European Gardening: Winterwatch?, 1 by wallaby1

wallaby1 wrote:
Amazing! My cannas are in pots, this year I hope to get some in the ground, They were growing until we had a hard frost in February, until then the Fuchsias were budding too. I can see some shoots starting again on those, but they lost all their leaves and would normally lose their stems too.

I lost my Abutilon megapotanicum var. after last winter, left it outside for the first time, this winter it would have been OK! It did flower in the greenhouse early in the year.

I have a Melianthus major which has been in a pot in the greenhouse for years, needless to say it hasn't thrived but does seem to have spread it's root base, it's not suppposed to be very hardy here. It has survived a lot of cold and hard frosts, but when I decide to put these things in the ground we have a hard winter and they die! Mine of course hasn't flowered either, maybe they need a mild winter to produce flowers. Your leaves don't look blue like mine, is it another species? They flower in the spring, grow in winter.

http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantklm/melianthusmajor.htm

It was really spring like yesterday, I got some more tidying up done. It felt really pleasant, today started well then dark clouds came over, but this afternoon improved and the sun shone again. I managed to mix some compost and planted bulbs I got recently, I really wanted to stay out but used the compost, wore myself out, and the sun was going down! So many days cold, then you want to do everything at once. I have a lot to do..

There was a couple of bumble bees around yesterday, not the first time I have seen them, and a Red Admiral was darting around, it fed on Aubretia.