Not much time today! A quick coffee and read in the rocker was followed by a scout round to see what was on the move. The narcissus have taken a bit of a battering but their jauntiness is unaffected!
I have also transplanted the 3 triffid sweet peas into separate pots and added some soil to their trays because I think they were too shallow. And greedily leafed through my seed packets, glorying in the potential!

Waking this morning with a lassitude caused by excessive Chardonnay last night, I feel vaguely irritated that I has wasted a lot of the morning in bed. With terribly slow reaction times I bypassed the kitchen and went out to the back garden to clear my head. It is windy today and although it is sheltered at the back there was still enough swirling wind and some rain-spittle to wake me up. I spent about 40 minutes with secateurs which is always enjoyable. The geranium is coming back so I gave it a haircut and mulched the shoots with compost and leaves. The rose has also started to bud earlier than anticipated so I pruned the parts that had not shoots yet to make sure it didn't go as crazy as last year - all summer I was permanently getting jabbed in the eye unexpectedly. I also finally cut back the dead sweet peas from last year and murdered a hibernating snail hiding in the roots. Some weeding too, a bit of sweeping and I tidied up all the canes into a pot in the shed.
If there is time this weekend I think a major go at the shed is needed. And more watching the spring beginnings of course.

It's my late morning so I'm enjoying the peace. That's relative of course because a crowd of birds is competitively singing in the garden and builders are clattering in the street. To me though, peace can be about a felling not just the absence of noise. My late start on a Wednesday has become completely key to my mental survival - I was still thinking about irritations from work as I dropped off to sleep at 11 which has got to stop! But now I feel different.
It's a wet and windy day in the Shandon oasis. Amusingly when I popped out the back this morning I discovered a pair of pants that I had pegged out to dry on Sunday was still there. I brought the laundry in while it was pitch black and haven't been home in the light since. Gave me a giggle this morning though and I clicked a quick picture on my phone to send to the Mighty Jimbs at work to hopefully lighten his mood!

Jimbs has taken some beautiful pictures of crocuses but I haven't got them yet so I'm going to whisk round with my vastly inferior camera (the biggie is without batteries) and grab a few key shots.
Above you can see the narcissus that came into bloom yesterday. The smell is gorgeous and they have a really jaunty air to them.

These crocuses are the ones for me though - so randomly crazy and utterly gorgeous. Going on the principle of Intelligent Design, the God who invented these might have taken acid in the 60s. Edinburgh is full of crocuses encrusting public spaces and forcing their way into any free space. The city is never so colourful as in February and March. I read recently that the reason that the spring flowering bulbs are all woodland plants is because the leaves are not there to block out the light so this is their time to flower with the light coming through the bare branches. I would imagine the weather conditions are marginally better under the tree also.
Tried to get a shot of the Delphinium shoots but my camera ran out of battery (seeing a theme here). Those 2 where called John and Ro after 2 friends who gave me the Dobbies voucher I used to buy them. I took seeds and am hoping to add to them this year, at least one of those will need to be called Lucy after their daughter.

What a stonking winter day! While the lovely Jimbs was catching up on his sleep I rose relatively early and drank a cup of coffee while reading The Curious Gardener by Anna Pavord in the front garden. I was making the most of the weekend's absence of Builder to utilise the sunbeamy seats for my reading. Quite frankly I needed the help - even with a hat, huge jumper, coat and wellies on, my skin was smarting with the cold. A genuine winter day.
We then had a delicious breakfast where I happily prattled about garden related nonsense while The Jimbs smiled at me. He's eating Alpen rather than filled rolls for breakfast so as his weekend treat he had bacon croissants and coffee. I always breakfast at home on toasted something but today I had warmed pain au chocolat which is perfect.
We then wrapped up and went for a great long walk: along the canal, down the Water of Leith walkway, past the Saughton allotments and finishing (kind of) at Saughton Park. I also discovered an interest in bowling greens. Personally I was quite surprised by that because although I love these trad British representations they also choke me with their conformity. We added a bit onto our route and went a little further on the walkway and through some new builds and then up through Gorgie and home. Lovely walk on a lovely day with a lovely man. And his camera.
So back in my garden I attempted to divide my grasses. Apparently this should be done at this time of year while they are still dormant. I had a vague idea that I would source a narrow but deep-ish trough/squared pot for along the fence and re-plant the divided clumps in that. Given the boringly scant nature of my finances this is probably not the priority this year so I divided the clumps into the same pots. The first one went reasonably okay, but when turned out of the pot there was an utterly rank smell and slugs were slumbering in the roots. I made a executive decision that I am sure is all against the "proper" way of doing things, where I binned the stinky roots and their slugs. Anyway each of the 3 pots now has a newly divided clump of grasses in them. Which was my main focus for the weekend apart from lopping the trees. Which I didn't manage.

