Spring has arrived!!

[ideasguy]

Yesterday was very mild here in Ireland. I'm beavering away on the computer, but it was just too nice a day to ignore the call of the garden (besides, my wide had bought a nice tray of Primulas and wanted them planted outside our patio window).
I wrapped up well, but was surprised to find it was very pleasant out there. I even got in some weeding, and my hands didn't turn into icicles.
Had one rather nice surprise - I found two little clumps of Anemone blandas, emerged and with a few leaves and flower heads hugging the ground, about to reach for the sky. Surprised, because I thought I'd lost them. They didn't appear last year - not that I noticed in any case, as I had been a bit heavy with my weeding. I must have buried them and put them off last year, but they recovered for this year. I love that little plant.

One bitter disappointment (perhaps). I bought two Brunneras last year, B. 'Jack Frost' and B. 'Dawson's White'. Both were quite small, but were establishing nicely last year and their foliage was every bit as good as the hype!
However,one has a "presence" and a few new leaves - no sign of the other    as yet.

[Palustris]

Nice to be able to go and DO something about the Winter's mess.
Of all the plants which are reckoned to harbinger Spring, my favourite is the Lesser Celandine. awful invasive weed, but I like them and there is one open, a big flowered form too!

[Lyn and Malcolm]

Yes Spring has arrived here too.

Well in the last week, apart from the paid job, all clematis are pruned and fed high potash.
All the herbaceous out front has been cut down and the garden top dressed.

All 350 ish plants on the plant stall have been cut down and cleaned up. There are more sale plants at other sites where Lyn works.

Have cut next doors Leylandi hedge our side and as far as I can reach across the top. We have a bean net from our fence up to the top of this hedge where some of the clematis can climb.
While I had the ladder out of the garage to cut the afore mentioned hedge,I checked the high gutter on the front of the house, and found it absolutely filled with moss and dirt, got a whole bucketfull out.

And in my spare time I built another computer, especially for the forthcoming talk and picture show that Lyn is going to do, at the local horticultural club, which is in a years time! 
And yes George it is running Vista ,and I found it very easy to install, it even found the internet connection all by itself which is via a router connected on the network here.
As I said I will not be loading much onto this computer as dedicated to the talks, need it to be reliable, the more that is loaded the less chance of that.

So not looking forward to returning to the paid job tommorow. 

Malcolm

[Lynda A]

Thought i would drop by and say hello, its been so long.  Alistair has been marketing his book, radio etc.  I put my back out ( not gardening) but lifting my recyclable shopping bag into the trolley, so much for being green:-)  Loads of rain, worst winter in 50 years the locals reckon.  Sun just started shining this last week.  Seems extreme weather all over the world at present.  Have to take some pictures of plants that are now flowering beautifully, mainly the Acacia dealbata and the Hardenbergia, they look great.
Have had a house full of assorted children ( well, in there 20's) so us older folk have missed out on our peace and quiet and early nights.  Can't wait to get back to normal. Sooooo tired.
George, we also have just planted out a load of Primula's, couldn't stand seeing the frost bitten geraniums any longer.  Primula's are a mauve/blue, not sure what variety, was not able to bend and look due to my back , could only point at them for Alistair to load into trolley, then had to get someone else to plant them for me.  Hope to be more mobile soon.  Hope everybody is well and are thawing out at last.

[NightHawk]

Our latest snowfall last Thursday only lasted one day - --had cleared by Friday.

Not wishing to tempt fate though, it's been quite mild here since then.  Daytime temperatures in the region of 10°C, and dropping to about 1°C to 2°C during the night.

Not done anything in the garden yet.

Laurie.

[NightHawk]

Lynda

Thought i would drop by and say hello, its been so long.  Alistair has been marketing his book, radio etc.  I put my back out ( not gardening) but lifting my recyclable shopping bag into the trolley, so much for being green:-)

It's so nice to hear from again Lynda.

We were shocked to hear about your back injury.    We wish you a speedy recovery.

Pass on our good luck to Alistair in promoting his new book. 

Laurie.

[ideasguy]

Sorry to hear about your back injury Lynda. That really is a dreadful blow. I hope you will indeed be mobile again soon.

Primulas are lovely, Lynda, one of my favourites. They like a spot that doesn't dry out in summer, so in your hot summers, keep an eye on them. The warning signs are leaves going limp. Believe it or not, thats from experience, in Ireland!! During one very rare hot spell here I found my P. denticulatas suffering in that way. I had to water them regularly to keep them healthy.

Ending on your good news, its nice to see Alistair is "to market" with his book. Keep up the good work, you folk and keep in touch!
Best wishes!