The Struggling Time Jugglers

Rita said "zeit gehts schnell mit dir"
Literally into english, that means "time moves so fast with you"

Of course I am flattered hearing this. That means my friends still enjoyed my company. Equally, I also missed them very much, and had so much fun catching up with them. It has been a long time since I last saw them. Of course life is not a bed of roses for them either but they seemed to cope well with life, in good shape and healthy. Even though we live not that very far from each other, we never cross each other's path in our daily lives and as usual everybody are busy doing whatever they are doing.

The last time I saw them was 3 years ago when the 4 of us was put together playing in a team, best score count for the ladies golf inter-club match and we were solidly defending our club's championship titles.

Typical of Switzerland's inclement weather, the game goes on despite freezing rain, storm, gale or sunshine. The morning started with thick fog and freezing cold, long queue at the tee-off starting box and we were a bit down by the ryhthm of the morning that we played so bad for the first three holes. It was like a jinx and we couldn't break the numbers we're making.

On the fourth hole, one of us made a birdie and suddenly Michelle pulled out a champagne bottle from her golf bag just because we had our first birdie and according to her, its so important to celebrate to keep the spirit high as well as to keep the body warm. She even had a small tiny cups ready for a toast. I know alcohol help to warm up the body a little but when the effect is over, one usually feel double cold afterwards.

Anyway, in the name of team spirit, I took a sip and tried to stay sober and not get carried away. We still have fourteen more holes to play and I would like to stay on the game. Since it is an inter-club friendly match, there was refreshments after the 9 holes and we were once again served by the caterer another glass or 2 of bubbles, chicken soup and bits of this and that.

After that short 15 minutes break, we went on the 10th hole and Michelle had 13 air strokes! She was very serious all the time and her practice swing was perfect but each time she missed the ball by an inch. Rita, Mayleen and me, we were almost rolling on the ground laughing. I have no idea how many glasses Michelle had but it was the funniest golf game I ever played in my whole life. Have you ever experience something so funny that your stomach muscles knotted in a way that it felt so ticklish and painful at the same time but you just can't stop laughing, to the point that tears started streaming from the eyes?

That very same day, I was a little bit disoriented and disorganised too. It was very early in the morning and I was in a hurry. When I arrived, parked the car, ran off to the changing room, I had forgotten to switch off the small tail lights. As usual, during ladies inter-club golf matches, there are dinner, prize giving, and by time I went to the car, with the freezing temperature and the lights which was left on for the whole day, had depleted the battery and it went flat dead. It was late then, freezing cold and since its ladies' golf event, there was not one knight in shining armour to save me. I almost dialled the AAM number when Rita came along with her jumper cables. It was great experience to see girls trying to connect the cables in pitch dark, lots of giggling until another girl started her car and put on the big lights so we could find the positive and negative end of the battery. Well, who need the AAM when Rita is around and I got home safely but from that evening onwards, everytime just after I put my golf ball on the tee, someone without fail will jokingly asked if I had switched off my headlights. That just ruined my concentration!
Those were the days when we all aspire to be the next Annika Sorenstam or Michelle Wee, but where on earth did I find the time to play 18 holes golf, at least twice a week and the whole season of golf tournaments? How did I do it then? How did I juggle the time? How come these days, I can't even find time to sit down and put my thoughts into words, let alone play golf! Have I grown old before my time? Did I slowed down so much that I am panting, huffing and puffing trying to chase time? Deep inside, I was a little panic imagining myself in my mother's shoes. Will I soon be like her and then wasting my time scouring the market for anti wrinkle, lift and firm creams and magic potions of whatever to slow down aging and relieve rheumatism and then moving back and forth in and out of hospital with hips and knee caps replacement surgeries, osteoporosis and endless clinical checkups? As if panic has its own mind and able to pushed the dial buttons on the phone, and that's how I ended up few evenings ago with my ex-team mates. With each round of drinks, new topic came into discussion. At the end of the evening, all my mind's wonderings found all the answers I was looking for. It is a relieve to know that I am not the only one who has been out of the loop. I am not the only one caught in a wave of change. I am not the only one going through the ups and downs in life, feeling sickly and rotten with drastic weather changes and the best part is that they think I haven't change one tiny bit. All my worries and uncertainties about this and that was really baseless. I also found out that good friends means you are closer to the heart than what meets the eyes. Another thing that became clear to me is that; time, priorities, choices and personal interest does influence an individual's lifestyle.
Someone told me long time ago, whenever you are confuse about something, talk with someone or read books related to whatever you're trying to find out. Most of the time, we have the answers to our own questions but it is very tricky to differentiate the jumble of things in our own head. No one can give us straight answers because every one of us are different. We may be eating the same food but individually our rate of digestion differs due to different metabolic rate. We may be educated in the same way but our perception and understanding towards life is different due to our cultural background and upbringing. An open discussions with others kind of help to dissect our thoughts and that's how one tend to see solutions or find the answers to whatever that's hovering over one's head.
Today, of course I have hunged up my golf set and I did undertook some other projects which are nonetheless time consuming and requires a lot of detailed attention. That doesn't mean I am totally off from doing sports or golfing or I've quit being competitive. I just needed a change in my lifestyle and wish to do something different for a while. Maybe one day I will go back to this sport, and back to serious competition again, but for the time being, I'm very happy to trade the light titanium driver for the spades, which is a little bit heavier but its enough to keep the major muscles group well toned without having to pay for gym subscription to use their dumb bells.
Afterall, my garden is not all that flat. Working out in the garden means I'm doing aerobic activities. I have to hike up and down 200 metres of steep slope to get from one terraced part of the garden to the next one before stopping for a while to sniff the roses. I am still very goal oriented and sometimes always in a hurry, which is actually not good. I'm still learning to pace myself, though occasionally I still get a bit carried away with whatever I'm doing and forgotten to stop for a minute to enjoy the garden, but the roses will snagged me with their thorns as I pass by as if telling me, " hey! stop for a minute! Take a sniff on my blooms"
Gardening is definitely very therapeutic activity, at least for me. It soothes my nerves, calms me down, helped switched my mind off from too much thinking and it feels great to end the day seeing how the plants flourish happily and rewarding me with beautiful blooms. This is hundred times far better than twice or 3 times a week of nerve rattling four hours of mental game on the golf course, not forgetting to mention the numerous speeding tickets I had collected because I'm always rushing and not missed my tee-off.

