Light at the end of the tunnel

Slow-hand winter
January and February have taken an unconscionable time to pass, and I am heartily glad to see them go. Little is moving in the garden except the birds and I am reluctant to cut back my clematis and buddleia because they are still making use of them for shelter and for foraging. So often, in our desire, as gardeners, to get started on the New Year with some “tidying” we miss the glaringly obvious. By cutting back and clearing we deprive wildlife of shelter and sustenance too early in the year. Ignore the gardening gurus (I do) for another week or two, or three if you can manage, it will not make any difference – I leave things late regularly, and apart from what could only be termed, inconvenience, my clematis, solanum, buddleia, winter jasmine et al, will do just as well and the wildlife will do even better.

The bright little bodies
I don’t think I’ve ever been more glad or relieved to see the snowdrops. Such gentle little bodies, they are the most welcome sight after all the dark days. I don’t have enough of them and each year I make a mental note to purchase some more “in the green” and always forget (I’ve written a note on my hand, maybe that’ll do the trick, until I wash of course). Another welcome Spring shrub - this sheltered Mahonia too is just beginning to sparkle.

Tulip Time
Although it’s snowdrop time now, it will soon be tulip time again and when flowering is done and dusted, my annual battle to preserve the bulbs for future years will begin. There was such a fabulous range of tulips at the end of last year, so much choice! I felt like a kid in a sweetshop; but there’s always this thought in the back of my mind, that if I don’t crack this “preserving” lark, the tulips I buy will become Annuals, and jolly expensive ones at that. I think the main thing is to keep them cool while in storage to prevent desiccation, but during the summer months this becomes one of the most difficult things to do, particularly in hot weather. The alternative is leaving them in the ground and in my clay soil, in a wet summer they simply disappear, they are not dug up by squirrels or mice (thankfully I am not troubled with moles) they simply rot away to nothing. This year I will take the advice of a neighbour and store them in a mixture of soil and sharp sand in a sizeable container and place this in the shadiest part of the garden. If it works I’ll be like a dog with two tales, if it doesn’t, then it’s back to the drawing board, oh, and the tulip shop……………… My mother, bless her, always had a fine show of big, blousy, colourful tulips and never ever did anything with them. They were left year after year in the ground and always came up on time, and stood for weeks in proud regimented rows. Occasionally she would add a few from the local market with no more ceremony than being chucked into a brown paper bag – no names, no long-winded instructions and recommendations, they did their job and proved their worth. Admittedly she had far better soil than I have, and when it comes down to details, that’s probably the crux of the matter. I can’t change my soil, I can only tinker with it…but the one thing I simply will not do is to stop growing tulips, I love them too much.