The colours of autumn have been quite breathtaking this year with the leaves of the field maples leaving carpets of gold along the road verges. The trees, a kaleidoscope of red, orange, yellow, ochre and purple, a last burst of glory before the realities of winter – and of our financial crisis – take root.
Gardening could become an essential part of our lives but also a wonderful hobby in the next few years. It will help with the family budget to grow your own vegetables, whether in a small patch of garden, alongside existing flower beds, or in pots. It is surprising what you can get into a medium sized pot on a balcony and it is so satisfactory to grow and eat ones own produce. Children love digging in the mud filling up pots and planting seeds. It is fun and good to encourage our future gardeners!
I was very surprised to find a group of ladybirds and bugs huddled together on the outside of a North facing sash window, last week, when it was very cold indeed. I wondered why they hadn’t chosen a nice warm cavity in a tree. It then occurred to me that they had a better chance of survival than being breakfast to our spotted and green woodpeckers! I must get a couple of bug boxes! as bugs have also an important part to play in the gardening world.
Now that the winter is upon us and we have had the first severe frosts, snow and wind, we have been protecting all the delicate and ‘foreign’ plants in the garden.
We have wrapped them in fleece, put straw around the bases and then made a ‘tepee type’ structure of bamboo and hessian to see them through the winter.
It seems a little excessive but as we are getting older and the plants are getting bigger it is much harder to find space for them in the greenhouse and it is extremely heavy work shifting these very large pots. So….we hope the banana trees, datura bushes, azaleas, eucalyptus and the mimosas, amongst others, which we have planted in the garden, will survive. I will let you know in the spring!
xx Bumble
