Warm Spring Sunshine

Each season I find something that makes me happy.  In spring it's the speed at which everything comes together.  The sun becomes brighter and warmer, the days longer.  The birds fill my heart with their song, the leaves unfurl and as each flower swells and bursts open, I cannot imagine wanting to be anywhere but in the garden.  

These three photos show just how quickly acer Aureum leaves explode from tightly wrapped buds when the warm spring days arrive. 

In the Yen Garden, crimson rhododendron flowers are about to bloom.

The pruning of this Japanese cherry blossom, prunus serrulata Kanzan, has paid dividends as it is now smothered in sugary pink, nectar rich clusters that are a magnet for bees.

Above, acer palmatum Sango-kaku is now in full leaf, as is the rich deep tone of what we think is a. dissectum Garnet. 

Sitting beneath the wisteria laden arch that leads to the Yen Garden, sat a large green glazed pot containing cannas.  Today I dug these up and repotted them into a smaller container of the same design. 

The larger green pot is required for a greater purpose, which be revealed at a later date.

The increasingly rare sighting of our very own Bumblebee. He doesn't often venture into the garden, however the lockdown has caused many folk to behave in unusual ways, and the wildlife are thriving as a result!

In the meantime, The Man That Can has been a busy bee also.  Last week I removed the rotting log roll from either side of the arch on the patio.  This week, TMTC has removed all the concreted stones along the edge of the left hand side and along the Long Border.  This has created a trench of around 7 or 8 inches in width. 

He then filled the trench with a mixture of old compost and top soil, before removing the rotting log roll. In the coming weeks I shall bring some of the lower growing plants forward into this new space to blend it all together.

Hard work over for now, it's time to enjoy the garden.  A pleasure for all the senses. 

Another Bank Holiday Weekend

But vastly different from the last as there's very much a chill in the air.

Bank holidays are generally big business for garden centres who are more than happy for you to hand over your hard earned cash in return for great looking summer bedding plants...but beware as there's a frost looming that can kill those young plants.  Bring them into a porch, shed or garage if you don't have a greenhouse or coldframe.  If that isn't possible, throw over some fleece and tuck them up against the house.

The roses are beginning to flower, thanks to the unseasonably warm April.

At the top, orange r. Maigold in the front garden, pink r. Special Daughter in the Terrace Border...

...and white r. Margaret Merrill also in the front garden.  I hope they make it safely through the cold snap.

In the Yen Garden the Cotinus coggygria (smoke bush) is finally coming into leaf.  It's difficult to get the light right to show just how beautifully vivid the red-purple foliage is.

The rhododendron is happily joining the spectacle too.

With a backdrop of hundreds of pale pink clematis Montana Rubens blooms, the final daffs sing out.

A little movement in the Long Border is required to fit in another tree.

Having removed the syringa Sensation which didn't seem to be particularly thriving in the Long Border, the Photinia red robin standard (which is still a work in progress) has been moved along and the new tree planted.

The label states that it is an Acer aureum but it doesn't have the promised red new foliage.  I couldn't find a picture of the bark on t'interweb but I'm certain the blurb somewhere would mention the unusual colouring and stripes. 

We have therefore contacted the nursery for confirmation of the variety. 

The syringa Sensation has been replanted in the Terrace Border in full sunshine which should improve the vigour and flowers.

Aquilegias, as mentioned last time, are quite promiscuous and cross so easily.  This can produce some lovely variations. 

In the newly emerging Mugwort's Retreat, a new seating area is being created.

This will form a much needed private area now that our neighbour has converted their loft including a balcony with doors.  Their views must be amazing, but it's made my agoraphobia kick in again, hence all the trees.  Making a garden is a wonderful task.  Not being able to actually sit in it to enjoy all that beauty is so heartbreaking. 

On a brighter note, a young robin has been happily pottering about in the back garden while we work, coming closer and closer to see what goodies we might be digging up.  We hadn't seen our usual robin since last autumn (hopefully old age rather than the neighbour's cat has been responsible).

This new robin looks young and sleek.  Today he discovered the bird feeders in the front garden.  He spent around 5 minutes on a recon before flitting off again.  He's easily unnerved by the marauding sparrows but if he's anything like his predecessor, he'll soon make our patch his territory and defend it fiercely.

Other new visitors spotted today were a pair of greenfinches! It's been a couple of years since they were last seen but I could hear their distinctive voices before they descended on the sunflower hearts.

