Tree Following With Lucy ~ May 2015

"Oh white pear, your flower-tufts 
thick on the branch
bring summer and ripe fruits
in their purple hearts."

an extract from 'Pear Tree' by Hilda Dolittle.

As expected the blossoms on my chosen 'Doyenne du Comice' pear tree are mainly done and dusted. You can see above that there are still a few petals still clinging on tenaciously after Wednesday's rain. Here she is in fuller blossoming mode on the 15th, 19th and then on the 25th April ~

Alongside her companions have also been flowering. The other pear tree was first to flower whilst although the crab apple 'Red Sentinel' was last in the race it still retains most of its blossoms. I'm hoping that the extra petal power provided by the crab apple will increase the productivity of both of the pears. All three trees escaped the cold weather at the end of April, which sadly frosted the blossoms on one of my apple trees at the allotment. From now on I shall be watching my pear tree with bated breath for the embryonic fruits to start swelling. I hope that they heed the words of the poem.

In other news I think that she has gained some height - either that or I've shrunk. You can catch up with what is going on with other wonderful trees over at 'Loose and Leafy'. Thanks as always to Lucy for hosting.

Wordless Wednesday ~ 'Green Dream'

End Of Month View ~ April 2015

'Stealth' is this month's word - all sorts of flowers have opened in the blink of an eyelid and the month has evaporated just as quickly. The first floral find of the month was away from home in Cumbria where I was delighted to come across this bone china cup and saucer for sale in a charity shop. It's one of a set of 'The Flower Of The Month' series manufactured by Royal Albert. I have a few mainly cups featuring other months of the year. Himself also came across a book of Lakeland walks which together with the china cost the grand total of £3! I'm still quite understand the connection between April and the sweet pea but there you go.

In the middle of the month we returned to Cumbria for a visit that I was really looking forward to. We went to the Lyth Valley Damson Day but sadly I have no photos of blossoms to share. Nobody had told the blossoms to flower that weekend. This was a shame as the event is held annually to celebrate the arrival of spring in Westmorland and the damson blossom. Apparently this was the first time that the blossoms had not obliged. Still there was plenty to see and wander at including a dog agility competition, various demonstrations of rural crafts, damson products for sale and fortunately a couple of stalls selling guess what - plants! Needless to say I resisted the bouncy castle.

April here like as in most of the country has seen more sunshine than usual. The down side has that is has been extremely dry and not good planting weather. It's ending more true to form with some decent deluges during the last couple of days, so I'm hoping to to do some work soon in the gabion border which you can see below.

Spot The Dandelion!

It looked quite good for the first couple of weeks in April but the colour is now beginning to fade. The weeds are also making their presence known especially self seeded cow parsley. As I mentioned I want to inject more colour and plants in this area especially for later in the year. The thinking cap is still on. Hopefully I can report some action by the end of May.

Wildlife has been interesting this month but not always appreciated. My varied selection of sweet peas were decimated before they even germinated. I made the mistake of forgetting to put a propagator lid on the root trainers, resulting in nearly all the seeds being eaten by some furry little creature. We were away when this happened so it was particularly galling to rush to my greenhouse on return to discover the remains of seed cases littering the compost. Another lot has gone in but germination has not been brilliant with 'Beaujolais' being a complete no show.

Elsewhere a wren has decided to nest amongst my collection of pots of special snowdrops. I would normally be quite happy to welcome such a home builder but with it being so dry I've been worried about the plants not getting water. Himself being more pragmatic assured me that nests do get wet, so he used the hose with a fine mist attachment to water and hopefully neither bulbs or bird suffered. In other bird news we've had a moorhen visiting most evenings. Sometimes there are a pair of them so maybe a nest is nearby. They perch in the branches of the willow but look most uncomfortable doing so.

