Sunday, April 18, 2010

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.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

Yesterday was one of the occasional sunny days we have been having lately, and so I put in my alloted time in the garden (which alas diminishes every year - an hour at a time is pushing it these days).  Nevertheless, it was productive and enjoyable and I dispensed with a number of dandelions and a few square yards of the prolific vine that escaped a few years ago from pots I put out to fill empty spaces.

Were there ever any empty spaces in this garden, - well, not for the last few years.

I noticed there were buds on the peonies, - both the regular ones and the oriental, and the red tulips are on the verge of blooming.

When posting pictures of the old Lost garden to Daybyday last night I jotted down a few plants I would really like to have in the garden here.

Astilbe / canterbury bells / pearly everlastings / evening primrose (the little ground hugging ones) and some lovely smelly regal lilies.  I will try to do something about them this year.

Here are some pictures of the garden as it is.


sweet violets

a little clump of King Alfreds


first blooms on the bleeding heart


red tulips from Pat


the Oriental peonies after a shower


peonies, growing by leaps and bounds and starting to bud


the elephant ear hides its blossom before it starts reaching for the sky


the flowering almond on its way to becoming a vision in pink


the rhubarb which looks delightful but alas, seems woody again this year


K mountain, in a lacey cap this showery April day