In the Garden - February
With thanks to LFN Digestive
In the garden – February
It has been a cold January after a couple of years of relatively mild winters and we are all waiting for the weather to warm up a bit. Inevitably some plants will be a little cold damaged but don’t rush to cut plants back until later on. Usually February is still a quiet time of the year in the garden but there are nonetheless a number of tasks that one can be getting on with during milder spells of weather.
- General weeding, digging and mulching of flower beds
- Check that stakes are holding firm with the winter winds
- Turn some organic material (compost, rotted manure etc) into your flower beds and perhaps add some general organic fertiliser
- Towards the end of the month start to cut back ornamental grasses, other perennials and sub shrubs such as Salvia microphylla and it’s cultivars, Perovskia etc
- Deadhead winter flowering pansies to encourage repeat flowering.
- Check on the watering requirements of container grown plants, even at this time of the year they can dry out.
- During February or March prune summer flowering shrubs (eg Buddleia) that flower on the current year’s growth, prune winter flowering shrubs such as winter jasmine after flowering.
- Planting and moving plants
As the days start to lengthen and to warm up a number of spring flowering shrubs and trees will start to flower. Coronilla glauca 
is an indigenous shrub, and thus very drought resistant, with wonderfully scented flowers during February and March.
is an indigenous shrub, and thus very drought resistant, with wonderfully scented flowers during February and March. 
Teucrium fruticans, a good hedging plant, has pretty little blue flowers and everyone longs to pick a branch of scented mimosa for the house. 
Mimosa is Acacia dealbata, a plant which is Australian in origin and is classed as an invasive species by the Agence Mediterranéenne de l’Environnement (AME) due to it’s rapid growth rate , long life of it’s seeds and it’s ability to sucker. It grows best on acid soils and has escaped into natural habitats along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coats of France where it competes with indigenous flora. The AME urge us all to make sure that this plant isn’t allowed to escape from our gardens.At La Petite Pépinière we are offering two gardening courses this spring; The Ecological Gardener on the 23rd March and Botany for Gardeners on the 20th April. For more details see www.lapetitepepiniere.com –The Plant Nursery – Gardening Courses or email Gill@lapetitepepiniere.com
Our first Gardener’s Lunch went well and we will be holding the next one on Thursday 25th February, for which we still have two or three places; if this proves as popular as the January lunch we will run another on the 4th March. The sessions involve a tour of the garden (weather permitting) to look at what is of interest as well as a discussion of what jobs need doing; followed by a light lunch and the chance to exchange ideas with fellow gardeners and with us. We ask for a contribution of 10€ per person for the lunch. If you would like to attend please phone or email Gill Pound.
I shall be exhibiting at the Fete de la Bigarade at La Caunette (34210) on the 27th and 28th February. This is a very good plant fair, with 38 exhibitors and the opportunity to buy some quite unusual plants.
For further information contact Gill Pound at La Petite Pépinière de Caunes (shrubs and perennials, unusual plants and plants for dry climates), 21, Avenue de la Montagne Noire, 11160, Caunes-Minervois.
Tel: 04 68 78 43 81, email Gill@lapetitepepiniere.com www.lapetitepepiniere.com
We shall reopen on Friday 5th March and after that it will be our usual opening hours of 10h – 18h Fridays and Saturdays, 10h – 12h Sundays, or by appointment at any time.
Inside the church you will see a horseshoe arch separating the nave from the altar. This is typically Visigothic. All the experts agree that the capitals above the pillars holding it, are Visigothic. The pillars themselves are “antique marble re-used.” Maybe even Roman. So it sounds to me that the church, maybe much smaller, existed in the 8th century and was renovated several times, obviously. The last one was done in 1853 – see the date above the arch.
Outside is a tiny graveyard. Standing in it one sees clearly the Romanesque style of the doors and windows. I believe the door on the left was not the original entrance – that would have been where is now the road, for the church was orientated west-east, as Visigothic churches always were. One entered St. Martin des Puits and saw that lovely arch straight ahead, and the frescoes.