Even though my garden tasks are scheduled accordingly, the timings are reasonably flexible. I can pick up the shovel anytime I feel like doing it. The pressure is far less compared to competitive sports because the plants in the plastic pots can wait until I am ready to set them into the planting holes. I've been transfering all the hours I use to spend working on my swings and perfecting curving the ball to the green for "just one putt" technique into the garden and those hours had shown so much results with flying colours.

One of the best thing the garden has done for me is that in many ways, I am cured of my shopaholic habits. Nowadays, I plan in advance what I'm going to buy and when to buy it. Most of the time I ended up not buying anything because in between the planning and the buying time, I found out that I don't really need it. In other words, I have quit being impulsive.


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Copyright © Rosesarerae
All Rights Reserved

Where there's a will, there's a way

Finally, after 2 years I am delighted to see the blooms of this rhododendron Yakushimanum Anuschka for the first time. The flower heads reminded me of the pink candy floss from the funfair and they fade to a lighter pink when the petals unfurled.

I wish I could plant more rhododendron for the shady part of the garden, especially at the edge of the woodland clearing where I'm creating a new outdoor garden room surrounded by tall trees, unfortunately the soil test in that area revealed pH 5.6 and not acidic enough to fill in the requirement of rhododendron. Clematis on the other hand thrive in this kind of soil pH reading as sweet soil suits them really well.
I really like this Rhododendron Yakushimanum family. The blooms are big, showy and can bee seen from far away. The colour of Anuschka really shine on grey days during early spring. This one really cheered up shady corner behind my kitchen which receive only 2 hours of direct sunlight in late afternoon.
Like Hydrangea, pieris and many other plants which requires planting medium higher than pH7, changing and amending the garden pH reading is going to be a continuous effort because there are natural lime rock up above the garden slope which probably leaches the calcium into the garden soil.


They are shallow rooted plants and they like peaty well drain but damp acidic soil. At the moment, this Anuschka is growing in a big planter with a special mix of soil for rhododendron but I'm going to try it anyway and plant it in the woodland by adding alot of humus into the ground until the area where its going to be planted feel spongy.

....if I don't try it, I'll never find out.

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Copyright © Rosesarerae All Rights Reserved

Spring in here!!

We have had a l-o-n-g winter, starting with the first snow storm that hit us on the last day of October 2008. In my region, that snow fall caught many people by surprise. There was a great deal of damage to those unprepared for an unusually early snow blanket. The heavy snow broke branches, knocked down several trees and flattened part of my garden. It was a big shock when I came home and saw several of my few years old standard rose trees snapped in half.

