Prison officers, compost and pussy willow stems

1. Cut back a couple of hundred perennials

2. Spread three cubic metres of compost

3. Hand weed 150 square metres of gravel path and driveway

This is my to do list for early March.  It is also the least effective advert ever developed for gardening.

This is not good.  I am trying to convince the kids that gardening is fun and that message is hardly brought home by a task list that could have been written by a sadistic prison officer.

Thankfully, horticultural propaganda is never far away.  We have the cutting garden bearing fruit, the crocus rings flowering with fanatical zeal on the lawn, and now we have twigs.

So, OK, twigs might not sound fascinating, but in my best M&S voice, these aren’t just twigs, these are pussy willow twigs.

We cut them from the tree just over a week ago, placed them in a vase and plonked them on the kitchen table.  Then we waited.

Well we didn’t just wait because twigs on their own can be a little dull so first we strung the branches with coloured plastic eggs (and I know it’s not Easter, but we’re the family who make mince pies in February – yes that’s right, we’re anarchists).

But in a couple of days the twigs began their own decorating.  First came the soft white buds, then these burst into sprightly catkins.

 And pussy willow twigs (Saix caprea) aren’t the only bits of spring you can cajole into an early appearance.  The stems of hazels, horse chestnuts, whitebeams and many other trees are also worth a go.  What’s more, the kids can see them develop at close range and in the comfort and warmth of the house should the weather turn wintery.

Sadly, shifting compost is a lot less interior-friendly and I can report that hanging plastic Easter eggs from the wheelbarrow handles does very little to improve the task.

Comments

[March 17th]

The twigs are lovely and so I'm sure is your M&S voice, bravo !

[Arabella Sock]

A couple of years ago whilst out walking we saw a row of pussy willows with lovely fat furry buds on them. I had forgotten how beautiful they were and how much they reminded me of my childhood when we always cut twigs and had them in the house.

Compost! Well my childhood memory of that is driving out into the country and my father stopping the car every now and then for my mum to rush out with a bucket and scoop up the horse droppings. That still makes me laugh.

[Esther Montgomery]

Hope you are happy with me mentioning you on today's post for Esther's Boring Garden Blog.

http://esthersboringgardenblog.blogspot.com/

Let me know if not.

Esther

[Dawn]

March 17th - The twigs are lovely but saadly my voice is more strident and ear splitting.

Arabella - Love that childhood memory. My father has actually been known to stop the car and pick up roadkill. My mother refused to pluck and cook the pheasant and, to this day, he can't understand her objection.

Esther - not just happy but flattered! Dx

[Sally]

Absolutely beautiful, I'm going to try and replicate this for our kitchen table.

[Dawn]

Sally - Thank you madam. I am honoured (although at this point I'm duty bound to point out that the pollen has an amazing attraction to anything black and expensive). The pussy willow twigs have, as a result, been renamed 'the bloody stupid, annoying twigs' by Reuben.