A RESPITE FROM THE RAIN

I know I am English and rumour has it that we are supposed to talk about the weather all the time, well it's true and I offer no apologies.  While we aren't suffering the deadly volumes of snow that the people of Buffalo, New York, are suffering, we've had days of miserable grey skies, fog, and rain.  My garden is covered with soggy, rotting, leaves and the slugs are having a field day.  I swear they are like Gremlins in the movie of the same name, and multiply at a crazy speed when wet.  Today, rain has held off and we've even had a little bit of blue in the sky and weak sunshine.  I took advantage.  I've taken down the hanging baskets filled with Swingtime and Southgate fuchsias which have been fantastic for months on end.  As soon as we get serious frost, it could quite easily kill them.  To be honest, I'm not exactly sure how tender or robust these two types of trailing species are.  Sadly, they were still flowering and it seemed like vandalism to cut the plants back, strip them of leaves, and put them (still in the hanging baskets) into the mini-greenhouse, which is on the point of collapse with the weight.  I've protected the fuchsias with a covering of fleece and shall hope for the best.  If anyone reading this thinks 'this woman hasn't a clue what she's doing', they are probably right. 

Southgate and Swingtime fuchsias

When I grew fuchsias in the past, I would bring them indoors for the winter, stick them in a spare room and forget about them.  They would waken up in spring and start to make bud, at which point I would repot them and commence watering, but I don't have that luxury or space now.  So it's either the mini-greenhouse or they can take their chances and face the elements. 



There are so many other jobs that I want to do but I ran out of steam.  I did turn off the water supply to the outside tap though, before I go and forget.  Don't you go and forget!!!



One thing I must mention, and I know I'm getting a bit boring about this, but I am still picking Polka raspberries, and the perpetual strawberries are still producing big fat fruits although, sadly, they are rotting before they manage to ripen.  The raspberries are good though and considering we are almost into December, I thought it worth mentioning.  Do give them a go in your garden.