans with peat, at the moment the experts have not provided much information but believe it concerns the dust arising from bags of peat. Too early to worry too much about this but worth keeping an ear open for more information.

See you next month when hopefully we will be busy watering the bedding plants and seeing the colours of the garden taking shape. 

APRIL 2012.

There is not much happening in the garden at the moment, mainly, and thanks to, the miserable waeather that we have been experiencing. Rain and very cold winds with a little frost, not conducive to being out the for the keenest gardeners.

The beds have been dug over in preporation for the bedding plants and my target for those is about the second week in May. There is a little colour in the garden at the moment thanks to the winter hanging baskets that have been taken down and are sitting on the beds, modern winter pansy's are a real value for money plant and regardless to the weather are dtill quite good looking.

The slabbing has had it wash to get rid of that greeny mess that covers them in the winter and often makes them very slippery.

I have spent some time planning my summer garden, I don't often stick to the plans as plants catch my eye at the garden centre but that is part of the fun of it.

Hope to see you back in May, 'till then, happy gardening.  Hazel. 

MARCH 5th 2012.

The crocus, snowdrops and daffs tell me that Spring has arrived, well, it's very cold wet and windy Spring. I have a clump of Crocosmia that a gerdening friend gave to me, the bright orange colour cheers up a spot that is in the shady part of my garden, but it will just sit in a large pot until the ground dries out and warms up a bit. I have bought a new honeysuckle and taken a chance on planting it against the fence.

The garden is quite tidy as I did get a couple of days to do just that and my friend steam cleaned the slabs for me. I also sent away to Morgan and Thompson for a Tree Peony ( Er Qiao ), it has shell pink rose like blooms with a delightful fragrance, at the same time I am buying 3 Dwarf Buddleja shrubs for pots on the patio, hoping to attract the butterflies and enjoy the fragrant flowers.

Meanwhile I have been trying out new recipes and found a lovely tasty one for Lasangna that has a few extra ingredients that I don't usually have in my cupboard but it was well worth getting them.

It's now down to hoping that mother nature helps us gardeners with a bit of fine warm weather and we can get back to the plants and shrubs, unfortunately the weather forecast is on the radio and it says that snow showers are on their way.

See you next month and happy gardening. Hazel.

FEBRUARY  6th  2012.

Not a great amount to say at the moment thanks to the weather, there has been so much rain that the soil is water logged and the last week the temperatures have fallen below zero over night, not gardening weather.

The viola's and pansy's in the troughs and hanging baskets are almost unbelieveably tough and survive so well after a spell of frozen weather when they looked down and out, maybe our scientists could take some of their genes and transplant them in to those flowers and plants that give up very quickly.

Even the very hardy wallflowers that can usually survive a prolonged period under the snow seem to have given up the ghost, maybe the roots have been drowned in the water logged soil, If you, dear reader, have any information on that I would be delighted to hear it, I will just leave them at the moment and see if they recover.

I often plant my sweet pea seeds at this time of year and put them on the window ledge but last year I planted the everlasting sweet pea and will rely on that this year.

Well, keep warm and comfy indoors untill we get a little change in the weather, store up all o0f you energy for when we get the opportunity to get back out there  and get our hands in the soil, spring is not that far away.  Hazel.

JANUARY 3rd  2012.

2012 has come in like a lion, gale force winds of 90 mph, driving sleet and rain and flattened  plants, not ideal for us gardeners. parts of the ground are water logged with pools of water waiting to take their turn to soak away and probably killing the many spring bulbs that are planted.

There is good news to report, at last I have found a way to stop the squirrels from digging up the bulbs in the troughs, see picture below, old hanging baskets cut up and wired to the container have protected them and they are showing the first sign of life.  I have two containers like this planted in October with Dwarf Daffodil "Baby Moon".

The other picture below is my geranium that is in its third year.  I don't know the name but I call it "raspberry ripple", there is a photo of the flower under 2011 month by month under June's entry. The plant was pruned heavily last October and has been in a shady dry part of my garden since then, it is now ready to take some cuttings and then put on new growth for the summer flowers.