I have been out in the garden again this week. Unfortunately, I got dug a couple of times in the back of my hand by a rose bush when I was pruning out dead wood. I swore, but thought nothing of it until my hand suddenly "blew up" several hours later (after it had been painting, lifting et al). OH and I had our first Night Out in years - spent at A&E as I was worried I may have contracted Sporotrinchosis , which can occur after being pricked by a rose thorn. It is a particularly nasty fungal infection which can be pretty unpleasant. As it was, my knuckles were absolute agony and I obviously had an infection starting, so I'm now on anti-biotics.Anyway, it (my hand!) had the day off yesterday, and today I've given it, ahem, "gentle" exercise, by helping my husband out front of house, where we are tidying up and putting up some post and rail fencing. It looks much better already, although there is still a lot of clearing of trash to go. Top picture shows the tidied and fenced bit - we will have to paint the fencing though.
Below is a picture of the cleared area.
I have been raking up dead leaves and twigs from the recently-felled pussy willow tree, which had gotten very overgrown and untidy. I've also been cutting all the brambles right back, and hoiking out long trails of ivy, which gets everywhere. I am delighted that I have Ramsons (wild garlic) peeping up by the gate, and I uncovered some more when clearing leaves today. I have a well-grown Honeysuckle in a tub which I am going to plant up, as well as several self-set heavily scented rambler roses which are "upstarts" from a set cutting a neighbour gave me. The perfume is heavenly and the rose has cream petals, just simple form, but it grows and flowers like heck! (It is possibly "Seagull", but I''m not certain.) I also have the 4 shrubs I bought for a fiver the 4 in Lidls recently (Deutzea, Spiraea and 2 Philadelphus) - so all white.
And this is the bit still to sort . . .
Your hard work will result in beauty soon. Sorry about the infected hand; I worry when a rose "bites" me. My old lemon tree "bit" me a week ago, and all is well with that particular bite.
ReplyDeleteThe new fencing looks smart.
ReplyDeleteIf the rose is Seagull, it will soon climb up into the trees and look amazing in the summer. We have one that climbs an old conifer and the flowers really do look like a flock of seagulls hovering high up over the garden.
I hope your hand soon recovers. Make sure it doesn`t work too hard!
Hi C/C I have tried to copy your banner picture of the gate for me to turn into a painting, but I can't make it copy anywhere. (I did ask your permission). I've tried everything I know and still don't have a copy. I need to have one in front of me when I'm drawing. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteSpring is the season of discoveries, isn't it. Just clean up the mess and see what's underneath.
Have you tried kevlar gloves, they would protect your hands.
ReplyDeleteI managed to stab myself in the hand a couple of weeks ago while I was tidying the garden. I spent a few days watching how my joints worked after finding out that the incubation period for tetanus is about four days. I seemed to be OK. Except a small splinter of something worked its way out of my finger yesterday..... hm!
ReplyDeleteI like how the new rail fence is looking.
ReplyDeleteI am planning an informal shrub hedge out front where we just had two trees removed. Spirea thunbergii and Mock Orange are on the list.
Interesting about the rose thorn. I have always had a reaction to being stuck with them but the worst just happened a couple of weeks ago. I bought three potted roses and when getting them out of the truck, I jabbed my index finger with one. In a few days it swelled up, hurt terribly and then turned purple and black; have never had that happen before. It went away and I was never sick or anything but the finger was awful.
Chris J - I have sent you my e-mail addy. Then I can e-mail you back with the photo attachment.
ReplyDeletegld and Morning AJ - there are some nasty bugs in gardens, that's for sure and I think we tend to think, oh that's just a little dig from a rose . . . .
HH - good idea. I have borrowed my husband's leather gauntlets but they have a rip in the thumb seam and are HUGE and flappy to garden in!
Terra - I hope everything grows soon - it is still at the "what a mess" stage right now!
DW - I think it's Seagull, but it could be Rambling Rector. Can't really find a true picture of it, except it's a single flower with almost ferny leaves.
DW - trying to remember if it is truly single now (RR is semi double) . . .
ReplyDelete