Feeling wistful ...

Another day in February 2021 with rain. It seems to have rained every day for at least 2 weeks. I'm sure that the garden is still lapping it up but it does make the idea of gardening less appealing than usual, not least because my 'lawn' is ropey at the best of times, let alone when repeatedly squished on! There is joy to be had out there though, with snowdrops and winter aconites starting to really become established in the garden now. Two years ago I invested (and I mean 'invested'!) in Galanthus 'Sentinel' and am smugly happy to see it returning with 3 flowers this year and managing to compete with the fleabane that is trying its best to prettily take over the top of the wall.

Last October I began my plan to extend the sunny, south facing border and filled the new gap with bulbs from last year's tubs - Narcissus 'Thalia' and assorted tulips, some of which may just flower. In addition, Crocus tommasinianus 'Whitwell Purple', which was coming through the bare turf there, is now in the border and looking lovely - hopefully they'll increase in number over the years. When the ground is less soggy, I will divide up Aster frikartii 'Mönch' and bring it forward and also move Phlox 'David' forward. This will give Rose 'The Generous Gardener' some room to go up the fence. It went in last year (or possibly even the autumn of 2019?) and has made it through despite being swamped in the summer by the Aster. I'm sure it would appreciate some space however. Another new rose addition is 'Goldfinch' which is planted on the opposite fence to scramble along it toward the house. It's a rambler but not huge (hopefully!). I spotted it when visiting Woodmancote and fell a little bit in love!

Whilst the rain falls I have the seed book out! This is the year for some heritage beans - I'm going to try out beansandherbs.co.uk as they had a great write up in The Garden and also tick all the environmental boxes.