I had two Bumblebees to help me this week in return for a slice of cake at the garden centre. They pulled the trolley, filled the car, and emptied it again for me.
Now that Good Friday is here, The Man That Can has a few days off for the Bank Holiday. Today is reported to be the best weather-wise so all the planting was done - he can rest for the remainder of the holiday as he's more than earned it since he's had to do pretty much all the planting for me.
In each planter is a 'Special Anniversary' rose. This is said to have a strong fragrance with deep pink flowers. These will be the focal point come the summer. Around each I have planted in clumps of 3, narcissus tete-a-tete, narcissus minnow, white hyacinths, blue muscari and snowdrops. There is a large clump of wallflowers and 4 different colours of violas, in clumps of 3.
Each season the bedding plants can be switched. Summer we have planned petunias and winter will be violas etc...you get the idea.
Bumblebee's 'Star Wars' has been potted up and has pride of place on the new seat.
There was a little too much topsoil in the planters so a bucketful from each was moved to the area beside the pond. In the building of the new patio, this area had to be raised up a little and the plants there repositioned. We also added another bag of plum slate to finish it off.
Around the borders everything is coming to life. Above n. Rip Van Winkle have unfurled. The hellebores below are still flowering their socks off.
Fat buds of delicate dicentra push through the warming soil.
A couple of saxifrage have been planted; two white and two pink. The latter yet to bloom.
Buds are swelling gloriously all around the garden filled with all that lovely scrumptious joy of the seasons yet to come. Above is one of twelve clematis we have; below one of 4 hydrangea.
Above Japanese Anemone.
Below another hydrangea.
We have various grasses with varying degrees of success. The festuca blue variety below was an unmarked one hidden on a rescue bench at the local garden centre. A few pennies for a pretty good specimen is a bargain in anyone's basket!
The above white flowering vinca should hopefully help with ground cover behind the shed. The pink bed seems mostly white at the moment but there are pink forget-me-nots, pink Bellis Perelis and a few clumps of primulas in various shades of pink. Only one patch of cyclamen appears to have come through the wet winter.
The clematis we planted last year seems a little sad on this side of the Folly so we've planted a scented honeysuckle to replace it. The clematis on the other side is growing well.
I keep forgetting to ask for the white astrantia clump in Bumblebee's plot to be moved...
His second rhubarb crown has thankfully recovered from the badger attack.
In the front garden, the hellebores are doing well. There is a rash of tiny plants beneath that we left to beef up from last year. I'll pot them up this year.
The new hebe 'Rhubarb and Custard' picks up the colours perfectly.
You may just be able to pick out the two new clematis. The one above is c. Niobe and below is c. Warsaw Nike. Both are a dark red/burgundy to help the climbing rose Maigold pop.
I will leave you with our lovely view from the kitchen window of the new patio, with the Folly below and across the valley to the hills beyond.
Happy Easter.
