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    Six on Saturday 10th March 2018


    March 10th, 2018 - Wildlife gardening

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    14 frogs, yes 14! read on to find out more……

    Pond

    Our pond is the size of a hula-hoop.  It had been frozen over and I had no idea if frogs could survive under the seal of ice.  I wish I’d paid more attention in biology classes at school.  I was thrilled when I lifted out the slabs of ice and saw three lively frogs swimming about in the melted water. A few days later a lump of frogspawn appeared.   Very happy about that.

    Frogs in a pond

    Can you see them?

    Even more exciting.   Today I saw 14, yes 14, froggy heads peeping out of the water.  No photo I’m afraid as they hear/see me coming and plop down into the water. I don’t know where they all came from so suddenly.  They look full sized frogs (or toads) so maybe they have been in the garden all winter.

    frogspawn in a cottage garden pond

    Frogspawn!

    I think the secret of success is the old terracotta pots all around the edge of the pond and many have fallen in the water.   Whole or broken, they make great places for wildlife to hide.  I love the effect they make and how they add colour to the pond area.

    vintage terracotta pots round a cottage garden pond

    Old terracotta pots edging the pond and sheltering wildlife

    Snowdrops

    I bought bunches of snowdrops in the green at the February RHS Spring Show and popped the clump into a pot just as a temporary measure while I went on holiday. (called heeling them in).  Today I planted them in twos and threes.  They’re still flowering and this is the best time to plant them.  They will die down soon and come up next year. It’s funny to be planting now something to bring joy and optimism next January.  That’s gardening – always looking ahead.

    snowdrops in the green

    Snowdrops still flowering and planted out now to come up stronger next year

    Lovely mulch

    I saw a local front garden with a beautiful mulch of fine horse manure.  It looked wonderful nutritious stuff and made the flower beds look dark and cared for.

    fine horse manure as mulch on borders

    Lovely dark brown moist crumbly nutritious mulch

    However, in the street a public area flower bed had been mulched with what looks like orange coloured wood chippings and I think it doesn’t look half as nice.  Wood chippings will keep down weeds but the manure mulch will feed the soil in so many ways.  A matter of personal taste of course.

    wood chipping mulch on flower bed

    Bright orange wood chips for a mulch

    Laurel berries

    Spotted laurel is one of the commonest garden shrubs and I’ve walked past this one down our front path every day for 30 years.  I can honestly say I had never noticed it had red berries – not consciously anyway.  I read somewhere that to see them you had to cut back the foliage which was hiding them.  I did that and lo and behold there were loads of berries!!  Embarrassing to admit that I hadn’t known they were there before.  You never stop learning with gardening (and yes, I managed to cut off some berries by mistake).

    berries on spotted laurel shrub

    So much cheerier with the berries showing

     

    spotted laurel shrub in cottage garden

    Glossy red berries on a common laurel bush

    White hellebore

    I wrote before that I am not a fan of dark maroon hellebores but look at this wonderful white one.  I have a clump in the front – no idea where I got it from but it’s fab.

    hellbore perennial in cottage garden

    A lovely frilly double creamy white hellebore

    white hellebore in cottage garden

    White hellebore in the woodland area

    Primula

    This is a lovely red primula called  Don Keefe.  It’s been nibbled and has become congested. It has several central points and the leaves are all going in different directions so I will dig it up, divide into little pieces and replant giving each piece a bit of space to spread.

    primula don Keefe

    A congested primula needing to be divided

    Thankyou to the propagator who hosts this Six on Saturday theme and over on his blog you can find other people’s sixes.

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    13 comments on "Six on Saturday 10th March 2018"

    1. Ali says:
      10th March 2018 at 4:15 pm

      That is a stunning white hellebore! And I’m with you with the manure mulch. So satisfying to fling around, makes all the plants look stunning, and does the garden lasting good.

      Reply
      1. Julie Quinn says:
        10th March 2018 at 5:49 pm

        Thankyou Ali, heaven knows where it came from and jolly hard to take a picture with one hand. Pity the flowers hang down – you could easily miss them. Isn’t mulch a yummy thing!

        Reply
    2. Fred says:
      10th March 2018 at 5:41 pm

      I really like your terracotta pots in your pond. I’m sure they are real hiding spots for frogs. Is it a “wild” pond without filters or pumps?
      Ps: very beautiful double white hellebore!

      Reply
      1. Julie Quinn says:
        10th March 2018 at 5:48 pm

        Thankyou Fred, yes it’s just a shallow hole lined with liner with no plants or anything in it except stones and pots. Probably a thick layer of silt at the bottom by now as we’ve had it for 4 years now.

        Reply
    3. Linda Casper says:
      10th March 2018 at 8:34 pm

      It nust be a frog festival because ours were at it today.
      I enjoyed your Six

      Reply
      1. Julie Quinn says:
        10th March 2018 at 9:34 pm

        Oh I’m glad it’s not just mine that are going bonkers. Thanks for your comment.

        Reply
    4. Jim Stephens says:
      10th March 2018 at 8:58 pm

      Surely most councils collect garden waste and compost it. Why don’t they use that for mulching and put the tree gang chippings through the same process.

      Reply
    5. Tetsutaro Ozawa says:
      11th March 2018 at 12:11 am

      Dear Julie,
      I met prof Quinn in New York last week.
      Frogs are marvelous! I hope hedgehogs also survived winter in your garden.
      Best wishes,
      Tetsu

      Reply
      1. Julie Quinn says:
        11th March 2018 at 8:07 am

        Hello Tetsu, how lovely to hear from you. I hear all went well in NY and Niall came home very happy at having given a good talk. Spring really is here now after a week of snow and so we are all coming out of hibernation. Sadly haven’t seen any hedgehogs for over a year now but hopefully they are around somewhere. best wishes, Julie

        Reply
    6. MrsDaffodil says:
      11th March 2018 at 2:33 am

      Gorgeous frilly hellebore! I can see your point about the primula needing division, but it’s lovely to see its bright blooms.

      Reply
      1. Julie Quinn says:
        11th March 2018 at 8:04 am

        Thankyou Mrs D, so unexpected find it as I don’t recall where it came from. Thanks for your comment.

        Reply
    7. Ciar says:
      11th March 2018 at 8:03 am

      The terracotta pots look great in your pond. Lifting, dividing and replanting snowdrops is on my to do list for today.

      Reply
      1. Julie Quinn says:
        11th March 2018 at 8:05 am

        Thankyou Ciar, it’s so nice to share things that people like. Don’t you just love a Gardening to-do list. Have a lovely day.

        Reply

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