February Week 4

I knew it! I just knew that February would zoom along, leaving me behind. It makes me wonder about gardening goals - if I didn't have any, then I wouldn't know I'd missed them. Blast!

Thursday 22nd February

But wait - I have finished the weed-mat and stones along designated parts of the water race edge. And I have almost planted a bagged rhododendron which has been sitting patiently for - hmmm - about four months. I've chosen its spot, anyway.

Today I promise I will be a garden achiever. I have a whole box of newspaper from a neighbour, and surely I can set up a sensible hose watering and shifting system without having to write anything down. I have the usual garden maintenance tasks like trimming edges and dead-heading. And mulching - that goes without saying.

Later...

Oops. You see, yesterday I went walking in the heat for six hours, and today - well, it's been very hot again, and I had to wait around for the double-glazng men to arrive, and... Excuses, excuses! Rusty the dog is soooooo bored. But I did shift the hoses around!

Sponsoring a Kitten

I've been talking with my cat rescue friend Judith - I'm going to sponsor a kitten rescue, from the purchasing of the trapping cage, to the feeding and vet bills - and hopefully, finally there'll be a good home for the kitten to go to! Judith does such a grand job looking after the stray cats, and it's time the Moosey machine revved up and joined her on the starting grid!

Saturday 24th February

I know why my February has felt like the laziest month on record - it's because I've gone off writing lists! This free-spirited child-of-the-universe approach has seen several mulching projects started, a quarter of the rubbish behind the pond cleared out, and a few paths raked and weeded - in places. Three quarters of the Lychnises have been pulled out and half of the Verbascums. You see the problem! No completion!

So today I am reverting. A list will be written, which I will take total notice of. No garden task is too small that it cannot be listed. Oh joy - this will be a long drawn-out page - a born-again list-maker, zealously tabulating, being delightfully tedious and boring. Hmm... Here goes...

List
• Plant that sad rhododendron, waiting since spring.
• Use up the box of newspaper in the Welcome Garden, cover with mulch.
• Finish digging out the ash from the burning heap.
• Pick the plums. All of them!
• Stake the Angelica Gigas which has fallen down.
• Photograph the Sweet Peas and the Hydrangea quercifolia for the record.
• Weed the vegetable garden properly.
• Finish axing out the waterside Verbascums.
• Finish pulling out the old Lychnises.
• Collect pink Lavatera seeds, and then pull out plants.
• Finish clearing behind pond.

Ha! There's a half decent list!

Sunday 25th February

I made myself do half of the list items. So nothing is still finished, but little things are moving along nicely. And my poor little rhododendron is safely planted near the hostas underneath the Willow Tree.

The Psychology of the Sulking Gardener

The psychology of the sulking gardener - I did everything to avoid the mulching part of yesterday's programme. Firstly I deliberately wore the wrong shoes and then I decided to stop by Rhapsody in Blue's rose bed and weed furiously. Then, after that weeding effort, I thought I was far too tired to continue. But I made myself! I also cut down all the big Clary Sages - finishing my great gardening comeback smelling like a thousand visiting tom-cats, but feeling oh so virtuous. Three hours later I was watching the rugby in my brand new pale blue floating apres-gardening shirt, freshly showered. Lovely feeling! It puzzles me why mulching takes me so long. I suspect I am a fussy mulcher - worried about smothering little green things, and giving my shrub trunks space to breathe.

Today I will put the hoses on, and finish the list. Then the Hump garden needs raking and weeding, and could have some mulch applied. It will be shady and leafy in there - nice.

Apres-Gardening in White Shirt, Striped Jeans, and Paua Necklace...

I've done everything except axe out the remaining Verbascums and collect the Lavatera seeds. That's proof that lists do work, even if the gardener only half takes notice of them. And naturally, being flexible and slightly random, I've also done a few other things - like weed the Driveway Garden, and trim down the red Achillea, and pull out a lot of Agastache plants growing in the wrong places. I am even more resolved to remove the species single daylilies, too - they've finished their meager flowering and are looking dreadful.

So What Plant Am I?

I've also been playing with the What Plant Am I? Quiz. It's an awful time waster - no, that's not right! It's a fun way to spend time when one should be gardening but isn't! I keep ending up being a beautiful rose, so I must be doing something right! Enjoy!