Friday, January 04, 2008


FELIZ NUEVO ANO - SUNRISE.

And we are still waiting for winter. Daytime temperatures rarely fall below 15C and night around 5C. A lovely Spanish gardener has agreed to come this month and give the fruit trees a radical prune and he can do this only when the temperature has dropped sufficiently to avoid damaging the trees. He says there is a very short window in which to do the work so I'm glad we've made this arrangement to get help. I have neither the stamina nor strength to go gung-ho at things these days.

A good guide to what to do in a Spanish garden, and when, is to watch our neighbours - and Gonzalo has been very inactive lately. February will be the time everyone is going like the clappers - lots of rotivating, planting and big bonfires.

In between howling wind and lashing rain, we've managed to plant two buddleia bushes, some lilies and this year I'm trying out bulbs - tulips and daffodils. Some are making a modest appearance but by the time they flower, it will be warmer than is comfortable for them and they go over very quickly.

The pink trumpet vine needs a big prune but it's still flowering, also the tacomaria and plumbago. Osteospermums have woken up, lavender has not died off yet and the orange and magenta mesumbriathium-type flowers come out to greet us on a sunny day.

We've begun to pick our own lettuce and are waiting for the broccoli and cauli to form their little hearts. Swedes and kale are hanging in there but the parsnips came to nothing.

So there is a lot to see and tend to - it's like everlasting Autumn.

To those of you who stop by regularly and are kind enough to leave comments, apologies for not being a busy blogger. It was a bit frenetic leading up to Christmas and the New Year; there is still another festivo to get through - Three Kings - which is when the children receive their presents. I'm already all partied-out.

Felices Reyes to you all.

3 comments:

Sue Swift said...

Hi Ladyluz,
Thanks for your link for the carnival. But it leads to an archive page for a whole month. Which post did you specifically want to nominate?
I'm green with envy at your weather - here we're having horrible sleety snow.
Sue

LadyLuz said...

Sorry Sue. I have posted a comment on your blog, giving the date of Nature Girl's post. I hope Blogger is not playing up.

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Hope you have survived the 3 Kings thingy. ;-) How wonderful that you are able to pick your own lettuce. I have to wait a few months before I can do that. BTW how very sensible of you to watch the neighbours to see what should be done in the garden. I've already pruned my apple trees but I have only 3 small ones so that's no big deal.

Have a lovely weekend and purrrrrrs from the Bliss team for Yin and Yang!