Winter into Spring part 2

 Winter has been largely wet, icy, cold, snowy and grey. The garden has been somewhat neglected for a few weeks. But at last the Spring seems to be close. 

However, even on the gloomiest of days, the garden can still be alluring for humans and felines alike. 

     

      

The winter aconites and iris reticulata are bringing colour and life back into the garden. On a bright day their colours are magical. 

“A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.” 

Francis of Assisi

Top tip: winter aconites can take a while to establish, be patient, ours took about 3 years to get going properly. 

Historically, the winter aconite was identified with the classical aconite, a poisonous herb dedicated to Hecate, a moon goddess in Greek mythology teaching witchcraft and sorcery. 

Winter into Spring part 1

It seems like I write a little piece about the snowdrops every year. I will not be making an exception this year. This is because it was so interesting to see the pollinators at work this afternoon, flitting between the dazzling white blooms, which are still going strong in late February. They are caught on video below, the additional background track is supplied by Mili who was, as usual, by my shoulder when filming.

Despite the prolonged period of snow these tough little flowers have done their stuff again this year.

        

Oh No Bunny!

One of my favourite garden writers and columnists is Bunny Guinness. Her knowledgeable and erudite articles, her varied media commitments (including over 20 years on  Gardeners Question Time) as well as her many landscape garden creations put my modest efforts into perspective. Bunny's You Tube insights into her own garden are just a delight to view.

However, it is highly likely that if any two randomly sampled gardeners were to compare detailed notes, there would be a world of differences, in approach, plant selections methods and philosophy. This is because there is an infinite number of ways of approaching and tending our gardens. So it should be no surprise that there is at least one matter that I must take issue with when comparing my approach to that of Bunny's. 

In last Saturdays Telegraph supplement Bunny reiterated that she had a love hate relationship (my words) with her local wildlife. In the past she has used a four strand tensile electric fence to keep out the badgers, a squirrel trap to humanely kill nuisance grey squirrels and has endorsed the killing of moles on GQT (or at least employing your dog as a mole guard!). It is understandable that she might be very wary of local wildlife incursions onto her garden, given her very difficult episode with Lyme disease. It is testament to her courage and determination that she remains a steadfast outdoors woman but I would be firm in my view that we can all share our outdoor spaces with the neighbouring fauna.

Of course, it is a little easier for me to say, given that our garden is by design a little wild and woolly around the edges. Bunny has a pristine garden befitting of her reputation and likely to showcase her skills to prospective clients. It is less difficult for me to cope with the constant lawn repairs caused by badger scraping, the tubs with a covering of chicken wire to deter squirrels from excavating the bulbs or young saplings with their own protective enclosure to ensure the deer don't strip them prematurely bare.

The compromise therefore comes with the aesthetics. It is surprising how with time you cease to notice (as much) the array of chicken wire defences. When the new shed was finally, erected last week (replacing the cheap and cheerful 33 year old model), I was proud to do the dismantling in the quietest manner possible. I had organized with the supplier for a minimal disturbance delivery. So the badger set which lives beneath the shed was (hopefully) subject to the minimum of human disturbance. 

So whilst the badgers may be exasperating at times and they do make inroads into our invaluable earthworm population, they do also enjoy the occasional slug and snail. But above all they are welcome to share our space..... with the deer..... the squirrels..... the odd shrew.... fox..... and a multitude of bird, insect and amphibian wildlife.