Titanarum

Helped K the other day. She was in need of a tidy up in her back garden and her thousands of plants in pots needed new soil and dividing. Being a little bit of a hoarder she also had thousands (ok, hundreds) of bulbs in need of being planted. Some had become too old and fell apart when touched but many still seemed viable. After four hours of chopping and changing and cutting and potting the area was transformed. I am particularly excited by a tiny scented jasmine I rescued from a corner that hadn’t seen light or rain for months. I cut back 90% of it before dousing it in water and then planting it in a pot. And I have to mention her freesias. She had left a pot of them outside and they looked cramped but healthy (not lanky and brown from too much heat and not enough light, i.e. like mine). I put them in a slightly bigger pot in a sunny sheltered position and have no doubt she will see and smell the rewards in a month or two. A trio of agapanthus could also do well. K couldn’t remember the colour but it didn’t matter as I was more concerned with height and shape. I predict a firework.

Rhubarb. I love it. Been given stalks by allotment neighbours. Beautiful stuff. Am stewing it with some sugar and having it with vanilla suffused custard or rice pudding. The next bunch will go into a crumble. I do have my own rhubarb plant but it’s a late one. Right now all I can see is a cluster of vibrant red knobs ready to burst into leaf. Give it a few more weeks and I should be able to start picking. Also doing well is the sprouting broccoli. Have only had a few stems so far as the fat pigeons beat me until recently. Now that the plants have adequate protection (chicken wire) the little stems are sprouting from every node. I should have half a kilo of the stuff by the weekend. Will definitely grow them again. And lastly. Praise the powers that be for flat leaf parsley. It has survived all winter and its fragrance and flavour do me proud. And the chives… I cut the first cluster of the year down to a number one and mixed the finely cut bits into a smoked mackerel and thick yoghurt mousse. Divine. I have about half a dozen clusters, enough to keep me in going and then some.