Ancient bluebell woodland at Keele University 12 May 2010
Showing posts with label spring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spring. Show all posts
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Friday, 9 April 2010
Spring Bouquet
Walking around the garden today I spotted some Euphorbias which were sooo zingy I had to cut some to bring them in the house. Thought I would share them with you :-)
I also thought the hellebores were looking particularly fine today
Hurrah for spring and the warm sunshine!
Monday, 22 March 2010
the weekend
Not much to report from the weekend as we were busy entertaining. But, lunch went down well (leek & potato pie, with pastry snowdrops on the top, roast taters and parsnips, followed by rhubarb and raspberry crumble) - and managed to get some homegrown produce in there which is always satisfying. The lion and tiger were hits with the boys (and parents!) with lots of loud roaring going on.
I went down to the allotment afterwards as it was such a beautiful day it would have been a shame to miss it, despite a full tummy. Got a bit of gentle digging done, sowed swiss chard, rainbow chard, beetroot and spinach, and got my shallots and onion sets planted. I'm going to go for a more permaculture approach this year as I'm not going to have as much time to spend down there, so I'm planning to grow more things in mixed patches (the two lots of chard and spinach were all sown together), much closer together so the weeds don't win out, and plenty of flowers like calendula in between. Hopefully this will mean that the allotment looks pretty rather than messy, which it usually does!
This is my 'raised bed' system for carrots: my carrots were rubbish last year, so hoping that this dismantled compost bin will help - and thwart the dreaded carrot root fly.
I've filled it with compost from my ungainly compost heap.
And last, but not least, here is a little froggy that nearly gave me a heart attack last time I was down there by jumping when I least expected it! The frogs are getting busy in ours and next door's ponds, so we may have frogspawn soon :-)
The garden is looking greener than ever, I really enjoy the anticipation of things coming up and getting ready to flower. The snowdrops are still looking pretty.
Our garden goes up a hill so is very shady and steep. The lower bit is terraced and is a mixture of cottage garden (well, that's the plan) and veg and chickens. The upper bit is becoming a wild garden. We had to clear mountains of ivy and bramble, but it is now grassed over and has loads of wild flowers like campion, self heal, toadflax etc dotted around - and bluebells of course!
Then:
And now:
Here are some wild arums (lords and ladies) just poking up:
Let's just hope the sunshine keeps up!
I went down to the allotment afterwards as it was such a beautiful day it would have been a shame to miss it, despite a full tummy. Got a bit of gentle digging done, sowed swiss chard, rainbow chard, beetroot and spinach, and got my shallots and onion sets planted. I'm going to go for a more permaculture approach this year as I'm not going to have as much time to spend down there, so I'm planning to grow more things in mixed patches (the two lots of chard and spinach were all sown together), much closer together so the weeds don't win out, and plenty of flowers like calendula in between. Hopefully this will mean that the allotment looks pretty rather than messy, which it usually does!
This is my 'raised bed' system for carrots: my carrots were rubbish last year, so hoping that this dismantled compost bin will help - and thwart the dreaded carrot root fly.
I've filled it with compost from my ungainly compost heap.
And last, but not least, here is a little froggy that nearly gave me a heart attack last time I was down there by jumping when I least expected it! The frogs are getting busy in ours and next door's ponds, so we may have frogspawn soon :-)
The garden is looking greener than ever, I really enjoy the anticipation of things coming up and getting ready to flower. The snowdrops are still looking pretty.
Our garden goes up a hill so is very shady and steep. The lower bit is terraced and is a mixture of cottage garden (well, that's the plan) and veg and chickens. The upper bit is becoming a wild garden. We had to clear mountains of ivy and bramble, but it is now grassed over and has loads of wild flowers like campion, self heal, toadflax etc dotted around - and bluebells of course!
Then:
And now:
Here are some wild arums (lords and ladies) just poking up:
Let's just hope the sunshine keeps up!
Friday, 5 March 2010
spring is on it's sweet way
I love spring, and every year I look forward to it even more. At the moment the first few crocuses are out in my garden, the bulbs are pushing their way through the cold earth and growing bigger and stronger day by day. I love watching the progress of the leaves on hawthorn trees, too - they are such a zingy green when they emerge - and they are tasty too!
Here is a mosaic of what I have to look forward to - photos of flowers in the garden I took last spring - not to mention the many new bulbs we planted over the summer :o)
1. Crocus, 2. Hellebore, 3. Crocus, 4. Aquilegia, 5. Aquilegia, 6. Aquilegia, 7. Aquilegia, 8. Pink hellebore, 9. Celandine, 10. Alliums, 11. New hawthorn leaves, 12. Primrose
Here is a mosaic of what I have to look forward to - photos of flowers in the garden I took last spring - not to mention the many new bulbs we planted over the summer :o)
1. Crocus, 2. Hellebore, 3. Crocus, 4. Aquilegia, 5. Aquilegia, 6. Aquilegia, 7. Aquilegia, 8. Pink hellebore, 9. Celandine, 10. Alliums, 11. New hawthorn leaves, 12. Primrose
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