Diary of a Silver Surfer

Hi again folks.......well did you miss me? the story is that when I set this Blog up i was officially retired.

Sadly, with the recent financial chaos, i had to go back to work to earn a crust and pay the mortgage! Result .... one 66 year old working 11 hour shifts in a Call Centre to supplement a pathetic State Pension.

Give me strength. we are over taxed, overlooked, over bureaucratised, spied on, treble taxed, and our opinions trodden underfoot.

And don't tell me this is a Democracy -- you can just vote them out. Do me a favour. Do you honestly believe things will change under a different Government?

My friend Democracy is dead in U.K. The idea that an Englishman's home is his castle has disappeared for ever. Have you any idea how many faceless people can invade your home without a warrant?

Do you know how many "refugees" are living among us sucking the life blood out of the State Benefit System I paid into for 50 years and which has singularly failed to
keep its promise to me and people of my generation.

I have thought hard about this and have decided to re-start my gardening Blog today. With a cutting edge of comment added to it.

In fact, I may even start a new Blog or Newsletter for Silver surfers like me who want to be heard by an unelected unrepresentative bunch of crooks called politicians,
whose noses are stuck so firmly in the trough that they breath through their backsides and can't see the real World at all!

And don't get me started about the EC. I'll keep that one for another day.

Meantime, if there is anyone out there reading this who feels like me and wants to vent their frustration drop a comment on this article and i will get back to you.

On gardening issues, here is an article you may be interested in provided by our friends at http://www.tipsonflowergardening.com/winter-flowers.html


"Quick. Name 10 winter flowers....!

Yes, I know, it depends where you live. For instance, if you look out your window and see snow drifts big enough to hide a dog, you will have to settle for indoor winter flowers. But if you live in a zone that allows outdoor plants to bloom year round, then here are some gorgeous winter flowers.

Witch hazel (Hamamelis spp.) is a winter-flowering shrub. These shrubs can grow to a height of 20 feet and they bloom from late fall through the winter. The Hamamelis virginiana variety is native to North America and has yellow-gold flowers and leaves. Yes, the astringent witch hazel comes from this plant but it offers great winter color.

Japanese pieris (Pieris japonica) is another shrub that blooms in winter. The blooms are strands of buds in bright red, white or pink. The leaves are bright green.

Christmas roses (or Lenton roses) (Helleborus spp.) bloom in mid to late winter. They have dark green leaves and cup-shaped blooms in maroon, pink, white or red. As the bloom get older, they fade to a creamy ivory color.

Glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa lucillae) provides star-shaped flowers. This plant grows from bulbs and there is a trick to keeping it blooming year after year. After the blooms stop, don’t mow the lawn for six week. This lets the bulbs pull the necessary energy from the lawn so that it can bloom again next winter.

Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) is a shrub with yellow jasmine blossoms that bloom from late fall and the winter. It can grow to a height of 15 feet and makes a great trellis-trained plant.

Firethorn (Pyracantha) is a good companion winter flower for the winter jasmine. It grows berries in bright red or pale yellow. Don’t prune it because this will trim off the potential berries.

There are early bulbs that qualify as winter flowers because given the right circumstances, they will blossom early enough to be in your garden when the snow is still there. Some of the favorite early blooming bulbs are crocus, amaryllis, hyacinth, tulip, and narcissus. A couple of other contenders are snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) and the reticulated iris (Iris reticulata).

What you need to remember about winter flowers is that they are not going to be great big beds of various colorful flowers. Technically most of them are shrubs. You can check to see which ones will flourish in your area and try one or two. Even bright shiny green leaves in February can be quite attractive."