Spring Garden, despite the rain...

Click HERE to catch up with the wildlife in the garden on my YouTube @ripplestone channel.

 

Spring green and gold in the garden

 

kerria

wallflower

hardy geranium, rose, (behind rose) knapweed, phlox, lungwort and small daffs (flowering now over) getting ready for summer

pulmonaria (lungwort)

birdbox and bluetit (taken from indoors hence the blurry image)

new leaves on the little tree

rosemary in full flower

tulips 

new leaves for the elephant ears (bergenia)

grass seed beginning to grow on new lawn area

Spring arrives with Pasque Flowers & Pots of Seeds

The sudden spell in warm, dry weather has meant lots of growth in the garden and a chance to get out and get on with a bit of weeding and tidying up after such a long lockdown winter.

These Pasque Flowers are a lovely welcome sight for Easter.

The fierce frosts destroyed this old pot but the pansies it held survived, clearing up the pieces, I found this makers stamp with its pretty little flower motive intact.

Peacock butterflies have been emerging in the sudden heat this week, I guess from hibernation, a delightful distraction.

Indoors, pots of seedlings are taking over the windowsills, this week the heat beginning to make them too leggy! I've quite a few 'free plants' outside this year as well, as self seeders start to emerge, feverfew, love-in-a-mist, ox-eye daisies and strawberry plants and the warm temperatures have also meant the chance for a bit of sketching in the garden!

Wishing you Happy Easter.

Springtime in the Garden

 Happy St. David's Day!

After a weekend of beautiful blue skies & warm temperatures the little daffodils in the garden have bloomed, a lovely sight after a dismal winter. I have spotted bumble bees, honey bees & a brimstone butterfly over the weekend, along with more garden birds making the most of the sunshine.

Spring means it's time to reach for the seed tin, check what seed is still viable from last year & work out sowing times. I use a moon phase planting calendar to help plan timings. For germination, especially if sowing directly outside, it seems to help. There is a full moon towards the end of March so will aim to sow outdoors by then, if no frosts are forecast. 

I have bought some new flower seed for this year, Helianthus annuus 'Sonja' for the bees, some Mexican Marigold for companion planting, Phlox drummondii 'Creme Brulee' to fill in the borders & Brachyscome multifida 'Blue & White Mix' to use in pots for the patio. I found a few self-seeded foxgloves growing well & a few strawberry runners which have survived my neglect & the fierce recent frosts, these welcome free plants are always a bonus. 

 

Now it has stopped raining...

After so much rain this winter it was beginning to feel like the ground might never be dry enough to start working in the garden. But finally, some sunshine, some dry days and some spare time.
Getting the grass cut to a sensible length has taken several sessions of mowing, a week or so apart, using the highest blade setting to take off the top and allow the grass to dry out underneath.
The lovely soft ground has meant weeding is easy and so is digging. Unfortunately the dog has found the digging good too and we now have a few extra holes in the lawn to fill and seed...

The old shed/summerhouse, with its rotten roof, finally succumbed to the winter storms and so dismantling and clearing out has left us with a big new area to use. The new, smaller shed has arrived, flat packed, so a good project for the rest of this week (holiday! Not coronavirus... ). This will give us much more patio area up at the far end of garden where the leaf-free views in winter are an extra bonus. A little seating area might well be called for. Certainly the water butts will be better positioned and less intrusive this time.

Spring feels in full flight now it has stopped raining. Bees, birdsong, the daffodils almost over, a chance to sit and sketch. To top up pots with compost and split up the pot bound hosta. To check what vegetable seeds are still in date and sow some spinach and lettuce in the raised patio planters after meticulously picking out the weevil grubs and rejuventaing the compost...
Flower seeds need sowing, cosmos, wallflower, calendula and little drifts of seedlings need identifying in flower beds.

At least two butterflies have visited the garden today and a beetle flew past. The whirring wings and unwieldly shape awkward in the air. Washing down garden furniture and clearing away the old moss and dead leaves from paths, weeding out the worst of the winter brambles and self-seeders from walls and decking, the list of jobs is long but now, at this time of year, the light is pushing on past the afternoon and into the evening. Soon there'll be plenty of time to get it all done.

Rosemary in full flower.

Raised planters ready.

Spring colour.

New growth and plant pots to sort out.

Plant identification....

Go On, Grow a Tree!

After a tough summer of neglect for the garden, the last week has been a pleasure to get back to some Autumn maintenance. Some projects have been ongoing since we moved, the rejuventation and reduction of the trees and hedges, being one of these. Last week we tackled the remaining laurel hedge, deciding on taking it down by half in height and width, leaving it a 'Trisha-sized' scale for me to manage. There was also a lavetera for the chop, one of two I planted from cuttings taken from the garden. One cutting behaved impeccably, the other decided on world-domination and tried to crowd out the top flower bed, grapevine and nearby tree, not to mention the view... We'll have to dig out the stump or will have the same problem next year, I'm hoping the plants lost in its shade over the summer will survive.

I'm still working my way, very slowly, along the long flower bed by the new fence, clearing brambles, day lilies, overgrown clumps of kerria japonica and self seeding geraniums. I'll keep two of the kerrias, much reduced, so probably few flowers next year. New roses should arrive soon, climbers with scent and single flowers good for pollinators. The idea is to cool down a south-facing red brick wall, providing shade and cover.

Each year I try and grow a few trees, last year it was Monkey Puzzle trees, this year I couldn't resist a couple of lovely shiny conkers found on a walk, so two horse chesnuts, a pine cone and some cyprus seeds as well. Checking through my seed tin and there is still some Giant Redwood seeds so into the fridge with them for a few weeks. It will be interesting to see if any of these germinate. 

I was given a packet of Bird of Paradise seeds the other day, the packet is ancient (possibly 40 + yrs old!) and only contained two seeds but they look robust and so am giving those a go as well. I have also taken cuttings of hardy fuschia and an interesting geranium. Windowsills are always in short suppy over Winter!

Fir tree seeds

Avocado plant grown from fruit pip, fun for kids to try,

go on, grow a tree!

Twisted willows (Dragon's Claw) potted on

In search of green...

The sudden heatwave this weekend has made the soft greens of Spring seem all the more vibrant. Orange tip, Brimstone, Blue and Speckled wood butterflies are emerging. This morning I went out in search of green to photograph around the garden...

hostas, cornflowers, rose and oregano in pots

mini flower gems

new sunny gravel bed with low growing herbs, golden oregano

marjoram and thyme

rejuvenated lilac and willow 'dragonsclaw'

Spring greens!

January Trees

The arrival of new seeds to plant is always a  treat, especially in January. This year it is a packet of six non-dormant Monkey Puzzle seeds (Araucaria araucana). I hope they will germinate and add to the collection of small trees growing away, including the Giant Sequoias. I have also taken cuttings of the Salix babylonica 'Tortuosa' (corkscrew, tortured or my fave, dragon's claw willow). I have found the easiest way with these is simply to push bare stems in a pot in winter and watch them grow away in Spring.
I have planted my lovely Christmas gift of a Glastonbury thorn in a pot for now, until a permanent site can be found in the garden. Growing trees in containers, whether Bonsai or just small trees, is a lovely way to find a life-long connection to nature if space is limited. If you make one gardening resolution to keep this New Year, make it to grow a tree.

January frosts

Sequoiadendron giganteum

Dragon's Claw willow and Californian lilac

More frosts...

Monkey Puzzle seeds