May....at last

But it remains bitterly cold.  We managed to visit the Botanical Gardens plant sale and bought a fair few plants for the Outlaws' garden (plus 3 plants for ours).

We were first in the queue, ready with our collapsible baskets, taking a peek over the gate at the huge greenhouse filled with all the lovely ladies ready to share their experience and hand over the young plants.  The Man That Can and Bumblebee are well organised for these events as I try to surge through the crowd of fellow gardeners to get the best specimens.  These plants are as healthy as can be, not to mention cheap as chips!  A much better place to buy than at a garden centre.

The inclement weather has delayed the Outlaws in preparing their patch, so I arranged their new acquisitions on a sheltered step in a suggested design in the hope that they will be planted over the bank holiday.  Should they need any assistance we're only a few minutes away, but I'm sure they're quite capable.  

Back in our own little piece of Yorkshire, I busied myself in arranging the new bare rooted shrubs that had arrived, along with the new plants bought today from the sale.

The clematis 'Shikoo' bought last week was also planted to scramble along the wires and over the apple tree.

One of the troughs was filled with a mix of ericaceous compost and John Innes, now home to two evergreen azaleas and a pieris.

The plants bought last week have been arranged around the pond in anticipation of being planted tomorrow.  The plants at the back were tidied and the log pile was repositioned in the most inaccessible part of the area so it gets least disturbance.

(The top two photos added after the plants around the pond were planted on Bank Holiday Monday morning. They include a blue vinca, a white flowering aubretia, an evergreen fern, a small clump of spent snowdrops and scented iris.  There are also two bergenias, a grass, a small clump of pinks and a prostrate variegated euonymous).

Finally, The acer that was in a disintegrating terracotta pot in the front garden was repotted and given a new home in the Yen Garden. It's a great draping shape.  The old pot was broken up to be used for drainage later...not much gets wasted in our garden.

In its place we've planted a weigela.  It doesn't look much yet but in a couple of years it'll be perfect for this spot.

Instant gardening is for the rich and impatient.