My Planter Crocuses

 My crocus planters needed a refresh, so back in October I bought some new bulbs, moved the planters to a windowsill where I thought they'd get more light, tucked the bulbs into bed, and waited to see what would happen. 

There were two varieties, dwarf ones and standard ones. and all was quiet in the planters until January, when they began to sprout and grow rapidly. 

They avoided the rat based fate on my allium bulbs - rat repellent is going to be bought to sort that furry four legged problem out - and have brought me a crop of gold, purple and white flowers. 

Sadly they've barely been open, because there's been so little sunlight to be had, especially in my little yard. And they've not attracted any pollinators either, because bees and bumbles haven't been flying in this dull weather. 

But I'm pleased anyway, to have brought a little colour to my concrete corner of the world, rat or no rat. 

Si 

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 10.03.26 

My Little Nursery

 I have written before about the little nursery I have in my garden now, the planters of crocus, giant allium and, er, not-so-giant allium I planted as bulbs in November in a bid to attract more pollinators to my yard.

As we now reach the last days of January, I thought I would give you a little progress update. 

It didn't take long for the first crocus spears to make their way above the surface of the planting compost, but things seemed to have slowed down a bit, although more of them are now starting to peak through. Certainly they will be rather later than the wild crocuses in the cemetery, the earliest of which have now come into flower. 

The giant alliums have also slowed after a strong start, and once again there certainly aren't as many of them as I planted. The not-so-giant alliums have virtually all emerged in one planter, so we will see how they go. These won't come into flower until rather later, May-June time.

It's hardly been labour intensive, but I have found this process, my first ever attempt to grow something from scratch, very rewarding not only from the rubbish gardener perspective, but also from a mental one, even if it does smack incredibly hardly of middle-aged-ness. 

Well I'm still very active, often child like with Tourettes and Autism, and I've been listening to Radio 4 for years.

I'm not sure I'm that bothered.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 25.01.22