Sorting and saving

It's not just the bushy tailed who are squirrelling things away, I'm busy collecting seed and making cuttings from various plants in the garden. I always take some rose cuttings, just bunging a length of stalk into a pot or a spare bit of ground and hoping that it will strike. The red rose is from a bouquet that I had for Valentine's Day and the pale pink rose in the foreground from a small bunch of roses bought at Aldi last winter.

I collect any ripe flower seed so that I'll have plenty for the local annual seed swap. Nature is generous, a vast amount of seed is produced. I've put the hollyhock stems in the greenhouse ready to be stripped and bagged up. I'll sow some seed straight away to overwinter in the greenhouse and provide fresh plants in the spring. 

Himself has been busy edging the paths

and clearing out weeds (and flowers!) from the cracks.

It's cold at night and I've put the citrus trees back undercover. They will stay inside now until the weather warms up again next year. (Like me, they always get a bit peaky after a long winter!)

The new water butts are all full

and I'm still picking flowers from the garden.

It's amazing what one small packet of seeds will create.

These are spider asters from a seed swap packet

They are rather odd, but I like the pastel colours mixed with some 'Chatsworth' sweet peas.