More Christmas paperwhites, and digging holes, and half term madness
Hello Friends!
A bit late with this week's newsletter because #halfterm and I've hardly had time to do my five minutes a day, let alone write about it, but that's how it is sometimes, so here goes:
My five minute forays this week:
Monday: I dig a hole. A big one. Now that the flower beds are pretty much cleared of fluff, I can turn my attention to the bones of this space, and after the terrible summer of box caterpillar woe, I made the decision to remove a lot of the beloved box balls that peppered the flower beds and gave them a bit of structure over the winter. As a result the garden is looking rather sad, and needs help, quick. So I decide to move my containerised standard hydrangea paniculata plants (two of them) into the flowerbeds. The main reason is for structure and height (as stated above) but this will have the added benefit of removing the need for constant watering and fussing over the summer months. In fact, reducing the number of pots has been key to The Five Minute Garden. Plants in the ground will generally look after themselves once they've been settled in properly and their roots have found the water table. In a pot, they depend solely on you for life, and you have to respond accordingly. I manage to get the thing out of its pot and plant it, which is a bonus, and takes rather longer than five minutes (thank you CBeebies). I water it with a trickle from the hose, for four to five hours, and then I repeat that again each day after.
Tuesday: I dig another hole, and put the other hydrangea in, amid halloween crafternoon playdate goings on, and Day of the Dead screen printing courses, and violin lessons and ENDLESS fish fingers, because #halfterm.
Wednesday: Five minutes (or perhaps it was two) of sweeping and gathering up leaves. Always feels good. Always. I have a new broom which I got for my birthday. It is wider than I would have chosen, but I'm thrilled with how quickly it sweeps things up as a result. It also has a soft, squidgy bit of foam stuff half way down the handle, up at which, again, I would most probably have turned my nose, had I been the one buying, but which turns out to be an unexpected pleasure. Well done to my hunky rotter for finding this treasure.
Thursday: I put more paperwhites in a large china bowl. The method is pretty much the same as for hyacinths but I put it below in case you missed it.
Friday: One long playdate and zero gardening, but I do manage to get my fix at a delightful workshop run by Emma Mitchell (@silverpebble2) where I spent a lovely evening drawing flowers in a little notebook which I am hoping will become and on-going pursuit. Emma used to be a biologist and is fascinated by research into how being in nature, and doing certain simple, quiet, repetitive activities (such as knitting, yoga, walking, weeding etc) can release those fluffy pleasure cells and stave off the winter blues. Her book, Making Winter is out now, and full of simple, fun crafts to elevate the spirits and gladden the heart. I haven't done any drawing since I was a teenager, and found it massively soothing and surprisingly EASY! I recommend five minutes of quietly copying something foraged or found; soul food.
Paperwhites in a bowl
Gather all the containers you can find - blue and white china is great but honestly, you can use a salad bowl if you want - you DON'T have to buy anything - it's the flowers who are the stars here.
You need:
Containers (see above)
Paperhwite narcissi bulbs (look for 'indoor flowering' ones)
Bulb fibre (special compost that doesn't rot off)
Later on, when you come to display the flowers, you will need moss (sphagnum or bun moss, from a reputable source)
Also later on, you will need some sort of support, - twigs or plastics of some sort that look pretty and upon which the stems can rest so that they don't flop over. Start thinking about what you're going to use and begin collecting them now.
Fill your containers to the top with the bulb fibre, make an indentation with your two fingers and push each bulb gently into it, so that their tips are just peeping proud of the compost. You can place the bulbs pretty close together as these plants are not for permanent display, and you want them to be over-crowded and gorgeous and beyond imagination.
Water carefully, and lightly, around rather than on top of the bulbs, and leave them in a cool, dark place (a shed or an un-heated spare room or downstairs loo are all good places) until they are ready to be brought inside to bloom.
Have the loveliest of weekends
All the good things, always
x Laetitia
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