Shopping & Plant Supports

 

So this weekend has been about nipping up to the top shops for a nose around and to get some fresh air away from the bloody rain and shoring up the daffodils and crocuses which are being battered by the crap weather.

Using some thin sticks and garden wire I've managed to hopefully hold them up, for now at least or until more grow and are outside the rim of the wire. Weather is beginning to get on my nerves, too much rain and wind and whilst I'm grateful we've no snow or floods I'm looking forward to some decent dry weather and time to get out in the garden and start planting up this years flowers.

Got two sets of modular planters to utilise rather than individual pots, those with bulbs will be left to settle until next Spring rather than planting on top of the bulbs like last year. Going to focus on zonal geraniums and petunias as you get a lot for your dosh with those plants and they need little looking after other than watering and deadheading.

Also going to plant a couple of hanging plants, Lobelia most likely, in the plant rack on the yard wall rather then keep buying artificial plants which fade in time and last year's lot had pots which weren't supposed to be outdoors - something that wasn't made clear when I ordered them from Amazon! Pre-ordered a stack of self-watering pots which will hopefully stop the water running down the wall. Maybe I need the bigger size for the wheelbarrow to replace the spring bulb pots?

Have also managed to squeeze a resin bird into the bird house so it looks like it's in use but not! I'm not a bird lover per se plus having to put it up at a 2m height is going to be awkward for me so opted for the faux look! At the moment the acorn house in indoors but once the yard bits go outside I'll hang it up somewhere where I can see it :-)

And the narcissi in the front garden are now blooming, like baby daffodils 😍

And on my second trip to the shops today I bought some more of the windmills to go into the garden to replace the others which have faded although they have lasted a lot longer than I'd anticipated! I love windmills! Also bought these two blue ornamental grasses, probably to replace the fuchsias that I'm looking to dig up given I'm fairly sure that the disease they had last year is unlikely to have disappeared. Plus they are getting hard to manage, very woody and lots of thin branches everywhere. These grasses are evergreen and need minimal maintenance - what's not to like? If they are successful then I may look to pop a few more in here and there, they provide quite good ground cover.

Feeling frustrated at the moment that there isn't much to be doing outside and not enough decent weather in which to do it. Most of any nice weather often coincides with me  working which isn't very helpful. I feel jealous of those for whom retirement is already a reality and feel like somehow I've been left behind. There never seems to be the opportunity for what I want to do on my down time.

Packing up work for good cannot come soon enough!