In the space of only a few weeks, my garden has awakened! It feels like it has been a very quick transition this year. The garden is forever giving, and February is a very exciting time! Days are starting to lengthen and by the end of the month, we have two more hours of daylight to embrace. Birdsong is increasing, and Spring flowers have appeared in their droves. It is astonishing to see bulbs pushing through the cold, wet ground. It is a busy time in the garden, one full of excitement and hard work. There is so much to be done, and delight in.
This month I have had an abundance of daffodils, hellebores, camellias, snowdrops and elephants ear and hyacinth, and I have been very lucky to have enough to share with friends. I love giving flowers, it always brings a smile.
I even made my first winter flower wreath - You can read the 'how to' guide here!
I really enjoyed decorating my front door with bright blooms - in such a cold dark month. It signifies hope and delight.
I have also been pressing the flowers, and I look forward to pressing primroses and winter violas to dry and use for cake decorating! This was our first batch of flowers for the press.
It has been quite a month of weather! The North Atlantic is now at its coldest, as the Gulf Stream blanket has worn thin, and penetrating frost can get through. It has been cold and wet, and this month also brought us a very angry storm - Storm Eunice who tore her way through the garden. I had two trees fall on the top part of my vegetable patch -which has left a lot to clear and sort out. Luckily we can get out into the garden to start tidying and priming the garden for the new season. 
Luckily, we have still had a lot to keep us busy. We have planted our hardy veg- beetroot, Spinach and winter lettuce outdoors. We (Archie and I) like to reuse as much as possible for plating, and we use egg boxes for our peas, before planting some up in the greenhouse, and another succession for the veg patch. We have an abundance of mice and voles here, so peas can never go straight in to the ground. We use toilet rolls for our sweet peas, but cutting the bottom and folding it in, to make a base. I then just open the bottom up before I pop them outdoors. Archie is a dab hand at making pots from newspaper too, so we have planted up our cosmos, pepper and chillies in these. 
Things to do this month:
- Plant broad beans, chillies, peas, tomatoes, sweet peas, cosmos - indoors in the windowsill.
- Prepare beds for sowing directly.
- Chit potatoes
- Continue feeding birds
- Split snowdrop clumps and replant them in lightly shaded spots.
As well as drying flowers in the flower press, I like to paint what is growing too. Here is a quick sketchbook study of daffodils, hellibores, mascari, primroses and snowflakes, and below is a pattern, inspired by the busy Spring scenes that I am embracing this month!
Thanks for reading! See you in March!
Leave a comment