Friday 31 May 2013

End of Month View - May 2013



 It has been a beautiful sunny day and I intended to spend it at the allotment, unfortunately the sun lounger needed my attention!  I couldn't sit still for long though as I kept spotting weeds and things to tie up or snip back.


My favourite plants at the moment are the Aquilegias - so easy to grow and I love their self seeding ability.  I collected all the pale pink and white seeds last year to increase their numbers this year as the darker ones were beginning to take over. 

I'm also enamoured with the peonies.  I divided a large clump two years ago and they have filled out again this year.  The front garden is carpeted with saxifrage.  My mother and I visited her local garden centre two years ago and we found a brown, near dead pot in the bargain section.  Mum worked her magic and we divided it up a few weeks later.  We sold her house recently so I now have the whole plant .... everywhere! My bit has spread but hers went mad ... so I have pots of it! 

I did manage to get to the allotment later in the day and spent an enjoyable but unproductive half hour chatting to a friend and admiring the beautiful plot next to ours.  The grass is manicured, the raised beds are immaculate and the fruit cage is immense.  I have grass long enough to hide a large hare, weeds instead of veg and I know there are strawberries in there somewhere!! Lots of work to do then!  I've loaded up the car with everything I need for a full day tomorrow - my husband suggested a flame thrower but I think that was a bit harsh!  I'm too ashamed to show photos ... you MIGHT get a before and after shot once I've put some work in tomorrow .... who knows .... that sun lounger might need holding down again.


Visit The Patient Gardener for more End of the Month views.

Wednesday 29 May 2013

It's oh so nice to go travelling but ...

We have just returned from a trip round Scotland  ...  Aviemore,  Cairngorms,  the Isles of Lewis and  Harris and Loch Ness. 
It was lovely to travel but I was pleased to get home again to see my cat and the garden.
I took this the day before we left:


We came home to this:


The honeysuckle is a delight - the perfume fills the air and the pink flowers complement the Aquilegia, pink Oriental Poppies (not flowering yet but getting there!) and Lupins.  I added the Alliums this year.

It's my favourite part of the garden at the moment.  The white grass under the tree will need careful attention in future as I took a small spadeful from my mother's garden in 2011 but it has spread. 


The cherry blossom was in full swing when we left but the tree is bare now. That's okay because the lilac has taken over.


 Outside the kitchen door was more amazing growth.  From this:


... to this:


And this:

... to this:

The veg patch is coming along nicely too.