Fingers Crossed, the Mitcheldean Garden 2021
The New Normal

This page is part of a series of garden blogs from 2021. Click here for the index.

Christmas and New Year came and went. It was as well that we were averaging a minimum five mile walk every other day because Yuehong took the opportunity to sample an astonishing array of allegedly traditional delicacies. Even so, our knees were groaning as cold weather did them no favours.

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When I came to review the pictures, I found that January was notable only for the snow which temporarily made us even more isolated. Although as expected it soon melted, I always clear our steps as a precautionary measure. 

Our first camellia bloom appeared in mid-February, I have no idea whether this was unusual because we've never been at home before to witness it. Similarly, we had confirmation that we have snowdrops in small quantities. 

Chinese New Year in Penang usually sees us feasting on Indian curries as our regular dining spots are all closed for several days. Tua Pek Kong was given a treat and Yuehong prepared what she would call a modest North Chinese meal, neither of us was yet ready for another feast.

Now was the perfect time to perform the annual hedge cut because Yuehong had pruned her roses and I could maneouvre the platform more easily. I had finally worked out that I could fold it by removing a few nuts. At the front, we got to see the crocuses for the first time. We had put some in front of the new wall in the back garden but soon found that the resident mice considered them a special treat, the casualty rate was at least 25%. 

We had a warm week and this triggered a march of frogs across the patio to the pond. Some came singly, some in pairs. The latter had trouble steering and tended to end up in the protective net which covers it to keep out the herons. So they had to be extracted using the small pond net and carefully deposited in the water. It was a daily morning job, probably 30 were 'rescued', but so far no spawn has appeared.

Usually we see the tail end of our daffodils but this year we had installed some near the summer house knowing we would see them at their best.

One camellia bush after another flowered through March, the pink variety shown at the top has a very intense blooming session, others are more restrained and take their time. The forsythia behind the house continues to defy the curse of the galls and hopefully the severe cold snap at the beginning of April will have helped.

Nobody would describe March sunshine as 'warm' whatever the temperature, the hyacinths always appear in stages and this wasn't helped by our supplier running out of the white variety. However, by the end fo the month just about all were out, they looked splendid and even my much diminished sense of smell could detect their aroma.

I'm too mean to throw them away after flowering, we have plenty of space for them to 'come again' the best of these are almost as good second (or third) time around and for those smaller ones, largely produced by division, we allocated an area in the so-called vegetable patch and in their own way, they put on a splendid display. They will stay here until the runner beans are ready to go in, probably some in late May as this year's April is many degrees cooler than last year's one.

We've been slowly adding magnolias to the garden, I may live long enough to regret it as they grow to full size but right now even the largest one is less than two metres tall and one metre wide. On the left is the small Magnolia Stellata and on the right the larger Magnolia Soulangea, which I will show in all its glory in the April report.

We are used to unexpected visitors in the garden, but this was a first in the house, Garfield proudly dropping it at our feet in the kitchen. He has fully recovered from his 2020 traumas but would be even happier if we both spent more time with him in the back garden. As you can see, by the end of the month the first tulips were getting ready to open but it was still a little cold. This year, we took advantage of special offers to buy 15 sets of unusual varieties which we have planted in groups in pots so we will get a concentrated simultaneous flowering, I can see already that it's going to be very impressive (as long as the mice don't find them).

April will bring lilacs, bluebells, our Magnolia Susan and Yuehong's display of 'winter' pansies and special primroses. We've lost several bushes to one severe winter frost and I think the rhododendrons will be rather later this year.

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