After months of restless wait, and not able to do anything in the garden, finally I woke up to be greeted by a weak sunshine with a clear blue sky, a typical day of early spring . The air was crispy fresh and the quicksilver rised up for the first time to 12degrees celcius by mid noon.

There are still snow on the north facing shadow side of the opposite hill, but our south aspect sunny exposed garden are now beginning to show some colours and signs of life waking up from a long winter hibernation.

Abracadabra! ....and the winter spell in my garden is officially broken. The whole south facing slope is now covered with nodding white blooms of snowdrops.
Crocusus are popping up all over the place enriching the joy of spring arrival with patches of colours, ....even in unexpected placesThis white Heleborus Niger also known as Christmas Rose, seemed to be ahead of Foetidus and the others cultivars.
Miss Spade and Mr. Fork are still waiting for the ground to fully thaw before they can start getting into gardening action, digging new planting holes and uprooting weedy resprouting brambles but Unermüdliche rose, which arrived from Italy in late February, though still living in a small pot, surprisingly made an impatient jumpstart ahead of others.
These are just small signs of new beginning to the gardening year with so many more exciting and promising days ahead. It is the time of year to celebrate growth, to be out and about enjoying the outdoors, the fresh air and a good dose of natural vitamin D from the sun.

Of course, the joy of spring can be a different story for those with seasonal allergic reactions.
http://rae-dogblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/dog-spring-allergy.html

Hamamelis Diane

This Witch Hazel is a fascinating plant that bloom in late winter. It glows like fire warming the souls when there's nothing else happening in the garden. They have a spicy fragrant which I can't quite connect. The petals resemble tiny strips of ribbons decorating the bare twigs. The strips of ribbons petals unfurl on warm days, and curl up when the temperature drops only to unfurl again on another favourable warm day.The leaves are green and boring all summer but this shrub puts up a marvellous show in autumn turning into an eye catching golden red. First bug I saw this year, maybe a night moth or something. Very tiny and skinny. Must be hungry after a long winter sleep.

Roses growing on high altitude

Rose report from the mountain village of 1200 meters above sea level

I am back in the tiny mountain village of Alagna Valsesia, which is 1200metres on the southern flank of Europe's second highest peak - the Monte Rosa.

The history of this village and its people goes back to more than 1000 years ago. They were originally german speakers from scattered parts of Switzerland. Even though their geographic culinary is very Italian, the Valser people are very proud of their ancestors tradition and way of life. They really love their rugged terrains.

Despite the waves of modernisation that took place over the years, Alagna and the surrounding villages basically retained much of it rustic charm. During the early 19 century, the Queen Margharita of Italy spent most of her summer months at the foot of the Monte Rosa. The queen must have enjoyed the outdoor and mountaineering, that in 1890 she commissioned a mountain refuge be built atop the punta Gnifetti at 4560m. It became the highest mountain refuge in Europe.

The refuge is still in use today after much restructuring, providing shelter to hundreds of climbers during peak summer months. Scientists from all over the world use the refuge as a base for studying the affects of high altitude on humans.

After many years of coming back to this village, Alagna for me is by far the best out of bounds off piste skiing. There are very few ski resorts in the world which offer 3000m of lift accessed vertical!!

I am here not only for freeride freestyle heli-skiing, but also studying and documenting the roses that are growing around the village at this high altitude.
This year, during the time of my visit, the amount of snow is astounding. You can see how the pergola below bowed down under the weight of snow. I can't hardly see anything except a few taller upright growers hybrid teas roses that are growing against the walls

When not documenting roses, I'm somewhere up there with my skis http://rae-dogblog.blogspot.com/

Rosy Inheritance

Some people collect stamps, shoes, handbags, books, antique cars, motorbikes.....all sorts of things A to Z.

I used to collect shoes and handbags until my closet exploded! These days I go about like "men's style" small thin wallet tucked in nicely in the inner pocket of my jacket. Handbags made me look clumsy, what more with the laptop bag and file bag and sandwich in one hand and car keys and and and.... I am now a simplified person. Less is more.

I have always been collecting plants since I was a kid. It started with cactus, succulent and seeds of all sorts. Later on, I bought my first house and by default I inherited everything that's planted by the previous owner. It didn't take me long before I ripped off the tennis court and expanded the garden.
Few years after that, I ran out of space. Its time to move on and built a house in a middle of a vineyard. I started the new garden on a blank canvas. As of today, the terraced flat areas are filled up neck in neck and and I am forced to cultivate a less than practical adjoining areas, a small woodland clearing and 60 degrees steep slopes meaning whatever plants that are going to be grown there must be easy care and low maintenance. Being an an avid rose collector, so I began a quest searching and collecting rare and antique roses that are low maintenance.

