As a New Year’s promise I am resolved to carry out some soil acidity tests, and to give my roses a heavy dressing of well-rotted cow manure once the pruning has finally been completed. I hope they will then feel a great deal better than I do. Many of you may have noticed that plants grown in concrete pots often produce pale leaves with dark veins. This is usually due to a deficiency of iron. When this happens the remedy is to apply trace (micro) chemicals as foliar feeds until the lime is leached (washed) out of the container.

My bougainvillea hedge has put on quite a bit of growth as a consequence of the recent rains. And lost much flower. Most of the varieties have still got some flowers, however, and this is due mainly to excellent drainage which gets rid of water almost immediately. Nevertheless, they just loved the dry.

Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) grows surprisingly well in the West Indies, and I suspect may grow well in this part of South America as well, providing the drainage is perfect. Anyway I am going to try it out there are a few plants with a more pleasing scent which require so little maintenance once established.

I am at present in England and today (January 3), it has started snowing. The forecast is for heavier falls. There is little to do in the garden here. The ground is solid because it is frozen, and it will be so for many weeks. Really the only thing that can be done is the pruning of dormant trees. No pruning of evergreen trees can be done – this is normally a task for the month of August. It is possible for dead flower heads to be cut off, and many use them for house decoration if they are attractive enough.

Really good melons are not often found at Bourda Market. Many I see are far too large, but it is sometimes possible to pick up some excellent fruits about 3