Drop bear

My afternoon’s entertainment, or should I say Artur’s entertainment, was to be under attack.   Here he is high up on the pergola poised to play drop bear on my head. It’s a good thing I wear a whoolly hat.

For an elderly gent, he is full of mischief.   I almost miss the cat who slept all day in the nest in the potting shed.   But at least I had plenty of company when I raked up the leaves.

The courtyard mulberry has almost dropped its load.   And I’m so pleased that we’ve had so little wind over the past week. It’s so much easier to rake them up in the courtyard, rather than chase them all over the gravel.

And then I had a treat.   In the box Andrew sent up where not only daffodils; but some gorgeous fat lilies as well.   They are bigger than grapefruits and look plump and healthy.

At first I thought I would add them to the small collection I have in the wildflower bank above the swimming pool.   And I even went down there and weeded like mad and planted them as deep as I could.

But when I next turned to the planters in the courtyard I had my ‘duh’ moment.   I needed them there.   So the wildflower bed was the wrong spot.

Down I trudged, out came the newly planted lilies and up they came.

First I needed to clear away all the mint from the pots; and dig out the soil.   That gave me the space to add new compost, some fertiliser, the lilies and then some tulips.   I have some stunning reds for next years display: Uncle Toms, Rococo, Dolls Minuet, Couleur Cardinal and Queen of the Night.

Over the top I added the mint roots which I had removed.   They can sit over winter and brood.   But I have plenty in the potting shed keeping warm and alive and thriving.   So I ought to have a good crop all winter.

Then it was another layer of compost and a final mulch of gravel.   Neat as a pin.

I was keen to get inside to tick this chore off my list (sorry Sarah!) and realised to my annoyance it wasn’t anywhere on my list of Winter Garden Tasks. Rats.

Nor is the tulip planting in the village tomorrow. On the dot of nine I am to front up at the village square and meet the rest of the garden committee and get bulb planting.   I must remember to pack my band aids. I already have mini blisters from the few hundred I put in today.