I hit the last straw this morning, I saw through the kitchen window what I had fear when we had the storm and winds of over 90mph a couple of months ago the lodge pole pines are turning bronze and about to loose most of their needles and go bare, lodge poles like most conifers do not re-grow from old wood, once the needles are gone they stay gone,
I haven’t written a post in over a week because I have been waiting to be able to say something, anything positive about the garden, I am sick of hearing about the drought the tiny little bit of Britain in the south is having, if they want more water move!! there are plenty of areas of Britain that have a high rainfall there is no excuse! after listening to ‘costing the earth last night’ I’m now (excuse language) pi** off with the whinging south, you get the rainfall save it!!!
sorry to readers not in Britain but I do feel a little better now I’ve had my say,
the post I was going to write would have been mostly photos of crocuses which are blooming (if that’s the right word) in the garden, most are flat on their faces or backs because of the endless rain, I heard a programme on the radio a few years ago and the professor they had on said that global warming will cause much more rain in Britain particularly the west coast as the warmer weather will mean more moisture rising from the Atlantic ocean into clouds and the south westerlies will blow them along the west coast to drop their load!!
the only flower presentable for a photo is this dwarf iris harmony and the reason it’s so pristine is when I noticed it had not appeared and so looked harder I saw the chewed stalks! so I put a glass jar over it and was rewarded with this little flower which I can enjoy through the glass jar, I wondered if I should do the same for the crocuses,
I had made out a large order for spring planting but today has decided me NO I’m not sending in the order, I wanted to order some snowdrops in the green from Kates’ recommendation and after reading Carolyns’ post about winter aconites in the green looked and saw the same nursery sells them in the green I’ve withheld ordering because of the wet, I see on other peoples blogs beautiful hellebores I know one of mine is flowering but I haven’t had the opportunity to see it, gardening is starting to give me more pain than pleasure which isn’t good,
update: later, I have rekindled my textile and art interests and feel better, I’m not going to take the garden so seriously, I am feeling a bit better now, thanks,
©Copyright 2011 Frances Caple. All rights reserved. Content created by Frances Caple for Island Threads.
Oh my, Frances. I am sorry about all that wild weather. I feel guilty about our having had no real winter hit us this year in New England. It’s been surreal actually. I never heard the sound of snow plows in the night which is so significant of our winters.
Remember when you posted a picture of your “sea holly” plant? Well, that plant just struck me as so beautiful so I ordered four little plants (just twigs really with roots) and have had them in a pot of dirt all winter inside near the front window. Three of them have died but one has one lone leaf on it and is still alive. Well darn! So I found some SEEDS of sea holly and got a packet of 5000 seeds and also from another company a packet of 50 seeds. I plan to put them all out front in the garden when it warms up and keep my fingers crossed that I get at least SOME sea holly plants!
thanks Bex, your sea holly plants please don’t give up on them the ones that you think are dead may not be, my seahollies are perennials they die down every year and then re grow in spring they also selfseed, mine have a very long white taproot so maybe a pot isn’t a good idea as they won’t be able to get their roots down, good luck, Frances
Oh dear Frances, can I suggest a move to Devon, to save the rest of the country having to move! We have enough rain, some would say too much, we have enough sun, some would say not enough, wind isn’t too bad and it is usually warmer than the rest of the country, I can recommend it!!
but Pauline could you suppliment my finances so I could afford! Devon, Frances
Pauline I have puzzled over your comment and still can’t see how my moving to Devon would help the drought problem in the south,
Oh dear Frances don’t despair. It is possible to grow bulbs in this wet wind blasted island. Dwarf Narcissus can take the wind, I have several varieties bravely standing up to the current batch of gales, good old Muscari will also do ok. Dwarf iris are probably too delicate and crocus may be the same. Hellebores don’t like my machair soil, but you should be do better in Lewis – try something tough like H. foetidus. Snowdrops are possible – but as with all the bulbs watch the drainage. Please don’t give up.
Christine
thanks Christine, I have lots and lots of daffs and narcissus, most stand up to the wind and last year so did the crocus it this bl**dy rain! I have bluebells coming through too, Frances
You need some blue sky above for just a bit to give you back your love of the garden., Hopefully, it will come soon for you. So sorry to hear of your discouragement.
thanks mch, we have had a bit of sun but a lot! of rain, Frances
Oh, Frances, how sad to be discouraged over your garden. I love seeing the pictures of what you find to grow, even when it is through glass. Between being chewed on and being waterlogged it seems to be a really bad year. You are getting our rain, I think, we have had almost no snow all winter after a near record last winter, i guess we all have to look at growing things differently. Water lily gardens maybe? Of course next year it all may change…
thanks Jordi, I’ve decided not to think about the garden so much, I haven’t done hardly any art/quilt work and I think I need too, I wasn’t receiving any e mails on the lists but today re opened, complex cloth, saqa and quiltart and have enjoyed going over some of the messages and surfing a few blogs and websites which have distracted me nicely from my browning trees, Frances x
Hope having a good old grump about it has helped!
