Friday Flowers . What's in Bloom and Goodbye to Alfie and Eddie

These redhot tulips were picked from my cutting garden - well, in real life they are more of a burnt orange - mixed with yellow archangel and cowslips - they certainly pack a punch.

I can never understand how these delicate Dicentra plants survive the harsh winters  when I have lost so many other 'sturdier' ones.

The Cornflowers are beginning to flower - they, at least, come back every year without fail and make a welcome early addition to the borders.

This pale lemon Heuchara with its bright green leaves is a very understated addition to the borders but it is a good filler plant that grows well in shade and splits easily.

The same applies to the Lady's Bedstraw which has really taken off this year - apparently its perfume increases if picked and dried - it used to be used as a strewing herb.

The Solomans Seal has popped up not far from where is was planted it usually gets attacked by saw-fly and doesn't look this good for very long.  You can see the Comfrey pushing its way through underneath it.

The Polyganum, I call it a bottle-brush plant, is planted in a large container where I can keep it well-watered.  Originally it was planted in the bog-garden, which we no longer have - it just wasn't boggy enough.

A couple of weeks ago I was bemoaning the fact that we didn't have many Forget-me-Nots this year - well I was wrong, they have popped up everywhere - there is a sea of blue all over the garden.

And finally, the James Grieve apple tree with its lovely apricot coloured buds is putting on a great show.  Praying for an apple crop this year.

Goodbye to Alfie and Eddie

It has been a sad week for me - my two grass-eating machines have gone. 

I got up at 6.30 a.m. every morning for the last 10 years or so - come rain or shine to

feed and water them. Saving titbits, cabbage leaves etc. for them to enjoy.

I reared them by hand - they were pets who served no useful purpose except to keep

the grass down in the field.

I shall miss their little faces every morning waiting at the gate expectantly - I won't go into

any detail as to why they are no longer with me or I will get a bit emotional.

Stupid I know - they were only sheep after all.

Alfie

Eddie

Goodbye old pals.

A Posy for May . Garden Update and Cherry Blossom

The lovely sunny weather has departed and left us with strong winds, and although rain was forecast, we haven't had all that much.  It has turned colder too we are still lighting the log burner in the evening.

An unexpected and unplanned combination of tulips and wallflower beautifully co-ordinated.

I love this tulip and buy it every year - such delicate markings - and as the flower head ages it turns into a soft lilac colour.

The daffodils have all but finished but the tulips are still going strong, there are buds on the lilac tree, which didn't flower at all last year and the ornamental cherry is garishly showing off its blossom.

If you can spot the white blossom in the top left hand corner - this branch has reverted to type from where it was grafted and produces small cherries which get scattered all over the garden and produce tiny plants.

The wallflowers are taking centre stage now but compared to other years the plants are rather small perhaps they didn't take too kindly to the long winter.

The container apple tree - Charlotte - is the first one to blossom.  I haven't had any fruit for a couple of years from it and it has suffered from mildew - so although it looks healthy enough at the moment - anything could happen - shame, because it produces a great tasting apple.

This Spirea is flowering its socks off at the moment - when it isn't in flower it is quite a boring shrub, but it is certainly making up for it just now.

And in the wild garden - my name for the bit of garden that is full of weeds that I can't seem to eradicate - the grape hyacinth and cowslips are magnificent.

Memory Lane

For many years I kept a variety of rabbits - it was the only livestock I had room for

other than cats and dogs. 

top left - Coco

top right - Mary Mungo and Midge

middle right - Bugsy

and

Daphne - bottom right

Bugsy was my favourite - I had him for years  and he was as tame as can be - when I was working in the garden he would follow me round and keep me company.

A Dish to Make

I have been finishing off the tomatoes I froze at the end of summer last year.

Fried tomatoes on ciabatta is a favourite lunch of mine.

I saw it being made and eaten when I watched the DVD

Julie and Julia - if you love eating and cooking then this is the film for you.

Meryl Streep's voice gets on your nerves a bit but it is a great film.

A Book to Read

This is the next book on my pile to read

Deep in the heart of Paris, its oldest cemetry is, by 1785, overflowing, tainting the

very breath of those who live nearby.  Into their midst comes

Jean-Baptiste Baratte, a young, provincial engineer charged by the king with

demolishing it.

At first Barratte sees this as a chance to clear the burden of history, a fitting task for a

modern man of reason.  But before long, he begins to suspect that the

destruction of the cemetry might be a prelude to his own.

Hope you all had a good week despite the change in the weather - it's a good sign that the weather will turn when I get the garden furniture out of storage for the summer, and pack away my winter clothes.
That's life!

A Mini-May Heatwave . The Tulip Season and a Newt

Hello May - where did you come from and where did April go?  That has to be the quickest month ever.  I suppose it is because there is so much to do in the garden that I hardly noticed its passing.  I have finally just about caught up with everything - the weather has been so wonderful that staying indoors wasn't an option.  Seed sowing, pricking out and transplanting has been full steam ahead and now all everything needs to do is grow.

The garden is changing, every day there is something new in flower.  The daffodils are going over and the tulips are coming into their own.  I usually pick shades of purple and lilac tulips for my containers, but this year I seem to have chosen, yellows, apricots and cream.  I say seem to have chosen, mainly because I can't remember doing so.  I obviously had a funny turn in the garden centre at the time of choosing and a touch of amnesia.  Anyway it all turned out alright in the end.

These yellow tulips were the first to open a lovely cheerful colour and the apricot ones are turning orangey now but I don't even mind that.

A few pinky ones have sneaked in so I must have started off on the right track but  lost my concentration somewhere along the line.



At this time of year the garden is usually full of Forget-me-Nots but I think the winter did for them and I only have one border with them - it's a shame as I love to see them filling in all the gaps.

Pulmonaria . Mahonia . Tulips . Honesty . Dandelion . Camellia

A Seed to Sow



flower seedlings - Tithonia . Echium . Cosmos . Zinnia

Memory Lane

When we moved into this house almost thirty years ago it was completely uninhabitable and we had to bunk down at my father's house for a few weeks till it was made fit to live in.  The garden was filled with junk and hadn't been cultivated for years.  So everything was quite a challenge.  But little by little everything started to take shape and even now is still evolving.

All the conifers were removed, skips were filled with tons of rubbish and the picture on the right shows the garden after a couple of years.  This all happened when we were a lot younger and had the energy and enthusiasm to take on a massive restoration project.

Wildlife Corner

Newt basking in the shallows of the pond

Gorgeous sunset after a wonderfully sunny day

A Book to Read

I am really loving being able to be out in the garden again and enjoying seeing everything blossoming - how about you?

Damson blossom

Check out what's happening in my veg garden over at A Woman of the Soil - see you there