Viburnum bodnantsis ‘Dawn’

Dear Readers, you might remember that I am hoping to have some work done on the trees in my garden – in particular, the whitebeam and the hawthorn need a bit of a trim. I’ve agreed the work with the tree surgeon, but since then there’s been torrential rain, high winds, problems getting the chipper for the bits that we’re going to cut off, and now the tree surgeon is off on holiday until 10th March. Woe is me! I am a little worried that the magpies will decide that it’s time to nest again, at which point we’ll be postponing everything until the autumn. For one thing it’s illegal to damage an active nest, and for another thing, much as magpies are rather divisive birds I’m not going to interfere if they’re just starting to breed.

But me  being me, that hasn’t stopped me from buying plants (and getting them as presents). My friend J bought me a Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’ back in january, and it’s still sitting happily in its pot – it’s intended to go quite close to the whitebeam, so I’m taking no chances! And when I was at Myddelton Gardens with my pal L a few weeks ago I couldn’t resist the cheap plants at the Clockhouse Garden Centre, and so my Cyclamen coum and Dame’s Violet are waiting to get planted too. I’m visiting the Sunshine Garden Centre today (29th February) so who knows what I’ll have stacked up, just waiting to be planted, by the time the whitebeam is sorted?

Cyclamen just waiting to be planted.

In other news, you might remember that I was looking for a squirrel-proof feeder a while back, and the one below seems to be working nicely – the squirrels have had a go, but have given up, mainly because they can raid one of the other feeders.

Goldfinch taking advantage of the squirrel-proof feeder

But I have been fascinated by this rather handsome feral pigeon, who I have nicknamed ‘Rambo’ for reasons that will soon become apparent. He only visits once per day, and always comes alone, but once in situ he will see off any other bird, and sometimes even the squirrels. The parakeets get pecked as well, which is very impressive.

Here ‘he’ (I have no idea) is seeing off a woodpigeon.

And here the sparrows wait patiently for him to have his fill (though they have also taken to the suet feeder).

And everywhere, things are coming into bud, which is very gratifying after what has felt like a long, damp winter.

And today is ‘Leap Day’! Traditionally, a woman can propose marriage to a chap on 29th February, so if any of you have been thinking of doing such a thing, now’s your chance. In Scotland, any man who refused such a proposal could be fined (up to the price of a silk gown), and in Denmark any reluctant males had to buy twelve pairs of gloves for the woman in question, so that she could cover up the fact that she didn’t have an engagement ring.  On the other hand, in Ukraine and Greece it’s believed that getting married during a leap year can lead to divorce, so maybe leave the actual ceremony until 2025. And regardless, you could celebrate with a ‘Leap Year Cocktail’, devised by Harry Craddock, a bar tender at the Savoy. In 1928 he devised a drink that combined gin, vermouth, lemon juice and Grand Marnier, and after that lot I imagine that you might be far more amenable to proposals of many kinds. Cheers everybody!