Just the ticket for a nosey neighbour!

Dreaming of buds

Well been waaay tooo long since I posted. The dormant season pruning is almost at its end which is always bittersweet for me. Have felt a new energy for the craft of pruning and I do not think the love I have for the work I do with my secateurs will ever leave me.
So finishing up in mid march with apples and pears and next session will be in August on the same crops plus the cherries and plums.
At this time of year I am consistently dreaming about fruiting buds and growth buds, sounds a little plant geekish but its the truth! There are worse things to be in the world  than being a plant geek.
Oh.. by the way I'm getting back into keeping honeybees! Yaaaaay!

How to cut your grass the GREEN way my friends!  Wanna get a tandem for my two lads. Beats the nintendo any day, not that they have one!

Acer sempervirens

A wee gem , and a toughie too considering it comes for Crete, higher up though, after about ten years mine has produced the wholly sum of two seeds this year, please do not let those pesky mice or birds (or chickens) get them, I really want to wait till they are ready and then sow them! 
Eight feet high so far and the interior leaves are evergreen in case you are confused by the genus name. 
This would be a great bonsai subject. 
Perhaps I should try some hardwood cuttings but do not expect a roaring success with this method, it is after all an Acer and as with most Acers they insist on doing things their own way!

One of Acer griseum, a true classic, another of the masterly Mr Ernest Wilson collections

Good to be back

Ah been a while.... too long.
Recently been working on arboricultural related material as I am going to take my arborists exam soon.  This is an area that, yet again, I was inspired to follow by my fathers enthusiasm and knowledge of all things tree related.
Lets just give a mention to some stars of the small garden like the indispensable Acers like A. griseum, A. nikoense and A. triflorum: the tripe crown of the trifoliate group. must check on their status in this group, have those pesky taxonomists been up to more tricks!

Back for more, it seems this week lots of new flushing of subjects like Hepatica transillvanica and many of the dwarf willows like Salix repens 'Iona' which is now a personal favourite and rivals S. x boydii in my book, man I love the dwarf willows.
Thanks to all the volunteers at the recent brilliant Western Winter Study Weekend in Sidney,BC it was great to meet some new gardeners and thanks for supporting a small local nurseryman like myself, it means a lot.
Fritillaria pudica above is now living up to its latin name and being bashful in the alpine house!