At The Starting Line

It's almost two years to the day when I posted here the first of what I hoped would be a regular diary type entry, enabling me to keep track of plannings, plantings and generally of goings on in the garden and at the allotment. Well I did quite well at first, then in the way of all previous diary attempts I slowly stuttered before finally fizzling out.
So I am going to have another crack at a hopefully a weekly or thereabouts diary type post. The weather has been on the cool frosty side with some frosts including a couple of rather murky foggy days - decidedly not fit for venturing out. As the third week of January came to an end I am almost all sorted in the seed buying stakes. My seed boxes had a ruthless cull over the Christmas season and I established that there was not much that I needed for the new season. One or two small orders have gone off and have been delivered. I was pleased to come across Mark Diacono's newly opened 'Otter Farm' internet shop on Friday. An order has been placed for a Japanese wineberry and an Egyptian walking onion. I only hope that they will settle into the Cheshire Plain without any great degree of homesickness.

I am not sure what is happening at the allotment but a trip there is on the cards in the next few days. Meanwhile in the garden the snowdrops are showing shimmers of white - just a few more days. Out of my diminished special snowdrops the early flowering 'Faringdon's Double' is in flower. Lots of promise on the hellebore front and pulmonaria rubra 'Redstart' is now showing colour - this usually flowers in late autumn but not this time around.

I made my first trip of the year to a garden centre  today -  two to be precise - they are within a mile or so of each other so you can't visit one and not the other - well that is what I tell himself. There seemed to be fewer winter interest plants on sale than there usually are - a result of the cold winter I wonder.  I was looking out for seed potatoes but was disappointed that the range available did not seem as varied as last year. I looked for 'Lady Christl','Belle De Fontenay' and 'Ratte' in vain but did come home with 'Pink Fir Apple'. A new ornamental pot also slipped into my basket along with a packet of pak choi 'Rubi'. One of the garden centres had a sale and I could not resist a half price cornus sanguinea 'MidWinter Fire'. This is to replace an old straggly red stemmed cornus, which I have not pruned as ruthlessly as I should have done over many years. I think that I should still be able to take some hardwood cuttings before I dispose of the old shrub. We stopped off at a well known DIY store on the way home and a couple of small deliciously scented sarcococca confusa firmly attached themselves to my personna. So my first garden related retail therapy session of the year ~ I dare say it will not be the last. Has anybody else been indulging so far this year? Do tell.