Snow!

Well spring still seems to be on hold in the UK as we are battered by the "Beast from The East" and Storm Emma.  Somehow the two names don't really go hand in hand, I mean The Beast is a good description of the snow and cold weather we are getting but Emma? sounds a little more tame. However for parts of the UK bearing the brunt the weather is anything but tame.

 

Fortunately in our little corner the weather is not too bad, we have had a few drops o snow but nothing too significant. Roads and Travel has some disruptions but main routes are open, trains are running and most flights from the local airport are still running.

 



 

 

But with snow and tropical plants comes some interesting photo opportunities, the picture above is pretty much from the doors of the conservatory, most of the plants in the garden should be unaffected by the weather (the lowest temperature has been -7C / 19f, so cold but not too bad. The more tender plants are mostly tucked up in greenhouses, although theres the odd one that we had hoped would be fine still out. Lets see what happens when it warms up.

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Snow in a Flash

Last Saturday we had a relatively thick snowfall early in the morning but it was all gone by midday. This morning our area was blanketed by snow again but it wasn't a surprise as the white stuff started to fall late in the evening before.

Now being a usual working weekday I didn't have much spare time to hang around and take photos of the garden, my priority was to get to the train station. But I know that by midday most of it is likely to be gone again and all we'll have are memories of the snow.

What to do? Well take photos in a rush of course. And I meant proper rush as only had a spare couple of minutes before I had to go so I took a few shots from our bedroom window and also from the sun room. It was just after seven in the morning so was still dark and had to use the flash.

Alas no time to venture out further into the garden so I had to content myself with views from the house. At least I have some proof and reminders that it did snow here today.

Leaving the house I managed to take these extra photos using my phone...

Time was fast running out so I had to rush to the train station. While briskly walking I was thinking that trains might be delayed because public transport in the UK can sometimes go on a standstill even with just a 'fleck of snow'. And guess what? Let's just say it was a stressful commute to work in central London.

Fortunately going back wasn't too bad. And when I got home nearly all of the snow from the morning were gone, bar a few clumps dotted around. Good! I like snow but the novelty of it very soon wears out. I prefer my snow in the garden here then gone relatively quick....in almost a flash.

Mark :-)

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Spring, Where Art Thou?

Last Sunday morning I was about to write a blog about a certain a plant and I needed to take some photos of it. But as I went out to photograph it I was greeted by this:

and this

and this

and the plant that was supposed to be featured was this

Nevermind, perhaps some other time once all of the snow has melted and I could photograph this beautiful plant without all that white stuff covering it.

And for those who follow our blog regularly, do you remember when we featured the Koi Grow and Show competition organised by our local koi club Kangei at Avenue Fisheries last autumn? Well, last Sunday was the results day to which all the koi entered were measured again to see how much they have grown and the best performers will win a prize. It was also the day when you take them home to enjoy in your own pond.....

Supposed to be anyway but then again when the date was set we weren't expecting that late March here would look like this...

A very pretty drive towards Avenue Fisheries

Almost unbelievable. The autumn event turned out to be significantly warmer than the spring one!

We were all pleased and surprised how much all of the koi have grown in just a space of a few months and what were all relatively small fish then are much bigger now. The fish I entered grew 6cm whilst the one Gaz did grew an impressive 9.5 cm and was also shortlisted as one of the best developed koi in the bunch. He didn't win the top prize but both of us were pleased nevertheless for his koi to look so good and so well after a few months.

My my they have all grown so well!

The six koi considered to be the prettiest of the lot. Gaz's fish is the one on the top left side.

Alas, as much as how excited we were to take them home we had to leave them both behind. With the cold spell and blanket of snow all over, our pond temperature has dipped down in figures too and would be too cold for them to be transferred in to especially as they are in a much warmer pond now. The big difference in temperature would just shock them hence it was best to leave them behind, to be collected once the weather has warmed up, certainly much more than it is now.

But the question is, when will it warm up here?? Such a prolonged winter this one is, temperature lows may haven't been that bad but this season has dragged on, and on this time.

Spring, where art thou??

And so many spring events this week yet so little spring! Last weekend and this week would have been a very busy period for us, with several spring gardening events happening that we were intending of going to. Looks like we'll have to trim the list down. Oh well, when these events were organised none of us anticipated that the weather will be this cold here.

Even in Central London last Saturday, it was so snowy and cold. Yet looking at the bright (and white) side at least it was very pretty. In Camden Market they were even playing some Christmas songs and a stall was selling mulled wine. A little humour never did harm, and it certainly was appropriate!

Ho, ho ho!

Mark :-)

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First Day of Spring...

Well it was the Spring Equinox yesterday, which means that the days will be longer than the nights for the next six months.

Usually you can associate this time of year with new growth, of the spring bulbs and flowers, lambs prancing in the fields and all that sort of stuff....

And yet this was the view out of the window this morning!

