Friday 10 May 2013

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!

29 comments:

  1. what a lovely post Elaine you do them so well with your menagerie I dont know how you find the time to do all your blogs

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    1. Thanks David - unfortunately I don't have a menagerie any more and finding time for blogging at the moment is hard - I get way behind reading other people's posts as well.

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  2. Lovely post to read, we also had rabbits for years and years and the wallflowers with their delicious scent, I have them already more then 20 years along the front wall of our house. The old ones die but there are always new ones by selfseeding. Beautiful spring pictures, now we are looking forward to more warmth.
    Have a nice weekend.

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    1. Our weather has taken a turn for the worse but I still keep busy in the greenhouse sowing seeds etc. we have to have faith that we will get a summer this year. Have a good weekend yourself.

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  3. Our wallflowers died off this year si we haven't any at all I'm afraid.

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    1. So much perished over the winter I have quite a few plants - but I'm happy the wallflowers survived even though they small and somewhat diminished in size.

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  4. Your spring gardens are lovely. Sometimes an apple tree will become biannual if it gets stressed as a way to save itself. You might try a fertilizer and extra water.

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    1. I have top dressed it recently and moved the container to a more sheltered position - it is quite an old tree so maybe its days are coming to an end.

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  5. What a wonderfully colourful selection of plants! You have some particularly fine varieties of Tulip.

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    1. I only wish tulips would carry on flowering every year - unfortunately they very rarely come back for a second year - so I have to replace them all.

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  6. Lovely post elaine.
    Your garden is looking lovely. I agree with your friend Karen.. some fertilizer for your apple tree.. mix it well into the soil and water well.
    I have never planted tulips. My daffodils are well finished.
    Your bouquet in the vase is delightful.
    Sorry that your weather is a little worse...
    Here's sending you some of our lovely sunshine..
    happy weekend. val xxx

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    1. Your sunshine hasn't reached us yet it has been a very stormy day today. Have a good weekend.

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  7. I love the cowslips and grape hyacinths, they are favourites of mine. I love the wallflowers, too, although they don't seem to have had a good year. The rabbits are cute; I can just imagine Bugsy following you around the garden. And "Pure" sounds interesting, I think I'll investigate that as a read.

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    1. Grape hyacinths are so obliging aren't they. They come up every year without fail, make nice big clumps and seed around. The colour is stunning and goes with just about everything. What's not to like.

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  8. Once again your spring colors make for a wonderful blog visit!! I love these!

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  9. Thanks for another enjoyable post and photos.
    Tree blossom is wonderful to see at this time of year, and it's a shame that it doesn't last longer.
    Flighty xx

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    1. You are right there - one puff wind and it is all gone - raining here at the moment and that doesn't help either.

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  10. Your apple is looking healthy, I hope it continues so.
    I haven't dared pack away my winter clothes yet, we have got the garden furniture out though..

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    1. I would just be happy if we got some apples from any of our trees this year - last year we had zilch.

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  11. Everything seems to be blooming and making the most of the time it has so there are some strange combinations going on at the moment. I don't think I have ever seen so much blossom in my garden! I watched Julie and Julia a little while ago and smiled at the exploits of her starting her blog. I hope things warm up again soon and you can get your furniture back outside. Take care. Chel x

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    1. I love blossom time - I don't think you really capture the beauty of it on camera - but I still keep on taking photos regardless.

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  12. What a delightful post. Everything looks so fresh and beautiful. I'm most envious to hear you have a log burner, I'd love one but it would cost a fortune to convert our gas fire.

    We have flowering cherry trees in our road that are half pink and white, it does look rather odd.

    Awwww.....those rabbits look ADORABLE!

    Looking at the tomato dish has now resulted in me having to make myself a sandwich, it looks delicious, and that book sounds right up my street.xxxx

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    1. We don't have gas in our village so we don't have much choice in the matter. I didn't think we would still be needing fires - but it has been really cold in the evenings - good job we still have plenty of logs in store.

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  13. What a pretty bouquet you opened the post with. Final this week, I have enough to make a bouquet or two myself! We had wonderful weather last week, but this week the temperatures have dropped drastically. Hopefully this means that the spring daffodils hang in there just a bit longer. Love the Julie and Julia movie and have watched it many times. Hubby and I hope to make an outdoor cage for our pet rabbit this summer. He deserves to be out in the fresh air I think.

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    1. There is certainly a bit more choice in the garden now for bringing flowers into the house. Our weather has changed again too and is much colder than it has been - now waiting for a bit more warmth before planting out all those summer plants.

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  14. Everything is looking great despite the change in the weather. It's the same here in Ireland. Lovely to see Wallflowers as hardly anyone grows them now. They have such a lovely scent. Hopefully Summer will come to visit soon.

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    1. I grow them every year firstly cos I love the variety of colours and they smell wonderful and they mix so well with tulips. We are back to colder weather as well - shame as I was enjoying a bit of sun at last.

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  15. You have such wonderful colour in your garden, Elaine, and I love how you make your bouquets, they are so pretty. The tulips and wallflowers together are a beautiful combination.

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