I’m entertained by the idea of a garden full of upturned jam jars.
thanks Lucy I think it has I also did something totally non garden related,
I have to say the idea of covering my gardens with up turned jars made me smile too and the thought of the look on the faces of any visitors ;o) Frances
You are lucky–here nothing is in bloom yet—no crocus,no snowdrops,no daffs NOTHING!! Its been unsuaslly freezing here for the past three weeks–the river was even frozen over until tuesday and we are only a 45 mn drive from the med coast. Ah well things could be worse.
actually taddoe I would rather the crocus were not blooming than to bloom and be flattened you can see one in the top righthand corner of the iris photo, the rest of the bulbs are just showing nowhere near blooming yet not even close to the bud stage,
I’ve heard the med area is cold! there is a blog I read sometimes and the garden is in Italy with colder weather than I have, to be honest last year with the frost and snow it was better than water, water, water,
keep warm, Frances
I have those moments of frustration with the garden…sometimes I just have to take a break. I will most likely be feeling that in a month or two when all the spring chores will be draining my energy. That dwarf iris is lovely…so bright against the ground. I can see why you would want to enjoy it.
thanks Michelle, it’s not the garden but weather, it wasn’t like this when I moved up here over 12 years ago, I think every where though is suffering from changing weather patterns, Frances
Sorry that the weather is bringing you so much sorrow at the minute; I hope that it turns around soon. Glad that you are finding solace in textiles while winter plays out. Your iris is very pretty, and all the more precious for needing your nurturing to survive.
thanks Sara, I think most of the west coast is hoping for a change in the weather,
at least with quilts and art I can do it what ever the weather, Frances
Frances I agree weather can be so frustrating…last year we had too much snow for 4 months…this year cold, some snow and lots of water drowning everything…everyone has blooms but like you I have a couple of blooms…a few snowdrops that are so soggy…I so want the weather to turn and get into spring, but I am forced to wait….it does get down right irritating somedays when all you have is destruction and everyone else has blooms…I think getting out our frustration helps….
thanks Donna, I remember seeing your flooded and frozen rain garden,
I had been dealing with it and not letting it get at me but when I saw the bronzing on the lodge poles this morning something just snapped, I usually love the view from my kitchen window but I’m thinking of putting up a net curtain so I can’t see them so clearly, having experienced it before in 2005 I know what’s coming,
hang on in there, Frances
Everything has it season… I have found that I enjoy things in life a lot more if I can let go of the demands I make on myself to “keep going”, and change to something else I might enjoy more at the moment. Ex. letting myself read an Austin novel instead of another from my long list of garden books. I love to learn about the garden… but everybody has their limits. Glad you have come to peace with yours.
Thank you for sharing this~
Julie
thanks Julie, Frances
So sorry about your lodgepoles, Frances. The West is a tough climate to cope with at the best of times and it sounds like the worst of times just now. Only deciduous trees can hang on in the worst of times, but something will always grow somewhere sometime *hugs*.
thanks KC a feline furry hug is just what’s needed ;o)
I *very* quickly learnt that desiduous was better for coping with winter storms but last Mays storms even put pay to that idea, I’m still wondering and waiting to see if my willows will grow this spring or if they have completely died, think most of the west coast of Scotland is wondering if there is still life in all the dead looking trees of last summer,
perenials too cope better and I am thinking the best veggies to grow are going to be root veggies, of course what would help emormously would be if more people here planted wind breaks they can’t seem to understand that if everyone planted windbreaks they would help each other, it’s doing it in isolation that makes it harder, Frances
There are always good times and bad ones in a garden / surroundings, and though it’s sad about the lodgepoles, there’s always something lovely – like that iris (opposite end of the spectrum size-wise, but gorgeous)… I am totally and utterly with you on the drought. More rain for the west? Oh, goodie. Am definitely doing a bog garden.
Aconites? Now there’s an idea, I’ve got just the spot!
thanks Kate, my heart sunk when this professor said we’d get more rain with globle warming, I was hoping he’d be wrong but the way things are going he seems to be spot on, we do sometimes get a dry spell in late spring wonder if that will happen this year,
I’m still debating about the snowdrops and aconites, I think if I go ahead and order them then it will prove I am totally mad! I can imagine them in the grass in your garden, Frances
Oh, Frances, I think most of us gardeners have experienced times of discouragement. I certainly have when the ravages of summer have taken their toll on plants and people alike. How I wish I could grow those pastel perennials I see in milder climates! But from what I have observed in your posts, what you have is a bold natural topography, windswept and wild and enduring despite the elements. I think it demands to be itself, and there is a freedom in that. You may carve out a small plot where you can lay your hand upon it, and there is always pleasure in a bulb or shrub or tree that you have nurtured. But the grandeur of your garden is the long view beyond. I say enjoy your art and textiles and look at that fabulous landscape through my eyes!
