Monday 5 November 2012

Catching up


I should be planting bulbs
but I'm late.
I'd like to be the sort of gardener who 
can listen to exploding fireworks
smug in the knowledge that hundreds of narcissi,
tulips, and alliums  
have long since been interred in pots, lawn and borders.  
Sadly there won't be any hyacinths flowering indoors
for Christmas because I didn't force them in time
and I haven't even received my Paperwhites yet.
I'm going to have to plant these with more support this year
as artfully balancing them on pebbles
has more than once resulted in an unwieldy mass
of toppling foliage.

I have got a few sprouting crocuses and muscari.
Sarah Raven advised planting crocuses in a sunny spot
to encourage them to open fully.


The shyest of our visiting cats pinpointed
the ideal position under a silver birch
visible from the kitchen window.


By the time I got out there,

Let's hope the squirrels weren't watching where I put them.

4 comments:

  1. Mine are planted, but I never feel I've done enough. The Dutch mass of swaying blooms I always imagine so confidently never quite materialises in spring.

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  2. I'm hoping to rely on last years coming back.... I love the word skedaddle!

    :)

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  3. Every year, darn it, every year, I mean to plant more bulbs....And just the same thing happened to me with paperwhites and artful stones! Jane xx

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  4. I finally got my garlic planted out back and a few hyacinth bulbs in the front flower bed, but that is all I could manage this year...and I still felt tremendously self-satisfied. Sad, isn't it?

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