6 Apr 2017

Thoughts on a sunny day

For a week forecast to be cloudy but mild, it's turning out rather splendidly.  I've seen bright warm sunshine every day. I was so enjoying the garden yesterday, looking at some of the amazing colour juxtapositions and  making the most of a dry and bright day to get some more gardening done,  that I ran out of time to post these Almost Wordless Wednesday photos. These are just iphone pics, snapped while wandering in the sunshine but I hope they give a flavour of what I enjoyed. I'm loving this spring weather - the perfect climate for me, not too hot!


So worth going out in the cold to plant bulbs in November - although these are the cheap ones planted three years ago and now coming back for their fourth showing. Bargain!


Drought border - so dubbed because the hose won't reach that far.
Lavender is coming back so strongly next to the Erysimum Bowles' Mauve that it's squeezing out a bronze Carex in between the two. Iris 'Edith Wolford' at the back gets a nice baking heat on its rhizomes, Cerinthe (left of pic) self seeded for which I'm always grateful, Euphorbia behind the Cordyline australis (trunk seen) will be interspersed with grasses when they reshoot and there's a curry plant and Stachys byzantina to echo the silvery leaves of the Erysimum just out of shot.  And I found my nemesis, the Rosemary Beetle, sunbathing on the Perovskia (behind the lavender)! 


Nice calm Anemone blanda and Galium odoratum in the shady border.


Mmmm, zingy!
Schiaparelli pink Pineapple sage flowers against euphorbia in the 'washing line' drought border.


Can anyone shed light on what this is? It's a cuckoo in the nest of my Sambucus nigra pot. Looks quite interesting though!


And, of course, frothy blossom everywhere! Cherry blossom (left), apple blossom (right)

How's the week shaping up in your spring garden?


24 comments:

  1. Isn't the washing line drought border combination glorious?! (I could never have guessed that I would write that sentence today!) The weather is fabulous, just like these photos, although, dare I whisper it? We need rain here. The soil is so dry, it's shocking.

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    1. It's even better when the Echinacea and Eryngiums get in on the act! I've had the hosepipe out in the middle garden where there's a nearby tap and will be filling the water butts for the veg patch and drought garden at the weekend. Evenings are too precious for gardening to be taken up with filling water butts at the moment! I think I'll stick with watering rather than rain, thanks! Hope you're well Sarah! xx

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  2. Pineapple sage flowers are such a thrilling colour. My sage is growing in a pot and although currently leafless there are signs of tiny green shoots up the stems. And having seen your border I will pop the propagated cuttings, that are sitting in the cold frame, into a bed in the garden when they are bigger.

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    1. I bought my first pineapple sage as a tiny plant and thought it would stay that way, Sue! Once in the soil, it quickly showed how big it could get and this one has so far been evergreen, having had two relatively mild winters. The plant is somewhat sheltered by the huge Cordyline behind but it's roots are in dreadful dry stony soil and it's south-ish facing. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how well these plants do - let me know! x

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  3. Your apple blossom is early. Cerinthe self seeds on our allotment too.

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    1. My apple trees are Braeburns - perhaps the variety of tree makes a difference? There are all sorts of self-seeders on the allotments - Lychnis coronaria (fab deep pink flowers!), Geranium phaeum, forget-me-nots, calendula - but I haven't spotted cerinthe yet. Hmmm, might have to take a few seeds up with me!

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  4. The tulips are early this year, mine are nearly over! Looking good Caro :)

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    1. Tulips here are still going strong, in fact just flowering up at the allotment from bulbs planted in the autumn, but the daffs were over in a couple of weeks - although I did see some lovely fresh white and yellow daffs at the plots yesterday. It's still spring despite the weekend's heat!

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  5. Oh it's gorgeous out there isn't it. And it looks particularly stunning in your garden. That blossom is utterly blissful. My apple blossom isn't quite open yet - only 2 or 3 days away I think, I can see the pink of the petals. The Egremont Russet blossom is particularly lovely, the backs of the petals are a real raspberry pink. CJ xx

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    1. And it's got even better since I posted this. I was at the plots yesterday and the first sight was the anemones and tulips that I planted late last autumn - SO colourful!! The apple and pear trees are in blossom at the plots but the plum blossom (at the flats and the plot) is all but gone. I like the sound of your apple blossom, it's worth thinking about what different seasons bring to the garden - I'd quite like a crab apple tree for that reason. Hope you're having a good weekend - Caro xx

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  6. Apart from Tuesday morning it's been a good week weather-wise and ideal for gardening/plotting. Lovely pictures which show what a good time of year it is, especially for blossom and tulips. Flighty xx

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    1. It's certainly been a great year so far for us gardeners, Flighty, and not just for flowers. It's been lovely to have warm weather for seed sowing outdoors. The plots are covered in flowers already, so unusual for April, and it seems this good weather is set to continue for a bit. xx

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  7. It's even been lovely down here this past two days. My knees are aching again from too much time spent clinging to the bank. Loving the drought border, mostly because I wish I could have one! I know, be careful what you wish for..

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    1. The west country is just the best when the sun shines - I'll think of your lush rained on garden when all is dust up here in the summer, Jessica. Hope your knees are bearing up in this nice weather - it's my back that usually the first to go with all the digging and bending - oh to be young again!

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  8. Beautiful flowers! I like both of the cherry blossom and apple blossom, something that I can't find here.

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    1. Spring blossom is stunning in our climate, Endah, but short lived. There are flowers and fruit in your garden that I would love to be able to grow here.

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  9. You have so much lovely colour, it must be wonderful working in your garden at the moment. The blossom makes sure that we look upwards as well as down, there is so much to enjoy at this time of year.

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    1. I know I say this in every season, Pauline, but spring (particularly in warm weather) is really uplifting when everything comes back to life. There seems to be one plant after another coming back to life and the garden just fills up again. Fantastic!

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  10. I love the colour of the tulips and the blossom is just gorgeous. My apple trees aren't out yet but the plums and pears are. I don't know what that unknown seedling is but they spring up in my garden too and I pull them as I'm sure they are some type of weed.xxx

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    1. Every year I think that I really should plant more tulips but that thought gets put to one side in the colder late autumn. I think I'll draw a map in my garden diary to remind myself this year because the colours are so welcome in spring. The seedling is one that I've not seen before - it'll have to go so it doesn't crowd out the pot but I might just pot it up and see what it turns into out of interest! xx

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