All Systems Go !

After all the wild and windy weather I needed to repair the watering hole basket in the middle of the African Keyhole Bed .
 I used the lovely red stems of the Cornus alba sibirica which I cut down almost to the ground at this time of the year .

No expert in weaving I can tell you ! I had a go at weaving a basket hood to shade the watering hole from the hot Summer sun to help prevent the moisture from evaporation .

I will add more into this as and when I prune out the other bushes .

Next we took up all of the rusting and torn chicken wire which I had fixed up around each of the four vegetable beds and replaced with new chicken wire....but this time encircling the whole vegetable garden .
 Chicken wire is wonderful for living in harmony with the wild bunnies , but so expensive now ! Doing it this way , we used a whole lot less of it !
 We also lopped down a few of the Pheonix canariensis lower leaves ....oh my goodness it has grown so big ! Need to buy a little Hack Saw to tidy up the leaf bases nicely . Sharp spines at the leaf base ...beware !

 Planted out a row of Brussels Sprouts and a few Cauliflower babies ....

                                  .........and quickly got them covered over .

 The Daubentons Kale which I planted out last  year is getting quite big now under the cover ...I need to set out slugpubs though !

The Purple Tree Collard is safe from pigeons , rabbits and snails in its hanging basket ! I,m going to take a couple of cuttings from it before I plant it out...just in case !

Lots more pricking out and potting on to be done in the shed . I set up some aluminium reflectors to help with the light in there . It makes such a big difference too ! The tiny seedlings standing up nice and straight .
 I must plant out all of the onions as soon as I can now to make space for the Tomatoes .

 Gardeners Delight Tomatoes I,ve grown so easily from seed ...however I might buy in a couple of Cherry Tomato plants if I see them at a reasonable price .

 Husband got out the loppers and cleared all of the Ivy that had gone crazy up and over the bird house ...he did such a good job !

 SAD to find this little bird nest blown down from a tree during  the last storm ....not that it was being used...it is an old nest ..but because of the plastic string and weed membrane that had been so beautifully woven into it !
    I brought it in to show my Grandchildren and talk to them about Dinosaurs ....did Dinosaurs make beautiful nests with sticks and feathers and moss ?
  They must have been enormous !

HAPPY to find this bucket full of Tulips that had been dug up and hidden away over the Summer as they tell you to do on the gardening programmes ,but never remind you to get out and replant them again in the Autumn !
     Aching back...groan.....but happy !
                         Happy Spring Equinox to you all !

Monkey Puzzle Nuts and Trees

           Back in 2012 I managed to germinate four Monkey Puzzle nuts .
            ( So happy me ! Oh ! I can't tell you ..I was over the moon ! )

         On the bathroom windowsill , in pots sealed in ziplock plastic bags  .
                  At this stage , I had just opened the bags a little bit  .

                                    Hey ! Hey ! We're the Monkees !
So there were five nuts to begin with . So exciting ! Four germinated and then one of those didn't make it . I was then very worried about the others.

                                                 This was in 2012.
                                                          BUT
                                 The other three grew healthy and strong .

                               I decided to plant this one out yesterday .

  After a great deal of thought as to where it should go and they need a lot of space . I decided to plant it in the top corner of the Vegetable garden .
If you follow up the tippy top of the baby Monkey Puzzle tree in my wheelbarrow , you can just see my spade in the far corner of the vegetable garden , marking where it would look best in fifty or sixty years time .
Here it will have plenty of space to grow into a magnificent specimen  . Probably not in my lifetime ...but this is planting trees for future generations and for the planet .

                                                Araucaria araucana
                In my opinion , the most beautiful tree on the planet .
  Central and Southern Chile and Western Argentina , where it grows in Auraucaria forests and National Parks .
 Sadly I read on Wikipedia ,that, as from 2013 it's conservation status was changed to Endangered by the IUCN , due to dwindling population caused by logging , forest fires and grazing .
 This is so ,so sad ..... TREES ARE THE LUNGS OF MOTHER EARTH !

    This is a tree that was around during the time of the Dinosaurs !
 It is known as a living fossil tree . Fossilised  Araucaria wood  or lignite can be found , famously at Whitby ,where it is made into pieces of  jewellery .

 I hope that my tree will live a long life and delight generations to come .

I planted another of my Monkey Puzzle saplings down in the Ornamental garden and am still deciding where to plant the third one.
 I,m hoping that I have one of each sex of these trees so that in the future there will be flowers , bees and nuts .

I knew that there was rain on the way , so I didn't have to worry about watering it in .
 What I didn't realise and my husband told me after I had planted this little tree, was that another big named storm Gareth is on the way !
 So I have pushed in some laurel branches and laid down the wheelbarrow in front to give it some shelter .
  Well it was very windy last night ..... but only our garden seat was overturned and no real damage to worry about .
     I was right about the rain !
Take care in this Storm Gareth where-ever you are !

March

 Storm Freya has passed....it is sunshine , showers and beautiful rainbows now .
 I put out some of my porch plants...Easter Cactus Schlumbergera and my Gasteria collection ...hoping to refresh them with a passing shower of rain .

                                        It did look as if it might rain .

                                               
There's the lovely painted stone that I found at Dollar Cove . Lovely blue sea , sky and crashing waves ...it was being washed away by the sea so I saved this precious piece of art ....picked it up and put it into my pocket .....carried it home with me and now it will live in my porch with my plants .
   

 The rain did not come ..the clouds passed over .
 So I brought in the Easter Cactus Schlumbergera which is quite tender and if it doesn't rain overnight then I will bring in the other plants and refresh them with rain water from the water-but .
           How quickly January and February have flown by .