A STROLL ROUND THE GARDEN

Well it seems ages since I asked you to pop by and have a drink with me. So as a bit of a belated birthday celebration why don't you stop and raise a glass and take a look around the garden.

Wasn't it a chilly night here in Suffolk last night. I'm glad I'd tucked all the tender plants away in the shed and greenhouse.It was a real herringbone sky this morning..click and take a closer look at that cloud just above the treeIsn't this Iris a beauty...just perfect......

and the first of the Senetti flowers is out. I love the colour of this one.

Oops...just realised I've had the Morning Glory seeds soaking for two days; you can see their little roots starting to emerge...pour yourself a drink while I get them potted up.......

These black tulips are living up to their name...Queen of the Night

and the little Leopard's Bane we bought at Roys is flowering..........

I'm so glad the slight frosts haven't affected the Camellia flowers too much..........

and the two tone colour of the variegated perennial Wallflower is really unusual.

Don't you just adore the new red shoots of the Pieris

I'm so thrilled that my experiment of overwintering some Canna in the ground has worked; there are quite a few of these shoots coming through.

Ukbob has just recently bought a Lady Boothby climbing Fuchsia. We've had ours a few years now and it's just starting to shoot.
This is a relative of the Gunnera; but this is an "ickle" one; the leaves only grow to 4 inches at the most in our pond.

I'm so glad this fern is coming through; it's Ursula's Red ................

The begonia baskets are doing well.................
the first sign of a flower bud already!!!

I must plant these Anemone De Caan corms.....I just poke my finger in the soil down a couple of cms and pop them in.
Gosh we've even got some buds on the Acer dissectum...never had those before!

These are the Strawberry Spinach seedlings I've got to plant out. Scarecrow has given me a link to some great information (which includes a warning!)....click HERE to read it. Oh and you must visit her hubby's The Frugal World of Doc blog when you have a moment.....I'd highly recommend it...there are recipes, toys to make and lots more
Ruby is looking so much better than last Autumn...her move to the front garden has suited her.

I know it was in a photo recently but I just love this Cerinthe.........just look at the colour of it's "flowers"........
Hack's Red is still flowering well....it's in a pot...no room in the soil and is getting a bit leggy...I'll give it a prune when the flowers are over.....

Oh I didn't realise how late it's getting...the sun's going down

think we'll call that it for today. See you next time and HAPPY GARDENING!

WASHDAY BLEWS

I know you're wondering what on earth I'm posting a photo of washing for. Well this is actually a very exciting photo because yesterday, AT LAST, the sun was shining on the washing line!!!! With a warm, gentle breeze blowing it dried to perfection.

As Mick was a having a bed-rest day I thought I'd oil his bench. This is a job that Mick always used to do...isn't it funny that no matter how good the partnership is in a marriage....husband and wife always have "jobs" that are predominantly theirs. It's much the same with the plants in our garden......any vegetables and acid loving plants we class as being Micks.......even though I may have helped feed, prune and water it.........and vice versa the fuchsias are always considered mine...funny old world!

Back to the bench oiling. I wouldn't want to do this with Mick watching as I'm sure he would have disparaging thoughts at my use of a paintbrush....he is the expert in this department; and so with the weather being warm and sunny and Mick safely on his bed I got to work. The sun was really beating down on my back and I really started to sweat.......sorry...perspire!

Before

Although I always yearn for a larger garden it is nice that as the garden is so small that I can do little jobs out there but still (with the aid of an intercom and a large living room window) hear and see Mick.

After

The warm sunshine has really brought out the Celandine. I know it's considered a weed by many but I manage to keep it under control and it is so cheery!
I'm really getting hooked on Anemone blanda.......I'm going to put these on my wish list for the Autumn as I would be quite happy to smother the garden in them.

Spending more time outside means that it's easy to forget the indoor plants. It was a nice surprise for me, when I was watering them, to see this Aloe vera starting to flower.

The temperature yesterday went up to 18C..........I wonder how soon it'll be before hose pipe bans are threatened?

And today?...well it's only 6.30am but this was this mornings sky.....looking good!

JUST BRIEFLY

It was a fabulous weekend.....Sorry Women on the Verge I'm sure your snow will clear soon!....the weather was warm and sunny...almost Summer-like. I've been very good and NOT taken any photos of emerging shoots; but as I didn't have a camera this time last year I had to take a couple of the garden as a whole for me to look back on in the Summer and see the difference.

The ex-patio area...

I lifted the slabs to use on our shingle pathway so that I could get Mick's wheelchair up the garden.

Looking up the garden from the kitchen door.

Had to take a photo of this as it's the first time we've had a pink anemone blanda....ours are usually white or blue.

So glad that the Pieris is in flower I thought it may struggle as it's in a pot.
YUK................guess who's looking for Hosta shoots!

I know that as the weather continues to improve and we can get out into the garden more that I will be blogging less; well I'll be writing less.....though hopefully I'll find plenty of flowers to photograph.

THINGS ARE STARTING TO MOVE!

Now I realise that as Spring approaches we are all going to be ultra busy in the garden and with our Spring Cleaning (ha ha). These long leisurely cuppas are going to have to be put on hold for a while. It's going to be a case of a quick flit in and out and maybe a comment if you've time....it's OK I understand...I'm a gardener too remember! I have also got to curb my desire to photograph every single plant that starts shooting up.............everything's on the move now and we would be here all night! So I will TRY to only publish photos of plants; only as they come into flower; anything that's new to me or anything I think is unusual or particularly interesting. Now remember I did say "TRY" so forgive me if the odd little "shooting" photo turns up now and again.

I'd already taken a photo of this Toad Lily coming through so this doesn't count
and neither does this Wild Garlic. OK I know some people think of it as a weed but we seem to have it under control and it's great to cook with besides having very pretty flowers.
I do so love crocus when they open their flowers to the sun
and who could resist Anemone Blanda in flower
This is a job I must do; the Epymidium leaves need cutting off. If I leave them too long I'll risk cutting off the flower stems too; and these old leaves will start to look tatty soon.Look you can see the flower buds are starting to emerge!
The Fritillaria Persica buds are already stating to form!!!....since yesterday!

And just spotted the white Dicentra is coming through at last.

See!....now wasn't I good. I didn't photograph the phlox, the dog's tooth violets, the aconitum, the delphiniums, the...............

Oh... just one more thing; the Rincinus seeds, that Libby sent me, are now in soak.
Oh and there's more...this evening I read for the first time a blog by a lady called Olive......she is 107 years old! What an inspiraion to us all. To see for yourself click HERE.

THERE' SNO SNOW YET

Yet another incredible sunset last night; I just had to share it with you. This morning the skies are completely grey, it's frosty but we have no snow. When Lynn sent me this photo on my mobile this morningof Max playing in the snow in Surrey I thought I'd better finish the mulching I started yesterday before the snow reached us. It was absolutely freezing outside;
and I couldn't believe the fish were still happily swimming about.Even a little Anemone blanda was poking it's head into the chilly air.
Still I got the job done and the house felt soooo warm when I came back inside. I've just done an online Tesco shop.....and made sure I've ordered some ginger. My "pip challenge" stones are showing no sign of germinating and so I'd like to see if I have anymore success with a piece of ginger root. I really hope they have some in stock.