Our bird feeders are positioned just outside our sitting room window at the front, and keep me entertained for many hours.  Along with sparrows, regular feathered friends include goldfinches, long tailed tits, coal tits, great tits, blue tits and blackbirds.  The latter are very amusing to watch in the birdbath, which is a large black plastic plantpot saucer on a stack of bricks to raise it to viewing height.  We put a couple of rocks in it to keep it steady and it's relatively secluded beneath the Photinia in the front garden.  All the birds use it, whether to bathe or drink from it so it is regularly cleaned and replenished. There is another saucer-bath set up in the Long Border.  It's thirsty work raising chicks!

May's End

I could quite get used to being a lady of leisure; directing my team what to do and when, sitting with a cup of tea watching them do all the work...who am I kidding? I'm too much of a control freak!

However, for now I have to do just that as I'm not allowed to lift so much as a mug of Tetley!  I'm also not allowed to drive yet which is very frustrating.

So this week's post is dedicated to my darling husband (The Man That Can) and Bumblebee, our younger son who have both had to put up with me standing over them while they tend to the matters of green thumb.

Having been chauffeured to the garden centre last weekend, I have chosen a pink theme for my bedding this year.

The Man That Can added some slow release fertiliser and fresh compost to the terrace planters before adding osteospermums, petunias, verbenas, calibrachoa and lobelia, along with the overwintered Pelargoniums from last year.

The same theme was carried through to the hanging baskets...

And the containers on the terrace.

He and Bumblebee replaced the weed membrane I had successfully used in previous years in the mangers, and planted them up with the remaining bedding plants before attaching them below the kitchen window.

Down in the Yen Garden, TMTC moved rhododendron Christmas Cheer to the side now it has finished flowering, and after removing the definitely deceased acer, planted up a trio of Canna plants. I have never attempted these before, but the soil medium is correct, as is the position in full sun.  The colour of the flowers will be a surprise as they were just cheap (but healthy), and if all goes well they will inject a shot of the exotic viewed through the moon window of the pergola.  If I'm feeling brave, I might entertain a banana plant or three!

Bumblebee very kindly swept up all the detritus (mostly fallen leaves from our neighbour's massive eucalyptus tree) from the whole terrace and patio, with a little help of TMTC armed with the dustpan and brush.

Rosa Special Anniversary in the terrace planters.

The Eryngiums are doing well so far with lots of flowers forming.

A closer look at Bumblebee's pot which again features blue bedding plants.

In the front garden we have an issue with the staghorn tree which has developed a split in the bark from which sap is emerging. We'll keep a close eye on this, and hopefully it will have no detrimental effect and will heal over.  There are signs of historic fissures which have done so.

Behind this tree rosa Maigold has a great display, with plenty more buds waiting their turn.

Rosa Margaret Merrill has also begun to open sweet-scented flowers.

There are a fair few self seeded plants around the garden, many of which I allow.  I have no idea where these orange and yellow poppies have come from, but they go well in this area, particularly against the near-black foliage of heuchera.

Foxgloves seem to colonise well here too.  I did intend on moving many of these earlier this year, but I ran out of time before my surgery. 

Another plant that fills any bare soil here is aquilegia.  In previous years I have removed quite a few of these in both the front and back gardens as there were too many wishy-washy shades.  I kept the best and let them spread under just a wee bit of control.

Ceanothus Italian Skies is blooming marvellous, and is well matched with the hardy Geranium growing at its feet.

The final job for this week was the trimming back of the Photinia red robin that provides very effective evergreen privacy from the outside world.  It's a wonderful plant with bright red young foliage and responds extremely well to regular pruning.

However, it does tend to hide the rhododendron...which is fine for the majority of the year, but when the rhododendron flowers we actually want to enjoy it.

It was a couple of years after we moved in before we actually realised we had this rhododendron and have spent the last two years rejuvenating it.  Therefore the Photinia needs to behave while its neighbour shines.

I am very impressed with how much knowledge TMTC has retained over the last 6 years we've been working on this garden and was able to prune the Photinia without much interference from me.

And now the rhododendron can really show off.

Around half of the Photinia has been pruned back to the previous year's growth. This will allow fresh red foliage to emerge, at which point the other half can be pruned back in the same manner.  That way, the much appreciated privacy can be maintained.