IN LIKE A LION

March has surly kept up the tradition this year with heavy wintry showers of hail and rain, and winds that would cut you in two. Gardening had to be confined to the greenhouse, and as a lot of the seedling Primulas are in bloom hybridising was the order of the day. At least there is no problem from bees or flies at this time of the year and definitely not on a cold and blustery day.

This is something of a delicate process as the use of a magnifying class and a special pair of pointed tweezers is required. I have long since give trying to find a suitable brushes small enough for the task.

The most tedious part of the work is recording the crosses that are to be made in the record book. This is the same system as I use for the seed. All the plants that are to be served with the same pollen are placed on the bench at one end of the greenhouse. The plant with the ripe pollen is then brought up and the pollen grains carefully distributed to the sticky stigmas. The magnifying glass is used to establish that each one has been properly served, and then they are carefully labelled.

After searching for a number of years I finally discovered suitable labels small enough to do the job without being intrusive. The small labels use by jewellers to price watches and such things is just the right size. The record is made with a sharp pencil and the small tie cord on the label is then passed through the hole in the bottom of a six-inch plastic label, which is then inserted, into the pot up side down. This keeps the label clean as it is well clear of the pot and also leaves the plastic label intact as it has not been written on.

The Alpine house is a awash with colour at the moment with the Cyclamen still managing to hold on to most of their flowers, the Allionii primulas are all in full bloom. All the Dionysias bar two are in flower, the Asiatic primulas are starting to bloom, and there is still a few Narcissus and the beautiful blue and white Tecophilea c.leichtlinii. With such a display one is loath to leave even when the window of the kitchen is tapped sharply, a signal that refreshments have been prepared, and if harsh words avoided it is best to make haste in that direction.

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