The Growing Season

Looking back at pictures of the garden around the same time last year, there is a marked difference in the growth of the leaves of the trees! Last year it was a dry and warm spring with the growing season well underway but this year it has been a dry spring again but unusually cold which has significantly slowed the growth this year!

This is an important lesson for us to learn as gardeners, it doesn’t matter how much we plan, how much experience or growing techniques we have because eventually we are all in the hands of nature.

Today I watched a great talk by @walesbotanic and @librarywales about the folklore and plant names of Wales led by Steffan John and Bethan Wyn Jones who brought this Welsh saying to our attention (roughly translated here):

“If the blackthorn is in flower

Sow your seed only when it’s dry “

“But if the hawthorn is in flower

Sow your seed whether wet or dry! “

This means that when the blackthorn is in bloom early in the season and does not have any leaves it is not always a good time to sow but when the hawthorn is in bloom in May, you can be certain that the growing and sowing conditions are far better. Learning about nature and our native plants goes hand in hand with learning how to garden!