My friends asked "How many roses are you going to grow??

"until I ran out of space"

"That's a lot of work" they said

"not necessarily" was my answer

A lot of people I knew are convinced that roses are high maintenance plants, but this is a general misconception. Gardening is a constant maintenance work even when done on a recreational basis. 4 hours on the golf course is also work, plus the extra hours spent working on putting and chipping practices leaving patches on the lawn. Plants are living growing things. Some plants are known to travel from one corner of the garden and popped up in another place. Some plants are thugs and they smother other plants. It is always a matter of selecting the right plant for the right usage.

This unidentified old rose which I inherited through the property is a good example. It is one of the many rose shrubs that is growing all over the place in the vineyard. It is also a fine example of a very cold hardy rose and able to take the exposed windy location very well. As seen in the picture below, it is growing just behind the retaining wall and thrived by itself for years getting water from the rain and sharing whatever fertilizer the grape vines received. This is a very low maintenance rose. The plant practically takes care of itself and very disease resistant too.
Nobody from the vineyards hands are able to identify this rose. The older generation who started the vineyards are long gone. Roses are commonly used by wine growers to detect the spores of powdery mildew which will catch the roses first before infecting the grapes. So I am quite sure this roses must have been part of the vineyard culture for a long time. The grape vines surrounding it has been replace a couple of times in the last many decades. I am slowly going through the records of the vineyard tracing its history, the variety of grapes introduced over the last decades, the bills and payments slips but I still haven't come across anything about the roses.

After a few years of studying the plant, leaves, blooms and other characteristics of my inherited roses, I am quite sure this one in particular is Celesté from Alba group of roses. I could be wrong, I have been wrong before. Identifying roses is very tricky. 9 of 10 characteristic may match but the last one is always the doubt factor because so many roses share similar characteristics and for an untrained eyes like mine, they all look the same! There are conflicting thoughts from expert rosarians too.

Why bother finding the name? A rose is a rose, but that is like saying all individual human beings are the same....and we know that is not true. Roses are like human. They have genetic codes and these codes determines their survival care.

According to: Die Rose: Geschichte, Arten, Kultur und Verwendung (The Rose: History, Kinds, Culture and Use); alba. Céleste, light incarnate, medium size, full, flat cup form, one of the most beautiful in this group

According to: Roses (Phillips & Rix); Celeste, (Celestial) An Alba which originated in Holland around the end of the 18th century. It makes a large rounded bush up to 2 m high, with grey-green leaves typical of R. x alba, and exceptionally beautiful, sweetly scented flowers.Illustrated by Redoute under the name R. damascena 'Aurore'.

According to: Classic Roses - An Illustrated Encyclopedia and Grower's Manual of Old Roses, Shrub Roses & Climbers; Celestial ('Celeste') Alba. Very ancient. Description and cultivation... flowers: soft pink...

According to the Rose Bible: Description; Don't prune bush low or they'll spend the next season reaching the height at which they're comfortable before blossoming.

Looking at the size of the woody canes, I guess my Inheritance has never met the secateurs.

According to the book: Gardening with old roses; Soft pink ... definitely performs better in light or dappled shade.

-->but my inherited rose is growing in full sun, in a most exposed windy location on top of a hill between rows and rows of grapes.

According to: The Ultimate Rose Book; Céleste ('Celestial') Alba. Description... an especially delicate clear shade of pink...

According to: The Ultimate Rose Book; Celestial Alba. Parentage: Unknown. (aka 'Celeste') Origin unknown, possibly The Netherlands. Description and cultivation... flowers: soft, even pink... Elongated red fruit...

--> I must remember to take picture of the hips soon

According to: Der Rosenfreund 1873 ed. Rosa alba. Celestial, medium size, full, pale pink-flesh-coloured, flat cup form; can be regarded as one of the most beautiful of this group. Very suitable for pillars and pyramids.

According to: Der Rosenzüchter, oder die Cultur der Rosen Alba. Celestial, medium size, full, pale pink, flesh-coloured, flat cup form.

According to: The Rose Garden (First Edition 1848) Rosa alba. Celestial; flowers flesh colour, beautifully tinted with the most delicate pink, of medium size, double; form, cupped. Habit, erect; growth, moderate.

