Helleborus foetidus (bought as argutifolius, but definately it is not) in bloom since few days.We have a proverb 'February comes - fetch yourself warm shoes'. It doesn't rhyme in English, but it does in Polish. In Poland February is the coldest month of the winter - usually. This year is different. We enjoy sunny days with temperatures +8C in the day. I open a window to hear better the birds singing, fresh and clear air - spring my friends, spring...
Maybe I let to fool myself - and still winter will show up - but decided today, that winter is over and the Queen of Cold&Ice has forgotten some parts of the Northern Hemisphere.
I never before worked in the garden in FEBRUARY. never.
This year officially I started spring jobs on 4th of February. I cleaned old leaves of pulsatilla (picture above), cut some other perennials and gave fresh food to birds - they like it a lot, it is very crowded around feeder.
This time to usual cornflower seeds I added some sultana which I cut to smaller pieces - to attract some other kinds of little birds.
It looks yummie.... right?
This time to usual cornflower seeds I added some sultana which I cut to smaller pieces - to attract some other kinds of little birds.It looks yummie.... right?
Is this warm winter a global warming effect? The other day I've read about olives harvesting which are in danger . Today I've red about English gardens which may vanish from the globe one day. Can you imagine that? English gardeners are exchanging traditional plants with drought resistant ones:
'At a speech in Kew Gardens, environment minister Ian Pearson, will say that in the future Britain’s estimated 27 million gardening enthusiasts will have to choose drought resistant Mediterranean plants and use watering cans instead of hose pipes.
You can read more in an article published in The Daily Mail.
'Experts say summer temperatures in England are expected to be up to three degrees warmer by 2050 with 35 per cent less rainfall.' Read more in The Daily Mail
... last week when I was visiting my friend... I couldn't resist to take a piece of this aloe home - it is drought resistant enough?
My husband says, that is scares him - why? Isn't is lovely? And does not need too much water either...
14 comments:
Hi Ewa - I see we're both Blotanists now :)
I've just given some of the same kind of Aloe to one of my friends. Mine came from another of my friends last year and has been growing very well on my kitchen windowsill. It's great to share one's love of plants isn't it?
Your aloe reminds me that I have thought of trying to grow it as a small commercial crop here on my acreage.
The world is definitely changing! I set some lily seeds as well as Clematis to germinate today.
Clayton
Oh, and aloe is so pretty and multiplies rapidly! Did you see what I found in my garden today? A month earlier than last year!
Yes, there are some weird, weird weather things happening. Meanwhile we have politicians who pretend there's nothing amiss, or else they make up all sorts of new regulations and rules for ordinary people...but do nothing about large corporations, car manufacturers, and other huge contributors to climate change.
I like your proverb, even if it doesn't rhyme in English, it's still very nice.
You are having an unusual February, we had an unusual January (it's then I started my official (hm) gardening work outside....doing the same you did recently). However, I do not believe yet in Spring....March is always a month full of (winter) suprises. So, let's wait and see...
Ewa, I love your blog. And I too have aloe. It is wonderful for burns. Just snip a piece off and apply it. Though you probably already know all that. I have a garden in East Texas. We actually can garden here in February. My roses are still blooming!
Brenda Kula
I like Aloes just tell your husband that he has nothing to fear.
It is scary about global warming. I wonder if we will see the severe changes in our lifetime. It is quite possible.
Aloe ... it is wonderful. It grows to be a large plant outside here. It has wonderful flowers orange spike flowers.
As Brenda said, juice from a small broken piece is great for healing burns and open wounds.
When working with roses, if I get scratched, a good rub with aloe works miracles.
It's the same here in the south of Sweden - February, which is usually a winter month is almost like Spring this year. And I think we've got the rain that's usually spread over Britain... If Britain gets drier, Sweden seems to get wetter...
Your helleborus looks lovely!
/Katarina
I read the RHS Garden magazine and the latest issue was devoted to climate change and how British gardeners need to adapt. Some of the news was bad because plants traditionally grown in England will find it too hot. But some of the news was good because many more heat-loving vegetables will be able to be grown.
I admire the English for addressing the problem and looking to the future. Here in America, I don't see any similar stories in mainstream publications.
Hello again Ewa !
Lovely pictures .. but yes .. the weather is very dramatic .. so many storms .. higher temperatures every where .. I am turning more and more to drought tolerant plants. Kingston(Ontario Canada) is always under water restrictions in the summer .. so yes ! we have turned to native and drought tolerant plants in the garden.
I also have Aloe plants in my home along with other succulents .. porous pots help them survive ME ! LOL
Joy : )
Well, global warming scares me! If England will have mediterranean gardens, what kind of gardens will we have? It is really scary. This year we are having a dry and abnormally warm winter. Only 3 years ago we had a very, very dry year and a lot of forest fires in the summer. The ironic part of it is that is seems that english gardeners are more conscious of water saving needs than most of the portuguese ones! (We are a too relaxed people)
Have a nice weekend!
Hello Ewa! Strange things are happening Down Under as well, so I have quoted you on my blog post today.
Dear Ewa, like you we are having spring weather in February and although I enjoy it very much (and so do you I see :-)) I find it also very worrying. What is happening with our climate?
Those sultanas do look yummy and I'm sure the birds in your garden are enjoying them very much.
BTW I started working in my garden in January. It was the second hottest January since 1706. The hottest was in 2007.
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