Tuesday's Three Things

I took a short stroll around the dying garden yesterday before breakfast. This is something I like to do regularly and I bring a small notepad and camera with me. I have found great joy in doing this. There was a time that I would scan through my online Irish Times while waiting for my 11-minute boiled egg, but not any more. The breaking news stories and opinion pieces are not conducive to starting the day as I would like, but a few minutes in the garden gets me in a great frame of mind. It's not that everything is always rosy, akin to the daily news, but I like to notice small things and I have other small things that need attending to thrust in my face. Here's this week's Three Things:

Three Things I Noticed: 

1. The Christmas baubles on the acer and the apple tree since 2016 are to the fore once again. I put them there just before Christmas in 2016 (yes, that's right!) and decided to leave them as permanent fixtures. In fact there are times when I forget they are there because they become almost invisible when the leaves appear.

   

   Slight discolouration after two years

2. I planted Forget-Me-Not along the base of the rockery a few years ago. Perhaps it was 2016, once again. They flower in late spring and the profusion of light-blue is stunning. Furthermore, they self-seed freely, and they have appeared every year, mostly in the same area. At times some seed gets scattered to other nearby areas and I am surprised in late autumn to find a thriving new plant. This year, because my patio slabs have plenty cracks between, the Forget-Me-Not has found a new home. They look very shook at this time of the year, but I am determined to overlook that because the late-spring will bring such a lovely show of colour. The beauty of this plant really is the fact that nature does all the work and I get all the satisfaction. There are other benefits to leaving this plant where it seeded. It becomes a safe hiding place for insects, as falling leaves get trapped around the base, providing more shelter. It is always checked out by the birds for food. My wife scatters birdseed regularly and they gobble it up quickly. When is all seems gone, they start looking carefully for hidden leftovers in hidden places such as this.

   

   Myosotis (Forget-Me-Not) and house sparrow

3. I planted Wallflower Winter Passion at the base of the same rockery in 2016. Generally, they come into flower in January, but this year they have started early.

   

   Wallflower Winter Passion

   Three Jobs To Be Done

1.  I bought a water feature several years ago. It was definitely before 2016, but I have not yet connected the electrics. I like the sound of running water, particularly when it's not raining! This task is now added to my to-do list.
2. My to-do list generally  gets sorted. If there are essential jobs they get prioritised and sorted earlier. Well, one of the tasks added to my list this time last year (not 2016, you understand) was to replace a pane of broken glass in the glasshouse. It's the place where broken glass usually breaks! It remains on my list to this day, so as I opened the glasshouse door and vent, I was reminded to undertake the task. Otherwise, there's not much point in having a to-do list. I will prioritise this one, simply because the few small plants directly inside must be shivering in a severe draught.

   

   On my list since last year!

3. There are two fuchsias on the other rockery, planted approximately two metres apart, but are quickly growing towards one another at an alarming rate. That will be ideal, but unfortunately, there are two very small shrubs in between. They are Nandina Heavenly Bamboo, currently at a height of approximately 30cm. Therefore, these will have to be moved, because they will not remain heavenly if they get smothered by the native fuchsias. They are really beautiful at this time of the year, and in fact, I highlighted this particular shrub recently.

   

   Heavenly Bamboo

Three Favourite Plants

Finally, as I wrap up my five-minute pre-breakfast ramble, it's time for my current three favourite plants:

1. Alchemilla Mollis (Lady's Mantle)
2. Skimmia Temptation, highlighted only last week
3. Dahlia Cafe au Lait, which is still flowering 

Páraig (also known as Pat) is the author of Petals by Paraig. He loves breakfast, draught-free glasshouses and has very good memories of 2016. He also likes watching the birds and providing safe places for them, but he prefers not to read the morning newspapers before a short garden ramble.