According to: The Rose Garden (First Edition 1848) Rosa alba. New Celestial; flowers bright pinkish rose, large and showy.

According to: Rosenlexikon; Céleste (alba) ; flesh-white, medium size, double, cup form, 2 m.Celestial (damask) ? ? ; vivid pink, mediums ize, double = Rose céleste.Celestial (alba) in England ? ; flesh-white = Maiden's Blush

According to: The Essential Earthman; Gertrude Jekyll's donkey, Jack, once ate the side off a large plant of [Celestial], and Vita Sackville-West once observed that if she had to settle for just one alba it would be 'Celestial.' These were both great authorities on roses. Others prefer 'Maiden's Blush' or (as the French call it) 'Cuisse de Nymphe Emue,' which is to say the thigh of a passionate nymph. It is quite similar to 'Celestial,' perhaps more a bluish color....

I have grown Maiden's Blush for a few years now in an effort to compare the 2 roses. From a distance they look similar. They leaves and young canes look the same but the blooms are different. Maiden's Blush has got more petal count, compact and somewhat not as flat as Celesté


http://www.apictureofroses.com/cms/class/alba.htm

Read my other blog - Pooch

Talking in my head

A few of my gardening friends in the US and the UK already sprung into spring and started their gardening activities. It will be another month here before the ground warm up and ready for plantings. We usually get snow up to the first week of March. 4 more weeks....and that feels like light years!!

I really feel like I'm slowly decomposing under piles of snow. Its getting a bit depressing with too many grey and sunless day. This picture below was taken during the early days of winter. There was still some colours at the beginning of winter. At the moment everything is just twigs and sticks.
Today, the weather is not really that bad, it started frosty grey but the sun came out this morning though it is frozen cold out there. This week we had a record freezing temperature since years. This will make the spring arrival even later than usual.

I went to check the forsythia to see if there are some fat buds unfortunately they too are still very sleepy. No signs of crocus or early spring bulb poking out from under the snow blanket either.

"Kaboom the cat" helped digging in the snow searching for some signs of spring

While the cat is busy working in the garden, the dog is having a great time in the snow. Read my other blog - Pooch: I'm not a toy dog. I'm just a midget!

The wild birds really brought some life to the very very sleepy garden......This is (don't laugh) Long Tail Tit or Aegithalos Caudatus, a very tiny bird and oh so sweet looking.As I put down my thoughts into words, I realised my gardening activities meant much more than a place I dig around and plant things. It is not only a place where I chill out amongst my plants collection but also a place I could connect myself to many many things in life.

The thing I missed most is the outdoor freedom, sights and sound of nature, surrounded by trees, wild birds singing, buzzing bees, all the insects, pest and slugs that eat up my seedlings and plants, far far away from honking noise, no hustle bustle shoulder brushing or getting my feathers ruffled the wrong way, no Q&A, no worry if I'm being politically correct or not, no staring into the closet and asking "what should I wear today" because the garden plants really don't care if I'm dressed up to the nines or not. It is my backyard and I can be as sloppy as I want.....and the birds don't care either
The other thing I missed most is TALKING IN MY HEAD. Sounds like a crazy thing isn't it? Maybe I am a nutcase! This "talking in my head" happen only when I'm doing something in a repetitious way such as pulling weeds or digging a planting hole. Going on the tread mill is also a repetitative movement but somewhat its not the same feeling like "talking in my head" while I'm toiling in the garden.

Some people talk in their heads while driving but I can't do that because my brain function differently to stay alert and concentrate on the ever increasing numbers of speed cameras that's popping up like mushroom all over the place.

There are others who talk in their heads while walking as walk is a repetitive movement but not me probably because my eyes are busy enjoying the surrounding views. Walking the dog can be a good time to reflect whatever that's in my mind but also that doesn't work because I have to constantly follow the pooch to make sure he doesn't roll on some stinky stuff. I still don't understand why my dog really like that "canal number 15"

Apparently, a lot of people talk to themselves whether loudly or silently in their heads. This is a big relieve to know. I thought I was going nuts or something but Nut is also ancient Egyptian goddess of the sky!

Interestingly, talking in the head is actually a sign that the person is sorting out his/her thoughts, kind of mentally organising their mental notes etc.

