A wee bit of gardening....

I'm not in the habit of tidying up much in the herbaceous part of the garden until the end of winter, leaving it all to the wildlife. But this year I was encouraged to get out there this week by three things...

• some sunshine ( and no wind)

• the sight of far too many perennial weeds ( do they never have a winter break?)

• Hillwards who put me too shame with her enthusiasm

So the shed was duly opened (did I really leave it in such a state?) and a wheelbarrow loaded up with all these tools and gloves and radio and everything else I think I might need...

Then I spent an idyllic couple of hours pottering about, clearing the border of rubbish and cutting back spent perennials. Usually I leave verbena bonariensis and the like for the birds to eat the seeds. This year the plants were bare of seeds and battered almost to the ground by the recent winds. After removing the weeds I leave leaves and other plant debris to mulch the border.

Many of the plants are already in bud with the milder weather.  A very pretty pale creamy yellow daffodil (unnamed) that I was given by a friend in Orkney is just starting to show. It would have been better if I hadn't stood on one clump.

"I know they are round here somewhere..." as I lifted my foot to find the slightly squashed leaves underneath. Never mind they will bounce back. They did last year when I did exactly the same thing...

The Crambe cordifolia has also got plump purple buds full of promise for later in the year. I have several plants and need to divide one to give to some fellow gardeners in Montrose. I'm sure they think I've forgotten.

 This is how the crambe cordifolia, a member of the cabbage family looks when its in flower. It's a very showy plant with clouds of white frothy blooms that gives and airiness and lightness to the borders.

I've also promised seeds to people that I saved from the opium poppies last year. The very dark, velvety multi petaled bloom was the one most commented on by visitors. I never told them at the time that it was a mistake. I try to grow with wildlife in mind and bees are known to prefer single blooms. Perhaps they find all these petals a bit confusing.

 So that's the first border done, more or less. A bit of mulching later on if there's enough compost
And there is one other small job to do. Can you spot it? I've left the plant label on the Hygrangea petiolaris. It's been there at least two years so why haven't I removed the label? Good question. ..

 The weather is due to turn cold and frosty in the next few days, so clearing any more of the borders will have to be put on hold. Oh well. time for another cup of tea...