Such a lovely afternoon alternating between watching the rugby and gardening. We were back from Glasgow and the day was clement - as chilly as you'd expect for Scotland in February but bearable and not raining or sleeting.

It was an afternoon of discovery, with my first attempt at sowing seeds for indoors and my new propagator. I have sown 2 trays of sweet peas (yay!) which are Dancing Queen and Lovejoy - white and deep purple. Also some of my own yellow Icelandic poppy seeds. They are all now in the propagator on top of the blanket box and I feel quite excited about watching for the new plants when they start to poke through the compost. Well hopefully! I also opened a bag of what I thought were 6 large Lily bulbs, however they turned out to be full of black boomerang-shaped seeds. I planted a few in a big terracotta pot and have kept the rest to try in the propagator later in spring. Janice thinks they are white lilies but we'll soon see.

I also took the opportunity to move some pots around. The rosemary bush in the white pot moved to the back. The tall green and yellow variegated shrub and what will be the yellow African lily moved to the front where they meet the colour scheme. I took the forget-me-not and broke it into 2 chunks which I planted in the raised bed. It's been sitting in a black plastic pot at the front for a year after I sowed the seeds and I feel has been a bit wasted, so hopefully it'll bulk up the beds and the lovely flowers will fit in just fine. 

I also identified a few plants who have started to bud for spring and cut them back to that new growth. In line with the lovely Dan Pearson sentiment (or instruction) to wait to cut back the skeletons until the new life has begun to poke through, I have been waiting. I also took a bit of my compost (such a small amount!) and mixed it with bought compost to do them a little mulch collar. As more new life comes I'll be ready to do the same. I especially enjoyed clipping the mint and thyme because the aroma was blissful even on such a cold day.

The front also got some work, I dug up a Lonicera that was in the garden when we moved in, and moved in to the back portion of the bed. I eyed the Bergenia, but there isn't any point digging it up until the plant delivery arrives. Not long now! I also tentatively cut the clematis back the the delicate buds already emerging on the dead wood and a lot of the dead leaves and clinging tendrils. Finally a sweep and a wipe down of the fences and I feel quite satisfied. Would have loved to garden all weekend but was obviously too busy living my spangly other life of glamour in Glasgow (one night only!).

So I'm thinking about what to do next and hoping for a nice morning on Thursday so I can do a bit before work. I'd like to paint the rockers next weekend depending on weather so i might be worth scrubbing them down. I also need to work on tying the jasmine up to try and coax it to cover the fence. I am also considering moving the Acer and the Azalea - the former to try and find at least one place it is happy and the latter to a more pleasing location. And of course the plants could arrive any time and will need reasonably swift attention.

There is something very therapeutic about weeding. Even in the 5 minutes this morning before I rush off somewhere I feel back where I should be in my mind.

Amos and I are having coffee in the back garden. There is a lot of blazing but thin sunshine round the front but also a mobile population of builders doing their thing. While I am not massively self conscious, I am aware that a girl drinking coffee and writing in a notebook in the front garden in pyjamas, might be seen as pretentious. Albeit if I am wearing an extremely large jumper.
At this time of year I struggle not to feel like I am waiting for something. Waiting for plants to come alive again. Waiting for another wave of cold weather to cut that short (this is Scotland after all). And this year, waiting for my bloody seeds to come.
Waiting momentarily interrupted! I just had to hurtle up the garden shouting and waving my arms to try and shut the back door. Reason? Amos with a huge blackbird in his mouth. I could not face the remnant of my morning being hijacked by trying the retrieve a shedding and clinging to life creature from my living room. The fact that this is not a new experience does not make it any more alluring.
So, I have sweet pea seeds on the way. Assured by the email response that they will come prior to the planting season - how kind! Planting season for them in actually now and I really want to use my new propagator. Also  they are seeds? Surely it is simply a question of using my £2 p&p to put them in an envelope and send. I also ordered some bare root plants on line but in their case I wouldn't mind a substantial delay so they do not die in an inevitable late snowfall.
The cold really got into my bones today but feeling alive for a couple of hours is priceless especially when  day at Castle Corporate awaits.