I don't feel too weird about myself anymore since I read this article
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/depression/12522/does-talking-to-yourself-mean-youre-crazy/

Clearly after 3 months of winter, and now the 4th month.....my lifestyle is getting a little bit crammed in the winter jackets and indoor heating. I'm entitled to get a little depressed and affected by the long dark grey days of winter. I probably would be in the loony bin without my glass house winter garden.

I think its about time I head south for some sun.....

Madame Lombard and Unermüdliche arrived in my garden!!

I am over the moon.... so excited, I even did the moon dance!


2 days after I got back from my Italian rosescapades, Tino from La Campanella rose nursery called saying that 2 of my roses are still in their nursery and that he will parcel them over.

Later he sent me the tracking number so I could keep track of the roses journey. For 5 days I was like a little kid waiting for Santa Claus to deliver the christmas present.

Finally yesterday, I got home and the box was patiently waiting to release the joy that's tightly packed inside.

I flipped twice over the moon. Double joy!!
Madame Lombard and Unermüdlich finally made it to my garden.

Yay!! The roses are showing signs of growth even while in the box. They seem impatient to start the rose season.

According to Walter Branchi, the well known Italian Tea Rose collector; Unermüdliche is a special rose that is tireless in its flowering (instancabile nella fioritura...) but of course his garden location is in the warm south, a climate that is similar to Rome. I look forward to see how this rose perform in my climate, hopefully this rose will live up to her name and bloom tirelessly.....

Since Madame Lombard's hardiness is just on the border zone, she will join Rosette Delizy & Rival de Paestum in the glass house. A bit of extra work pushing pots in and out of the winter garden but then hey! if I don't try it, I'll never find out anything about these roses.

Special thanks to Tino from La Campanella. You made my day! .....all the best.

From the land of the rising sun to the landlocked alpine Switzerland

A dear gardening friend from Japan sent me this photo yesterday. The golden yellow crocus already springing out in her garden. Wonderful news. That is really a short winter compared to mine. Thank you for sending me the sunshine. It cheered me a lot despite a very snowy grey day.

I woke up this morning to a new fresh layer of snow.
I saw our backyard birds flying around in circle chasing each other, defending their territory. It was very entertaining as I stood there sipping my morning coffee and then I realised they were hungry because the feeder was totally covered with snow. One of the suet nut feeder was also missing. Probably buried somewhere under the snow.

I was told the squirrel is likely the culprit for knocking the feeder off the hook but I have never seen this cute furry animal anywhere close to the garden even though we have a few clumps of hazel nuts trees. There was once in spring a very shiny black fur squirrel entered the house and ate the dog's kibbles. He must be very hungry after a long winter and that was the one and only sighting.

While outdoor is so grey, I am glad these eye candy primroses kept on blooming.

In an enclosed area of the winter garden, their sweet smelling fragrance filled up the air. The fragrant is almost like viola odorata.

I bought 10 of them in different colours (a bit like a handful of M&M for the big kid ) and it is still a lot cheaper than seeking treatment for winter blues....

Colour therapy according to http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/colour+therapy

Follow up to where I last picked up

We are still in the depth of winter. Grey and cold but the good thing about my location is that we occasionally get that warm air http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foehn_windpushed pushing up from the south. When this happened, it is almost like a short break from the dreary days of winter grey, with sunny clear blue sky, walking around with just a layer of clothing but this joy of tee shirt temperature is very short. The moment the sun goes down, the quicksilver will plunge down again to normal 0°C or thereabout winter temperature and life gets back to parkas and down jackets.

Took the dog for his walk and feed some ducks down at the river earlier today.


Nothing much going on in the garden at the moment. Almost everything in hibernation.
I've potted up all the bareroots roses I brought back from Italy in temporary pots until I can plant them out in the garden when the ground is workable. We have had frozen temperature for a long stretch of weeks and the pots was frozen solid. There was 2 days of föhn last week and I could see the ice thawing but it will be snowing again soon.


I also found Stanwell Perpetual left over rose bud from last autumn still hanging on despited all the freeze and thaw. Amazing.


The Pieris are busy making buds to break the winter spell.

When I was at the garden centre the other day buying soil for potting up the bareroses, I bought some primula aka primrose to cheer up my very monotonus green winter garden (actually more about cheering up my own self lol )
They came in all kinds of cheerful eye candy colours. This must be the answer to bridge the gap for colour starving souls.

Rosette Delizy breaking bud eye growth.
Nature's way revealing spring is just around the corner??


To my delight, some of my other newly bought bareroots roses are also showing some reddish cooked shrimp coloured tiny red shoots.

O joy!! Spring cleaning is looming in the air :(