h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Have a merry Christmas, but remember to put some coppers aside for when next year's seed catalogues start arriving in the post.

Best wishes to you both for Chrismas, and all the best for the New Year.

JTG

Merry christmas and a happy new year JTG! Hope it's not too cold over there atm.

I certainly will be sending for some seeds - last year's were so successful they have only just stopped flowering!

Did you get some nice presents?

Ginger + DD

I got some very nice presents, thank you, probably more than I deserve. Was Santa kind to you?

The weather has been very mild so far this winter. We had a little snow yesterday, but nothing compared to the blizzards and freezing temps we had at this time last year, a vast improvement, in my opinion.

I planted some perennials that aren't supposed to be hardy to our area, so some snow cover would be welcome - if only we could keep it off the roads!

Do you have anything exciting in mind for next year's garden?

Well I am hoping for some cherries on the cherry tree we planted last April. And when the new shed goes up and the old one comes down we will be having a vegetable patch - or rather a fruit patch!

I think the Wisteria will take off too and am thinking of cutting down the firs in the front garden and replacing them with Yuccas which don't drain all the nutrients out of the soil!

I am also thinking of maybe putting a magnolia in - I bought one for my parents about 10 years agon and it looks magnificent when it blooms!

Crikey! You have had your thinking cap on.

Magnolias are gorgeous, aren't they? They do well in the heavy red clay, where I work; so there are quite a few of them. It's been so mild until this week that some have almost been fooled into flowering. I've not seen any actually in flower, but some are quite close. I have seen quince flowering. The poor, sad things must look like drops of blood in the snow now... I'm not going out to look though. Brrr...

JTG

Well you have to think these things during the winter when everything is so bleak and dull because it reminds you that it will only last for a few months. Which reminds me - it is so mild i think I'll go and plant me bluebells today!

So do you have a buddhist tranquility garden, jtg?

Stop teasing! We're back in the deep freeze at -12C this morning.

No, it's more a sort of a born-again Animist cat garden, a thicket of mainly native perennials and tall grasses that the neighbourhood cats love. There's quite a bit of catnip growing in the stone retaining wall, so they come for a quick buzz and stay to watch the birds. bless their cunning little hearts.

Blast! I forgot to wish Mrs -the-gardener 'Happy New Year' this morning - there's nothing like starting out on the wrong foot, is there? So, Happy New Year to you and Doug and off I go to redeem myself... I hope.

JTG