My weekly blogs

The Acasia flowers seems to have been damaged by the heavy frost we experienced this winter. The plant is still OK, but I do not think the flowers will open as usual. The Protea was brought inside before the heavy frost and is now swelling up its flower buds to flower in June or July. Both the Rhipsalis capilliformis and R. cereuscula are preparing to flower. It should be a splendid sight when they do. Inside the house the Orchids continue to produce flowers, which are reminding me that I must visit Kew Gardens Orchid extravaganza which starts from February the 6th and continues until March the 7th.(see Garden related events on the homepage)

Well this winter has been the hardest and coldest we have experienced for over thirty years at least. The snow has not affected us too badly here in north east London, but it is staying around for a few weeks now. I wonder how many plants I will lose this winter. The back and front gardens are covered in the snow, but I am hoping I will not lose too many plants as the ones outside are supposed to be hardy. I made a mistake and dug up some fruit trees in pots I hope the roots have not been damaged by the frost. Inside the house the orchids are continuing to flower. Both the Jewel Orchid and the Paphiopedilum(Lady's Slipper) are in full bloom.

I have bought some mistletoe with seeds and will try and germinate some of them on a couple of mature apple trees. The Ivy fruits are awaiting the birds to eat them. The Prunus in my neighbour's garden has been in flower for at least a month now and will continuing to flower until March. The Boxus has berries from last years flowers and is getting ready to flower again. The Bay tree is also getting ready to flower.

I am taking a risk with my bird watering water feature. It is so cold that there is a risk of it freezing. Most water feature should be turned off if it gets too cold. I think that with the heat generated from the pump it should not freeze up. Now that many of the plants have been moved I can get to the rest of the grapevine and give it a winter tar wash and finish pruning it. Some of the Daffodils that I keep in pots to put in place of plants that have been dug up are already shooting up. Inside the Stritlitzia flower spikes are continuing to enlarge in preparation for flowering. Many perennial plants like the Iris here has died back and will re-shoot when the weather warms up. I will not prune these until all the heavy frost has passed as the dead stems and leaves are acting as protection for the storage roots, rhizomes or bulbs of the plant.