Tag: Forget-me-nots

The Two Ballerinas

Published on by Catherine24 Comments

The garden is currently getting a good watering from above. The wind (thankfully) dropped earlier in the week and the rain arrived on Thursday. I’ve had to take the hose to a good number of plants this week so I’m happy to see the rain as the garden was parched. Now I’d appreciate if it would kindly pause for a while to let me get on with some essential garden jobs that I’d love to tackle today. I’m fairly optimistic that will happen later today.

Moving on to the subject of this Saturday’s post, the first ‘Ballerina’ is the lovely Tulip ‘Ballerina’ that has made me very happy this week by flowering. T. ‘Ballerina’ is a beautiful, elegant, lily-flowered tulip with petals of orange, flushed with red and yellow. To top that off, it’s perfumed. I’m smitten with this one!

Continue reading “The Two Ballerinas” →

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.

Continue reading “April – Sunshine, Windchill and Flowers” →

March 2023 – and it’s hello again from me.

Published on by Catherine10 Comments

If you follow the meteorological calendar, then it’s springtime right now and you can say farewell to winter. If you follow the astronomical calendar, then spring starts on the 20th of March this year. Either way, it’s close enough to inject us with all the hope and excitement that fresh life in the garden brings. Perennials will be popping up from the cold soil and trees and shrubs will be starting to bud. Late winter bulbs are blooming, and early spring bulbs are pushing through the soil with great determination.

It’s also now time for me to get this blog back up and running. I thought I’d be away for a number of months, but one accident was followed by another, then another. I won’t bore you with the details. Time had unexpectedly moved on and I hadn’t.

I’m looking out my window as I type, and the garden is starting to morph from a barren wasteland to one with spreading greenery (mostly, I have to say, due to the forget-me-nots that seem to adore this heavy clay soil) and little pops of colour from snowdrops, crocus and hellebore. Narcissi are in bud, and a few have opened, adding some welcome rays of sunshine to my view.

There are so many fabulous plant combinations in today’s plant-rich world, some of which would take your breath away, but at this point in time, mine is the tulip and the lovely little forget-me-not combination. The images are from previous springs.

Continue reading “March 2023 – and it’s hello again from me.” →

Six on Saturday 2020 16-05

Published on by Catherine21 Comments

Most of the focus this week has been on hardening off plants. The pelargoniums and dahlias have been out during the day for around 10 days now, but every time I think it’s going to be safe to leave them out, the forecast slithers downwards and I have to put them back undercover.

The pellies are now at the front door, they’ve outgrown their greenhouse space and had to leave. Evicted, if you like. Overnight Continue reading “Six on Saturday 2020 16-05” →

Six on Saturday 2020 11-04

Published on by Catherine20 Comments

Many of my spring plants and bulbs are starting to fade now, and I’m beginning to empty a few pots. When I look around the garden for colour – it’s mostly green, but that’s a sign of new growth, new plant life, and the march towards brighter, warmer weather.

The crab apple, Malus Evereste, will be in bloom soon, as will Amelanchier ‘Ballerina’. Acer ‘Bloodgood’ always puts on a good show in spring, especially in the early morning when the sun is backlighting its leaves. The tulips are pushing up to peek over the tops of their pots, and a few in one of the borders are almost ready to open. Continue reading “Six on Saturday 2020 11-04” →