Exotic plants and wild life

Yet another fabulous day - how great it is to be able to say that! High pressure has dominated for the past two weeks now and, though cold, it has been dry. We often get a period of dry, bright, frosty weather like this in the first few months of the year, but it is unpredictable. In January it compensates for the short days, in February it gives hope for Spring and in March it allows you to get stuck into the garden, which is exactly what we have done this year. But whenever it comes, it lifts the spirits and looks set to continue for a little longer.

Today's activity included retrieving a Gunnera that had been wintering in a pile of leaf mould. It was bought last June at an open gardens day at Duntreath Castle, north of Glasgow. They have lots of the plants thriving close to the ponds there. We spotted it at the plant stall and, initially undecided, went for a cup of tea. On returning after, it had been knocked down in price. So, although there was no space for it at the time (the purchase of the field had still not been concluded) we bought it anyway, in hope. Unable to clear a suitable space for it before winter, the pile of leaves had to do temporarily. Today, fortunately, it was still very much alive, although a little disfigured. But unfortunately a couple of the delicate, fresh growing leaf stalks broke off as it was extracted. Three or four remained intact and hopefully it will acclimatise to its new environment - in a dampish corner spot.

While clearing and digging the area for planting, this little creature limped out of the soil. It was lucky not to have been speared by the fork! But, clearly alright, it became quite lively trying to escape while being encouraged to pose. This one's body was no more than 2" in length. Another similar one, uncovered a few days earlier was bigger and then this afternoon an even larger bright green frog appeared in another area. The poor things must be hoping for rain, even if we're not ready for it yet!