Saturday 25 October 2008

Calendula, snapdragons ... and a violet

I have a wooden trough outside my front door kindly made by my neighbour (thank you David) and I'm pleased to say that the snapdragons and English marigolds (calendula) that are in it are still flowering nicely. These just happen to be two of my favourite species of garden flower and enjoy a long flowering period. I have remarked before that I had attempted to grow calendula from seed but quickly lost them to the slugs; the ones presently in flower together with the snapdragons were established plants and have not suffered damage from pests. They certainly give me a lot of pleasure, something which I hope those walking along my road can also enjoy.

Just before lunch we took a short stroll along the river bank and were pleased to see our first violet out. I remember last year seeing a violet in the same patch right at the start of November. The forecast for the coming week is for a blast of cold air from the Arctic with maybe some night frosts so this could well inhibit any further flowering. Going back to last year again I recall that after that one initial flower there was quite a pause before seeing any more.

Although there are plenty of leaves to scuffle through when out and about, looking across the valley it looks as if the woodland hasn't seen much in the way of leaf fall yet. I suppose it won't be long now though before the trees are in their winter garb.

1 comment:

brian in the tamar valley said...

As a follow up to the sighting of one violet in flower I was in a friend's garden last Saturday (1st November). Looking under the leaves of one of the violet patches I saw one flower fully out and several more well in bud. As I write this the temperature outside has started to recover so hopefully I shall see many more violets in the near future.