Feeling the climate

Dogwood Midwinter Fire

It’s been a hot one! Early in the month I was drawn into the garden by irrepressible sunshine and got absolutely loads done. I had a pictorial record of beds cleared, compost laid, biennials planted (well, 9 wallflowers – an impulse buy whilst getting paint at Homebase) and the last beans, courgettes and tomatoes harvested. Took soft-wood rose cuttings, planted out the hydrangea cuttings that had been rooted in a jar of water and and made my first batch of apple rings (of more later). Then my graphix card corrupted so no pictures and no blog. Disaster! However a trip to 02’s guru then a short wait for a new chip got me up and running again but completely out of synch with these written meanderings. What would have been two busy October posts is now condensed into one.  Oh dear (sighs heartfeltedly), the tyranny of blogging.  Still, redeemed myself a bit with a shot of this dogwood...

I had fully expected to see the final demise of half hardies but we’re two days short of November and the nasturtiums and calendular are still glowing and I have a superb specimen of a fairly common variegated fuchsia (magellanica gracilis. By the way, came across an interesting historical link about fuchsias...). Its arching branches against Sedum “Autumn Glow”

Sedum 'Autumn Glow'

Artemesia, ajuga and also a tiny viola
make a fab combination

make this an unexpectedly pretty combination. (Talking about combinations, I came across this one as I was retrieving some apple windfalls. Sometimes it’s only when you get up close and personal with the garden that you see things you would otherwise miss. I have a tiny alpine artemesia which pops through a spreading chocolate-leaved ajuga. Fab.) Oops, digressing a bit... There is no doubt that our climate is changing. The worrying thing is that it is so perceivable. Climate fluctuations (as opposed to weather) are usually long term and as such imperceptible, but it would take the most determined climate change deniers to refuse to accept the issue. They should take a look at the RHS book written as long ago as 2007 “How to Garden in a Changing Climate”( see below and for other climate related gardening titles) and after the last two hard winters the RHS are also in the process of reclassifying plant hardiness as a result of their recent survey.

Anyhooo... apple rings. Being a total fan of Alys Fowler I was looking forward to making dried apple rings to store for wintry cheese-and-biscuit delight just like wot she did in one of her Edible Garden programmes. So I cored about 5lb of apples cut thinly, dipped in lemon juice, placed on a scrubbed bamboo stick and placed in a window... where after a whole week of damp languor the rot set in. Clearly they needed to be dried more quickly. Another 5lb of apples were similarly treated but placed on baking sheets in the oven, gas mark hardly anything. 8 hours later and the rings were still damp (though it must be said cooked to perfection).  So... if anyone is reading this and if you have any advice on drying apples please post a comment.

Too late now really for me to overwinter some veg. I just didn’t manage to get round to it. Too hasty and so less tasty next spring. Part of the problem is that my neck of the woods has a more-than-average snail population. Not to put too fine a point on it, at night after a rainfall I'll simply be crunching my way down the drive they're that bad. So am going to trial a garlic spray come the spring. Saw something on Gardeners World about this. The recipe of the spray is here in case the link becomes redundant.

1 x Bulb Garlic
1 x Litre of water

Crush the garlic bulb, add to the water + boil for 5 minutes. After cooling, strain the liquid and store in the fridge. Dilute the solution 1 tablespoon per litre and spray the plants and surrounding soil.

I know there is a similar spray using chillies but not being a fan of painful food I have a more natural inclination to go the garlic route.

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Recommended Reading from the Radish Webstore:

RHS New Gardening: How to Garden in a Changing Climate
Gardening in a Changing Climate by Ambra Edwards
The Dry Gardening Handbook: Plants and Practices for a Changing Climate by Oliver Filippi
The No-Nonsense Guide to Climate Change by Danny Chivers