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3 November 2008. Not able to write
much this year on this site but I have kept up with my garden dairy at
the Microsoft Live website. You can catch up with me there. If you need
directions to it, please advice. Family know how to reach me. |
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6 April: 1C/32F. The weatherman got
his prediction right this time. It's snowing. Really snowing. Lots and
lots. Like 10cm (or 4 inches). And it's April for goodness sake! This is
nonsense. The tulips aren't impressed either. At least we've made
provisions for the birds to continue feasting on seed and fat balls. We
must keep the birds happy and fed so they'll keep the nasty insects
under control during the summer. Assuming that summer ever arrives.
Weird weather.
Note: BBC Southern Counties Radio just
informed its listeners that our snowfall was the most we've had in the
past 7 years, and it set an all time record for the most snowfall in
April. I also discovered this afternoon (Monday - the day after the snow
storm) that 10 centimetres of snow melts into 17 millimetres of water in
the rain gauge. I'm also happy to report that the tulips are beginning
to stand upright again after being face down on the snowy ground. |
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1 April: 10C/50F
. A morning shower followed by spring sunshine coaxed the tulips into
fully opened bloom. There's something very fresh and refreshing about
cream coloured tulips in the bright spring sunshine. You just can't
fault it in anyway. Total rainfall for March: 123mm. |
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29 March: 7C/45F. The lawn was mowed
for the first time this year. That marks the beginning of the garden
year as far as I'm concerned. We had a brief window of dry weather this
morning (it rained 18mm yesterday and snowed the day before that), so Peder dusted off the lawnmower
and fired it up. It started right up. Now the scent of freshly mowed
grass fills the air...and wet dog. Molly's been playing in puddles. |
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17 March: 6C/42F. We had 18mm of rain
during the weekend. That's a lot with most of it bucketing down on
Saturday. Our new bird feeder apparatus is attracting more attention
now. Even the plastic cylindrical seed holder had a few sparrows and a
couple of chaffinches (a bogfinke in Danish) perched
on the rungs, pecking away happily at the seed. I'm pleased about that
because it took the birds nearly 2 weeks to work up the nerve to eat from
it. The fat balls are being devoured by the pigeons, which ticks me off
slightly because I'm not keen on them. To be honest, I wish the
neighbourhood cats would put them on their menu. Pigeons - I can well do
without their presence in my garden. |
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5 March: 2C/35F. We had a hard burst
of rain last night that lasted about 4 seconds. Although it made a lot
of noise on the conservatory roof, it didn't register enough rainfall in
the rain gauge to report. It's cold outside - really cold - but it's
sunny and the garden is starting to come alive. Even the first tulips
have made an appearance! |
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3 March: 3C/36F.
Total rainfall February: 31mm (or 1.5 inches). The BBC says that
February 2008 was the sunniest on record, meaning that we had the most
hours of sunshine for the month of February. It was also one of the
driest Februarys on record. Here's hoping that March gives us more
rainfall than February managed to do. |
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14 February: 6C/42F. Our recent warm
spell has moved off, and it's now freezing cold and cloudy. What a
difference a day makes. The grey wagtails that have been pecking at
insects in the soil aren't put off by the lower temperatures though.
They seem quite happy to bounce their tail up and down to stir the bugs
into action. If they could speak, I'm sure they'd say Yum! |
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13 February: 14C/57F. The first
mini-iris of the year opened this morning. It's an alpine variety, so
it's quite small - about 3 inches tall. Everything is blooming earlier
than usual because of the warm weather we've had during the past week.
On average the low has been -4C in the morning, and the high around 16C
by the afternoon. Sunshine every day. That's to cease starting tomorrow when a storm is due to roll through the southeast of England. |
Mini-iris
variety called "Harmony" |
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2 February:
Total rainfall for the month of January was 116mm (or 4.6 inches). Last
year's total for January was 67mm. |
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29 January: 4°C/39°F. The first
daffodils of the year opened this morning. Just a few of them, but
nevertheless the first sign of spring has officially arrived in our
garden. This is nearly a week earlier than last year, when the first
daffodil burst into bloom on 4 February. The crocus are also blooming,
and their bright colour adds an element of excitement to the otherwise
muddy flower borders. Come on Spring! |
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16 January: 8°C. We had 50mm of
rainfall in 24-hours, and wind gusts that hit hurricane-force in
strength. The damage around the area is everywhere to be seen this
morning. The Gatwick Creek, which runs along the bottom of the hill from
our house, broke its bank and overflowed the road. Several houses along
the creek were flooded but the damage is apparently minimal compared to
the big flood in 2000. Happily, no damage to our house or the garden,
and most surprisingly the wooden fence that always collapses during
stormy weather stayed upright. |
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2 January:
2°C. Happy new year, and welcome to another year of gardening fun and frustration.
We'll hope for more of former and less of the latter. The BBC weather
service claims that 4cm of snow will drop on us overnight. We'll see if
their prediction is correct or not tomorrow morning. And before I
forget, there are bulbs poking up out of the ground about 5cm tall.
Daffodils and tulips so far as I can tell. The anemones are also
shooting up green growth at about 4cm in height. They had better just
wait a bit because winter isn't finished with us yet. (ps: Had a bit of
snow but it didn't stick.) |
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Peder trims the grapevine and clears out
the greenhouse. It's a traditional new year's task. |
