April – Sunshine, Windchill and Flowers

Published on by Catherine22 Comments

I’m sure everyone up and down the country has been wondering what happened to the weather, after the lovely sunny & pleasant temperatures we enjoyed last weekend! Where I am we’ve had a marvellous amount of sunshine this week, which has been brilliant, but it’s also been combined with spells of heavy rain and bitterly cold, strong winds.

Those winds were strong enough to break a climbing rose, ‘A Shropshire Lad’, free of the obelisk it was growing on. I found it lying on top of other plants, but remarkably, without any apparent damage. With the help of husband, I managed (with a few scratches) to get it back up and tied in again. It seems none the worse for wear, but time will tell.

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Easter Weekend

Published on by Catherine23 Comments

This weekend we’re forecast to have blue skies and wall-to-wall sunshine. That doesn’t happen too often on an Easter Weekend holiday. I’m planning to spend the day working in the garden, but yesterday we had two young grandchildren with us. Swimming at the local pool took up most of the morning then home for lunch and out again for a pleasant walk in the local nature reserve where we even spotted two deer.

We stopped at the seafront on the way back because I knew the ice cream van would be there. The prom was very busy and I prefer not to be there when it’s like that, instead I’m happy to leave it to those who can only visit on holidays and weekends. The wind was very cold, though it didn’t dissuade some hardy folk from paddling in the water. But you can’t pass by the ice cream van when you have a four-year-old and a nine-year-old with you! After the ice creams were scoffed we headed back to our house where they played in the sunshine in the more sheltered garden until Dad arrived to take them home. It was a lovely day.

I hope you’re all going to have a lovely weekend with loads of sunshine!

But let’s get on with this Saturday’s six. First of all, we have Narcissus Tete Boucle. This is one that I haven’t grown before. Initially, I wasn’t too sure about it, but as the flowers continued to open my opinion changed. I’m smitten. I’ll grow this one again.

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Glorious Spring

Published on by Catherine22 Comments

Perhaps it’s too early to label the Spring of 2023 as glorious. It’s been a miserable, cold winter, and spring got off to a poor start, but this week has seen a huge change in my little part of the world. The sun has finally returned (not every day – that would be asking for too much!) and temperatures have moved upwards rapidly! It’s great to have some real spring weather. Perhaps I should reserve that title until spring 2023 is almost over, for knowing my country as I do, we will have wild stormy days ahead, probably frost and possibly a dusting of snow, along with rain, sleet & hail! But today the sun is shining – and it’s glorious!

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The Learning Book

Published on by Catherine6 Comments

Our littlest grandson has been trying very, very hard to understand the seasons. It can be a confusing concept for young children to grasp, especially when seasons don’t behave as expected.

A couple of weeks ago we were treated to a very sunny afternoon. We’d been through a long spell of grey, dark, wet and uninspiring days. It was like that when we left to collect him from the nursery that afternoon. But on the drive home, out came the sun and we made the decision to stop off at a local play park. It was by the sea and bitingly cold. I thought, if I can endure the cold wind for 10 minutes or so, that’ll be enough time for all of us!

When we arrived at the play park he asked,

“Is it summer?”
“Do we have sun cream with us?”
“Can I have an ice cream, please?”

You’ve got to love them at 4 years old!

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A Magical Mystery Tour

Published on by Catherine8 Comments

I thought hard about buying the Itoh Peony ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ last year as it was a bit pricey. The photographs that accompanied the peony were so lovely that I eventually caved in to temptation and bought it.

It was a fairly small tuber, and its home was to be a wooden planter in a sunny spot. It grew well, the leaves were lovely and then buds appeared. I was so excited to see buds growing in the first year of planting! I watched it daily until that first bud unfurled. Well, I’ve got to tell you – I was so disappointed. The young flowers were a fairly rich magenta, and there was no sign of the lovely corals and creams on the marketing images.

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