Friday 24 January 2014

The Rhubarb makes its appearance

I noticed a couple of days ago that the first little leaves of Rhubarb are poking through the soil already:


These are from the "Timperley Early" which I planted last year. It's certainly living up to its name!

I bought a pack of two plants from Aldi at a very good price (£1.99), but it may have been a false economy because I'm fairly sure one of the plants rotted straight away. It only produced one spindly leaf which lasted a very short while before dying off, whereas the other one produced several healthy leaves. Anyway, thinking positive, even if it really is only one plant that has survived, I think that £1.99 was still a good price!


Isn't it funny that these two leaves are such different colours? Normally when Rhubarb leaves come up they are a sort of bronzy orange like the one on the left above, and gradually change to green.

My other (two) Rhubarb plants are the variety "Victoria". No sign of them yet, but that's not unusual since it is only January still.

Talking of things making an appearance, THIS has recently appeared in my neighbour's front garden, just next to my back gate:


Do you think this is intended as an insult? Our neighbours are definitely not gardeners. If they were, they would probably be more aware of the damage that badgers can cause in a small garden! Or is it perhaps that this badger model is intended as a badger-deterrent, trying to give the impression that the territory is already occupied? I'll give the neighbours the benefit of the doubt...

4 comments:

  1. I see gardeners put rabbit statues in their gardens all the time. I think it is just cute rabbit or in your case cute badgers.

    I wonder if those leaves will both turn the same color or one will be different.

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  2. Awww, I think it's quite cute. I'm not plagued by badgers as you are though, that's probably why my opinion of this is so different from yours. I shall have to check on my rhubarb at the allotment and see if I've got any leaves poking through yet. I've inherited quite a large clump so I'm looking forward to lots of rhubarb crumbles this year. I had only just planted a crown at my old plot when I gave it up so I dug it up and it's in a container waiting to be planted on my new plot. I'm going to be knee deep in rhubarb at this rate.

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  3. I don't think I have seen a badgers here, though those little chaps seem far to friendly to keep the real ones away. I though I could see my rhubarb starting to poke its way through yesterday I shall have to investigate further. I bought a gooseberry & grape from Aldi a couple of years ago & they have done fairly well for me so you might be lucky.

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  4. I don't think it is an insult, just a garden tschotke. Did you even have a winter?

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