End of Month Review - February

"February is merely as long as is needed to pass the time until March."
-  Dr. J. R. Stockton

February is a bit of an odd month.  It has given us snow, frost, rain and sun.  The days are much shorter at the beginning of the month and much longer by the end of it.  It is a bridging month in so many ways.  Mainly though it is the month of detail.
The borders still are largely green and are now in need of their Spring tidy up.  The deadness of winter needs to be tidied away to enable the new growth to come through.
In order to appreciate February though, you do have to get down to the level of detail.  This is one of my favourite parts of the garden this time of year, yet it is hard sometimes to see from a distance where the bulbs are that are flowering away.  This is where most of my snow drops are.  I have planted lots and they are starting to clump up now.
The crocii are pushing their way up through the grass on the dancing lawn (no one has ever danced on the dancing lawn, but the name feels right for it all the same). 
New growth is appearing.
The winter honeysuckle is flowering well and smells divine.  It does not have the most compact of habits, but it is a wonderful shrub for this time of year.
The Corkscrew Hazel is producing catkins well this year.  For the first few years of life it was grown in a pot, it is now in the garden and seems to have settled in very well.
I tend to often not notice this salix that grows by the pond, but the stem colour this time of year is fantastic.

There is not alot happening in the vegetable beds.  The onion and garlic is showing quite well now and the potatoes are chitting in the conservatory.  The broccoli looks like it might actually broccle! though I daren't get too optimistic about that yet.  Hence no photograph, it might be shy and I don't want to put it off.
I shall end at the pond as usual.  It is full, this is good news and long may it continue. Soon it will be frogspawn time, which I still have childlike wonder and excitement about.

So I like February.  It is a time to get up close and personal with the garden, a time to focus on detail and (rule #32) enjoy the little things.
Thanks as ever to Helen, the Patient Gardener, for hosting this meme.





Comments

  1. You are right...this time of year one has to look a bit closely to see what is blooming and sprouting or leafing out. We are having an early spring, and soon I will be out there working the beds. I am looking forward to ti.

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  2. I'm quite glad that February is a short month. I hope we're not in a for a rude awakening!

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  3. Hi,

    February has been so odd! I did a little clearing up a couple of days ago but am regretting it a little now as the temperatures are set to dip again for a few days... Bah, I knew it would happen as soon as I tidied!

    March has certainly started off well :)

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  4. You are so right that February is a month of detail. I am hoping that my broccoli will broccl - there are signs but not olding my breath.

    thanks for joining in again

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  5. Love your little shelter...it looks inviting even on a February day. Yes I too have a compulsion to tidy the debris of winter...its so satisfying having cleaned up areas before the bursting forth of spring.

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  6. Paul - thanks - it is my favourite seat - I sit there and plan what to do next in the garden - usually joined by a cat

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