A Garden Full of Promise

I would not be exaggerating if I said that it had been a very wet winter. Unless you never listen to the news or do not live in the UK, most people will be aware of the flooding that parts of Britain have endured. It has been weeks since I was last able to spend some time in the garden and it felt good to get out in the fresh air for a few hours.   The herbaceous borders have now been cleared and the garden is looking quite empty and open in places. There is very little in the way of colour, although the dogwoods are looking good as always and there are plenty of snowdrops now in flower. In the back border the hellebores are flowering as are the primula vulgaris and cyclamen. Closer inspection of the other borders show that daffodils, centauria and aquilegia amongst other plants are starting to grow. Surely this is a promising sign that spring is not too far away.

 

 

 

The kitchen garden is looking rather on the empty side, as I haven’t yet attempted to grow much for harvesting over the winter months. Today I dug up the last of the leeks and a couple of week ago we had the last of the parsnips. Talk about saving the best until last, well maybe not the best in quality, but it was certainly the largest parsnip I have ever grown. There are only the onions and garlic left now and these will not be ready for harvesting until June/July. However, the rhubarb that has been relocated is throwing up some decent stems, so maybe I won’t have to wait as long as the onions before I get a taste.

Whilst it has been cold and wet outside I have been looking through the seed catalogues deciding what to grow in this coming season. It would come as no surprise for me to say that I was basically going to grow the same as last year, although I have decided after three years to call it day on the celeriac. This year I am going to give baby corn a go and maybe a cucumber or two.

It is difficult to imagine what the weather will have in store for us and what challenges we may face in the garden. One thing I do know is that I am already looking forward to longer days and eating fresh produce from the garden.