Deb I turn your comment around and suggest to you that you live in a very lush green environment which clearly survives your hot summers so why spend hours watering trees and shrubs in summer from the domestic water supply when you don‘t need to,
as for wanting the pastel plants of more northerly climes, you already have a huge number of plants that grow in your garden yet you are not satisfied, I would be happy to have a quarter of what you have and ecstatic if I had just half the plants you have,
It’s funny how the South of England seems to have parallel issues with drought and building in flood plains…
As for your garden, remember that there is joy to be had, even when the garden doesn’t do what we want it to do. There will always be SOMETHING that’s living and thriving, and that’s what matters. I do completely understand your feelings, though; some times it just seems like there’s no way my garden will ever get to look all right, but then June arrives and though the shrubs need pruning and the grass needs mowing and I didn’t get around to do plan A, B or C, somehow it all looks lovely when the sun decides to shine on my little plot of this planet.
Good to hear that you have other interests that are better suited for a wet February; if you feel this blues coming over you, then throw in a post about the textiles and crafts. I’d be interested in reading about what you get up to!
thanks Flaneur, I realised since writing the post that I think one reason the rain is getting me and others down is that a large part of the UK didn’t have a summer last year, seriously, the weather never reached a warmth where I could garden without a fleece and I was wearing my winter coat all year and it wasn’t just me even the younger generation were going around in winter clothing, I can remember working in this garden in just a tee shirt and slacks but the weather has changed it’s so much cooler in the summer now,
I have posted my textiles in the past infact when I started blogging it was only textiles, the blog changes with what I am doing, Frances
The summer over here in Denmark was the same; our best weather was in April and May, and after that it was just wet and grey and miserable. (On July 2nd Copenhagen received 150mm of rain in two hours!)
I think we definitely deserve some spring soon, and then a nice summer!
I thought it was, I think it was across most of the north of the northern hemisphere, I second your last comment,
I find it interesting that you saw 12 yrs ago the weather was much different there. One of the hardest parts of global warming to me is the unknown quality of our weather now. So hard to plan what to plant or where and how it will react when we have no sense of where we’re going. Many wasted hours and money as a result. We’ve had raging winds for 2 days now and I can feel your frustration and ours isn’t nearly as bad as the constant gales you get. You’re made of sterner stuff than I.
if I think about it Marguerite I find it scary and wonder what kind of world my grandchildren are inheriting,
I might get more gales than you but you get much colder and more snow, on these islands we don’t even get as cold as the british mainland, I’ve experienced winds like never before here but I have never experienced the cold I know in the south of England, ofcourse the ocean that keeps us warmer in winter keeps us cooler in summer, though not usually as cold as last year, sterner stuff or an idiot! Frances
sympathising about the wetness, the swathes of rain seem never ending and I suppose ours are the really the same ones you’re enduring, falling on us as they move eastward! The ground is saturated and there are new lochans everywhere with the cows up to their knees in mud. I don’t garden but it must be really difficult, right now. I think the height of the water table here even in a normal year, combined with the wind, is why trees don’t grow on Tiree. I hope you get some respite soon and have some lovely textile-y fun to cheer you.
Fiona how lovely to hear from you, I check your blog every now and then but you have not updated for a long time,
I think Tiree gets some of the worst of the wind as you are in the middle of the Minch windtunnel! although Lewis is considered flat it has quite a few hills and most of it is above sea level where as Tiree like the west side of the Uists and Benbecula you are almost at sea level,
thanks for your good wishes, Frances
Frances, I can remember the frustrations of trying to garden in Orkney, especially the damage caused by salt laden winds and the rain. I used to rush out into the garden like a wild woman trying to stop the plants been killed by wind rock. Things got a bit better when we managed to establish a bit of windbreak but it was never easy. Montrose is very different but has it’s only challenges.
PS I think Fay of the Wind and the Wellies was feeling similarly frustrated!
thanks Janet, I’ve got used to the regular winter winds and deal with them, this last year we have had winds in excess of that, the lodge poles were planted by the previous owner and most have been here over 30 years and survived, usually May is a good month but last May the whole of the west coast of Scotland and Northern England and probably Ireland too were hit by winter gales which killed the new shoots on many decidous trees causing the trees to stay leafless all year, just hoping they grow leaves this spring, heard on radio Scotland this morning that this is the way things are going due to ice melting in the Artic, oh well, Frances
I heard that too, Frances. I’m glad I’m not the only one to listen to Radio Scotland ( as well as Radio 4′ 3 and 2 depending on mood). Most of my friends look down their noses at Radio Scotland. I always point them in the direction of “out of Doors” on a saturday morning.
so we listen to the same radio stations Janet ;o)
I can’t see why anyone would look down their noses at RS, I like Out of Doors it’s an out door family programme, I also like the Beech Grove potting shed which starts again next Sunday, Frances
I really feel for you Frances; we only had 2 weeks of snow and I felt really depressed. The cold winds, well any strong winds do more damage than any non-gardener can imagine. I hate being out in the wind too, either hot or cold; but I’m lucky – the snow and freezing temperatures doesn’t seem to have done much damage and there really is spring in the air now. Christina
thank you Christina for you words of understanding, thankfully our winds are not too cold due to the gulf stream not like the cold winds people in central and eastern Canada get, our weather is changing and not for the better I’ve started writing a post about it in my head and will get it down in a word doc, I’m glad your freezing weather has gone and things are warming up for you, Frances