Tulips and Daffodils

It is worth waiting almost seven months or more to see these hunks and darlings roll out for Spring. In the case of the daffs it's the second year they've emerged, looking better than ever, adding flames of white and yellow to an otherwise greener than green world. The slugs have not ceased their assaults though, so this year I cut a load and kept them indoors in a vase. Very molto molto!

Special mention goes to the Thalia, which came out later than expected. These daffs are special with a double head on a single stem, much smaller than the other narcissus, dressed in a pale white that is quite exceptional.

The tulips have been predominantly red, although in the last few days I have seen a few golden yellow ones and a saucy pink make their way upwards. They look and smell mega. As with poppies they have a variety of markings at the base of the petals; if you're ever in my neck of the woods don't be surprised to see me gawping in a kind of stupor, with my bum hanging out (damn these ill fitting jeans and loose belts) wondering how all those colours and shapes started.

Daffodils, Tulips, Apple Tree Pruning and Raspberries

It's great to see the daffodils coming out around the apple trees, and in the front 'garden' if you can call it that. Strange things happen in that little patch of earth, we have a rosebush, a few ferns, a stoic poppy plant or two and every type of garbage blowing in from all directions. Packets of discos, bank statements and cans. Cheers slobs, cheers wind for making the slobs work less than than it is already, cheers slobs, cheers slobs. Mind you it will get better. The tulips especially are looking quite promising, although it is still relatively early stages. Already I love the marble smoothness of the leaves. Watch this space.

In other news I pruned back the apple trees a bit as the upper branches were getting seriously entangled, not to mention swaddled with carbuncles. To all extents and purposes the trees should be dead as they have been chomped by ivy for many years. I mean they have been voraciously chomped, hollowed out, making them list dangerously. But they keep on keeping on, even growing new branches which eventually bud. The cooking apples we get from them make for some fine apple crumble - with vanilla custard it's enough to blow your socks off and make them jig.

Lastly I have planted a raspberry cane in the border at the bottom of the garden. It was bought for me by my brother in all things hilarious Jin Krogan aka Matty Robinson. He got it from Poundland which raised a quasi-sneer from Cakeatonne (expensive ones ordered online for the allotment). It will be fun to compare! If not we can always joust.

Project Daffodil / Viburnum

I am extremely excited. Project SOLARDOME is but a few days away. I'm not saying any more until after Saturday, but good times for good people - they are coming.

The daffodils are emerging. If you cast your eye back to my Blog in September, I was paranoid I wasn't doing it properly; those juicy lean green stems speak volumes to the opposite, however.

There are some other tentative growths too, throughout the garden. At first I thought they were weeds...but something tells me otherwise. Gardening intuition! Now there's a thought. I was talking to my Charlie and Ben* on Saturday about how my instincts were kicking in and the schematics for the garden were sprouting from my sub conscious! Thank G Unit it's Spring, I feel so much more in touch with things.

Mum and Dad brought me a cutting from their Viburnum tree in January. It's famous for a Dad classic: 'Have you sniffed the tree?' Draw your own conclusions. Anyway, this was planted at the bottom of the garden where I hope it will take nicely. I think there's the option to move it if there's not enough sunlight. So far, more or less everything has taken well, but having come out properly for the first time in many months, I see that everything has died back: it's all sludge brown foliage or leaves as dry as a skeleton. Cycles, yo.

Oregano out. There will be many more blogs hitting this space soon! PROJECT SOLARDOME especially...wow.

Payce. (Peace).

*Flame on!

I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud

Ian, aka Robert Rojack, one of my best mates from Manchester was visiting me this weekend. As he was due to come down in the evening I had time to plant my daffodil bulbs that I'd acquired. Of course I ended doing a lot more.

It was a beautiful day on Friday. The garden, although nascent when it comes to flowers, was teeming with energy and light. Our

very own wasp central was alive with bees and wasps. I just stood there for a while watching ludicrous numbers of them pollinating, and the odd Red Admiral butterfly alighting and rapidly twitching its wings as if in warning. Had a bit of dubstep by way of Bill Withers playing on my minidisc, so I was walking as if in an underwater mosh pit quite a bit, which probably cemented my place as an English eccentric in my neighbours minds. That, or an idiot.

Started by clearing away some of the ivy roots that remained round the first apple tree, and set to with my trowel, digging holes three times the height of each bulb. It doesn't translate well in this pic but I assure you I took time to do it properly. I think. Haha! I do get really paranoid that I'm doing it wrong. As the result won't be evident for many months to come all I can do is wait...The same principle applied to the apple tree at the bottom of the garden, with somewhere in the region of 50 bulbs planted in total. I even buried some at the front of the house, in a really shady patch behind the wall. I have categorically no idea whether they will grow or not. Either way it will be interesting.

Transplanting a fern (again no idea which family it belongs to or it's proper name) to the bottom of garden neatly offset the two baby hostas I'd picked up at Gardener's Weekend (now replete with an anti slug bed of broken egg shells kindly supplied by Parsley). The lady's mantle was planted near the geraniums and fuschia cuttings that Ma Wakefield brought over a few months ago. Even then the ties to this garden and indeed my future gardening endeavours on a whole were tightening, as I couldn't sleep wondering whether they were going to take to the soil or die a premature death. Jake told me not long ago there's nothing worse than doing everything as you should, only to see that something fail. That applies to so much more than gardening don't you think?

The day was still warm and buzzing by the time I'd tidied up. Just when I thought it was time to tie it all up, Sam our wicked neighbour lent me his hover mower. I'd been meaning to ask but was trepid. So I got an extra hours work out of that which made the overall tally about five and a half hours graft. As Parsley was ribbing me about my attempts at starting work earlier, and doing more, I was fairly pleased at what I'd achieved.

There are bigger jobs coming! Parsley and I have discussed the fine points over earl grey and the occasional scream of G UNIT! Soon you can expect to hear tales of turfing, canopies, Tim Burton (all will be explained), Smethwick, Winks & c. More allotment work on Tuesday potentially. Stay tuned.

A tired and jubilant Oregano signing out - X