April 18th, 2010

Tulip time in the garden....

Ramona - a lovely favourite with sentimental ties

A delightful pink tulip whose name I have forgotten

Pat's pretty red and white tulips

The last few days of sunny weather with the occasional shower to refresh the thirsty flowers has made such a difference in the garden.  Everything vibrant and growing, - and of course that includes the coutch grass and the dandelions (whose lovely golden blooms make the pasture glow but whose deep roots and spreading leaves are not welcome in the garden).

My time in the garden is a constant skirmish with the grass and the dandelions, but I am on constant lookout for the first sign of the underground Chinese Lantern Railway!!!!

The daffodils are looking sad and need to be snipped, but there are a few late double daffs which are really lovely.

A lovely pink blossom tucked behind the Elephant's Ear, and next door the yellow Alyssum reflects the sun.

The flowering almond flanks the little patio which is quickly being covered by a ran-a-way thyme plant.

In the orchard the apple blossoms are showing pink, and the cherries and plums and peaches are in full bloom.

Small bits of sky fall to earth and brighten little corners with the glorious blue of the forget-me-nots and the tender shade of the violet.

Soon, when the soil warms a little more, I must plant some annuals.  Some nicotiania, nasturtiums, four o'clocks, morning glory, zinnias and oh, many more to put in pots along the front of the house when all the dandelions and others spreading weeds have been dealt with.

What a man needs in gardening is a cast-iron back, with a hinge in it.  ~Charles Dudley Warner, My Summer in a Garden, 1871 - and a woman even so...... my thoughts tonight after two or three hours in the garden - my current battlefield.