Six on Saturday 03-02-18

A resurgent winter has put the kybosh on any notions of it being spring, some chilly weather returning this week. Mind you, it was ‘Imbolc’ a couple of days ago, the ancient pagan festival that marks the mid point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox, celebrating the lengthening days and the early signs of spring. If it’s not quite spring yet, it is certainly downhill from here. I can feel the garden positively throbbing with potential! Time for Six on Saturday – Six things, in the garden, on a Saturday. Could be anything! A job to do, a plant, a seedling, a success, a plan, a flower, anything at all. Join in!

Here are my Six for this week.

1. Clematis pruning. This is a job I plan to do this weekend. I have about 15 clematis plants dotted about, all pruning group 3. These all flower on the current years growth so need cuttin’ roight baaack. For some reason it amuses me to say that in a broad west country accent. Not sure why. For the more established plants I will aim for 15 to 30cm from the ground, to a decent set of buds. For the less well established plants I may cut them right back to the ground and let them re-emerge from the roots.

2. Aquilegia ‘greenapples’. I grew these from seed last year and tidied them up a week or two ago. The new growth is coming on nicely. I hope they will flower this year. I also hope I like them! We shall see.

3. Onion seedlings. Sown two weeks ago, these are just beginning to poke through. I expect to plant them out mid-March. I’m going to plant out in the modules as they come, with up to 10 seedlings per module, no thinning out at this stage. This seems like a lot, but I will harvest spring onions from each bunch after a few weeks, leaving 4 or 5 in each bunch to grow on to medium-sized onions. That’s the theory…

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4. Daffodil flower. For some reason the daffs in the front garden always flower first, despite getting less sun than those in the back garden. Anyhow, I have a handful of flowers out, the intrepid vanguard of a small army of daffodils.

5. Nest box. This was a quick make last weekend, just from old bits of pallet wood and a spare piece of roofing felt. It should suit Robins, and I hope it is out of kitten range.

6. String. Yup. Just string. I use it to mark out the squares on the veg plot. Each is one foot square, it removes the guesswork from planting out and sowing. This is helpful, but it does mean that raking or hoeing the whole bed becomes trickier. I have found hand tools, one square at a time, is the best method. Doesn’t take long and getting up close helps me to see the weeds, soil, stones and the like.

That’s my Six for this week, what are yours? Join in! We’d love to have a nose round your garden or plot. Couldn’t be easier – just write your post, add a comment here with a link to your post, and maybe add a link back to this blog in yours. For more details, see the brief Participant’s Guide.

Have a great gardening weekend, and don’t forget to check back in later as more links are added.

I’ll be back next Saturday with another Six.