Welcome to Spring from Alternative Eden!! :)

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The Snow has Arrived

Well the snow has arrived this winter, bringing chaos to the roads and a strange serenity to the garden. With temperatures hovering around zero again today we had a look round the white landscape before heading off to do something in doors.

Knickers has been exploring

Following his tracks, lets see where he's been

By the looks of it he has been sheltering under the 'waggy'

We had quite a decent amount of snow, giving quite a thick layer to the table.

Trachycarpus fortunei with a dusting of snow.

Continuing to follow his tracks, hey in the snow I can get good at this!

The new area we refer to as the White Garden, but usually not for this reason.

0C at roughly midday.

Well if Knickers is about, Twinkles sis usually somewhere close by too.

Polygonatum punctatum in the snow.

No its not a giant hedgehog, but a snow covered Aloe polyphylla

Jungle hut or Alpine lodge?

Schefflera taiwaniana

Mark checking on the Koi

Do you remember Loree's photo of our garden from back in the autumn?

Heres almost the same view today...

Our tender plants are all tucked away safely in the greenhouses, and a few that normally stay outside have joined us in the house to keep warm!

Gaz

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Exotic Snow!

February is often one of the coldest months in the UK and after the mild winter so far this February has decided to remind us that we are a very northerly country. With cold winds and snow coming in from Siberia we have had a night of -7c, and over the last week some day time temperatures only just above freezing.

Fortunately the forecasters knew this was coming so any of the borderline hardy plants that were outside in pots were brought into warmer locations, and heaters set up in the greenhouses. We don't heat to high temperatures, just enough to keep pots from freezing and keep everything ticking along without problems.

Chris Chadwell on his recent expedition.

With the ground frozen on Saturday we had thought about working on the Filtration House, but instead decided we would have a day off (a well deserved day off I hope you will agree!), and went to visit a few local garden centres. Saturday was also the monthly meeting of our local Hardy Plant Society group, with a talk by Chris Chadwell about plant collecting in the Himalaya. So with cold weather outside, we were taken on a trip to some of the highest mountains in the world, perhaps a cold snap in the UK isn't so bad after all!

Delphinium brunonianum in the Himalaya (Photo: C Chadwell)

As well as the slideshow, Chris had brought along seed from his last expedition, so we now have a selection of fresh Himalayan seed to try, one would expect these plants to be suitably hardy here!

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And the Gardener Must Rest

It's that time of the year again, when you get a major dumping of snow that persists for days on end that you're forced not to do much in the garden, apart from the occasional inspection and shaking off of snow to make sure damage remains minimal.

Winter is not just about the cold and plants going into dormancy till spring arrives, it's also about the Gardener being forced by mother nature to take a well deserved rest after working (and playing) hard in the garden during the other seasons.

And by being 'forced' to rest, you get the chance to take it slowly and re-charge your batteries, as well as reflect on the growing season that's just gone past and plan ahead for the coming spring.

Saying that, it's not exactly total rest for us, we do work full time after all, it's just we'll have less gardening to do in our spare time. A perfect opportunity to just enjoy relaxing and being cosy inside, and catch up with friends and other hobbies, or so it seems.....

We're both hyper and always raring to do things outdoors so it's not always easy being forced not to do much outside. We have a mutual dedication to the garden which is why we are driven to keep doing as much as we can, gaining satisfaction on the process and end result.

Daft as it may be, there are fleeting moments in the summer when I long for the comforts of winter wherein you're forced to rest and just take it easy, usually at times when I've reached a point of exhaustion after a long day at work and still do some manual labour in the garden. But I just quickly remind myself of the cold and darkness of winter and I banish such thoughts, and as soon as I'm well rested I even regret having such silly thoughts! 

We do most of the hard lanscaping of the garden ourselves, both to minimise costs as well finding the satisfaction of building things ourselves, only calling in the professional if we really have to, as required by law or if the task is way beyond our capabilities.

But it's not all about slacking off in the colder months. Having more time to rest, I find my creative juices renewed and take the time to plan ahead for the coming year, writing down ideas and making sketches for the projects we're about to do. It's also the perfect time to do most of the research on the technical aspects of things, as well as sourcing and buying materials for our projects. Something which we did last weekend, we may not be able to do much outside but in a way accomplished something by buying insulation for our future Koi house.

And if you do get the itch to play with plants and do some gardening, there are the plants being overwintered inside and you can do some indoor gardening which we we also did last weekend as we've just bought some palm seedlings and we had to repot them all individually, sent bare rooted from Spain.

And winter is a good time to go on holiday too! If you find yourself not wanting to leave the garden behind in the summer months (and why should you when the garden is looking at its prettiest!), escape the cold for a few days by going somewhere warm in the winter! Oh, and there are the winter garden and Koi shows....

So saying all of that, do I really get to rest during the winter? Not really, I just find myself doing a bit less physically. But for someone who finds satisfaction in pottering, doing something is a form of rest :)

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