Ground work

Work at this time of year involves 'hidden' gardening, the stuff you need to do in order for everyone to see the results next year. The stuff people don't see. I am often asked at this time of year "Do you work all year round?" and I find myself reeling off the endless tasks we do and thinking to myself "How on earth are we going to fit all THAT in?" !

At Heale we have been planting more bulbs, scattering them upon the ground and squirreling them away, forgetting where they went and looking forward to seeing them pop up in the Spring. We planted Nectaroscordum bulgaricum, Dutch Iris, Allium and Ornithogalum nutans. I had never heard of these. Also known as 'Drooping star of Bethlehem', I am looking forward to seeing the little white flowers ; https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/11944/Ornithogalum-nutans/Details

We have also been pruning shrub Roses - Duchess de Montebello - taking it slowly, methodically pruning each stem. A tangled mess soon becomes a neat and tidy structure. I love this work. Pruning can be really satisfying when you have a good sharp pair of secateurs as your best buddy.

I vaguely remember this rose - it sits in a private area of the garden - but judging by this image I cannot wait to see it again next year!

https://www.agel-rosen.de/fotos/Gallica-Rose-Duchesse-de-Montebello-83566.jpg?size=mgr&nr=0

The artist that is HG showed me how to use Hazel as a support for Paperwhites (which are shooting up to the sky in their pots). What a fab job, twisting and tying Hazel to create a pretty support, complete with catkins.

A varied few days as usual, never two days the same. We have even taken delivery of two little Kittens for our veg garden. Hopefully they will help keep little rodents away from our veg! Salad is still going in mid November, plenty of Rocket and still some Carrots to pull.