Just what exactly is the point of February?

I usually try to be somewhere else in February. It’s cold, it’s dark, winter will never end. Far better to be in New Zealand or Sri Lanka or Costa Rica (my last 3 Februarys).

But this February I didn’t go anywhere I couldn’t get to on foot. Judging by my credit card bills, that was mainly the local deli. I’ve re-discovered sausage rolls.

Is it late winter or early spring?

The daylight is getting a bit longer and there are lambs appearing in the field opposite us.

Spring flowers are starting to follow the snowdrops – camellias and crocuses, flowering currants and primroses. Even the Persian ironwood tree is coming to life.

 Nevertheless, in my heart this is still a solid winter month and I kind of resent it.

It’s a good time to start planning ahead

I’ve never been very organised in planning for my garden. Other gardeners spend the winter knee deep in seed catalogues and visualising fabulous new plantings. I pop along to the garden centre in April to buy the odd shrub or perennial and a bunch of stuff to put in pots.

This is the year when I try to get it right. Plan ahead. Make decisions. Order plants. Sow seeds.

I spent an afternoon ordering seeds and plants from Sarah Raven, Thompson & Morgan, and Mr Fothergill. They vary wildly in what they’re trying to sell you and how. Let’s just say some websites are more, um, “modern” than others.

We grew vegetables in our last garden. Sometimes with mixed results – is it me or have courgettes got harder to grow lately? 

So while there are nicely laid out vegetable beds halfway up the garden we’ll plant flowers for cutting rather than filling all the beds with veg for a change. Dahlias, cosmos and zinnia. Sarah Raven is constantly photographed with armfuls of cut flowers – surely I can do the same (minus the eccentric denim overalls)?

Most of the other plants I ordered are for baskets or pots (I know!). Trailing geraniums, fuchsias, petunias, osteospermum, lobelia, euphorbias, erigeron and verbena.

Is there anything more pleasing than a greenhouse?

I’ve wanted a proper greenhouse for years. Now I’ve got one. And it’s surprisingly satisfying to thoroughly scrub a greenhouse ready to accept new seeds and plants.

A short post for a short month

There’s not much else to say about February. I’ve loved how many flowers have appeared, especially the camellias. There are seven different varieties in this garden – a couple of reds, three different pinks and two that are still holding their buds tightly closed and not giving anything away.

Roll on March … things must be about to get busier.