At the allotment there has been the usual endless tedious weeding. The weeds have been thriving in the warm weather. There are encouraging signs in the shape of strawberry flowers and the fruiting berries such as gooseberries are already showing fruits in the making. Sadly a midweek visit gave cause for concern as it looks as if one of the apple trees have been frosted. Two lots of spuds have gone in along with shallots. We've also replaced two of the raised beds that himself built when I took the plot on as the wood had rotted in places. There are plans to replace one more later in the year as well as install two new beds. We have chosen ones that will be easy to pick up and transfer in the future should I give up the allotment.

My April Pride And Joy - Malus x robusta 'Red Sentinel'

The greenhouse is getting fuller although I have reduced seed sowing this year and sown later. I thought that I would miss all the frantic activity but straneglet enough it's been quite liberating to have fewer plants to attend to. I've not even had to start the greenhouse shuffle yet and for once I've not found myself wondering around searching for mislaid seedlings or committing the crime of forgetting to label trays. It does mean that I give more attention to what I'm growing which is a positive. I'm also not having a plant stall at our garden club annual plant sale next month which again has reduced the need to worry as much about caring for so many plants.

I have been however active on the plant buying scene I'm pleased to report. Two plant fairs have come along this month so I've made the most of it. I've bought so many that I can't remember what they are but no doubt they will be revealed in the fullness of time!

With many thanks to Helen over at 'The Patient Gardener's Weblog' ,who enables us to chronicle our monthly retrospective thoughts and views. It's much appreciated.

Wordless Wednesday ~ It's A Bug's Life.

The Waiting Game

After what seems an interminable wait the very first ever flowers of my crab apple opened fully this weekend. They have been teasing me most of this month. Malus x robusta 'Red Sentinel' arrived as a bare rooted plant from Victoriana Nursery Gardens last February. It promised scented white flowers followed by clusters of small red fruits. When researching which crab apple to buy there were three main factors which made me chose 'Red Sentinel' i.e. white flowers, good disease resistance and finally fruits that apparently cling on to the tree for a long time. In her book 'The Winter Garden' Val Bourne writes "Crab apples are also great trees for winter fruits. When it comes to selecting varieties, one red-fruiting form stands supreme - Malus x robusta 'Red Sentinel'. The abundant bright red fruits, which follow white spring flowers, are studded in clusters along the branches and persist well into winter. A great advantage of the tree is that it does not suffer from scab, a scourge of many other crab apples." Sold! Later in the year we saw a more mature specimen of my malus in full fruit mode which only served to confirm my feelings that I had made the right decision.

I thought that I saw signs of flowers towards the end of March and sure enough this was confirmed as the month moved on to April. There's been a progress check most days and when signs of colour finally appeared I was delighted but mystified. The buds are most pink as you can see in the photographs but sure enough on opening the pink has morphed to the promised white. As for scent my nose has not detected any yet but so far there is only the one sprig that is fully open. It has also been noticeably colder here since yesterday afternoon which may affect the scent. Time will tell but so far so good. I'm like the cat who has got the cream and if I could purr I would! Are you playing the waiting game this spring and if so what are you waiting for?

Wordless Wednesday ~ Camouflage In The Making

In A Vase On Monday ~ Gone Shopping

An article in the paper today grabbed my attention. Apparently social media in the form of Facebook is responsible for people buying more clothes. There is a fear of being tagged wearing the same outfit! Now although not a particularly active Facebook user I nodded my head in sympathy with this predicament. After what will will be a record for me of three consecutive vases in a row I have reached the conclusion that this establishment is in desperate need of some new vases. You've probably seen them all now. This week's vase appeared previously last April and is doing the rounds yet again. In fact it's a glorified glass jar that once contained onion relish but I could not bring bring myself to chuck it in the recycling bin.

The first photo was taken at the snipping stage resting on the decking before the vase journeyed round the corner to grace a table outside the patio door. We spent some time out there on a sunny afternoon. The conversation drifted to holiday plans for later this year.

Inside this week's vase are narcissus 'Thalia', some of the bluebells that we inherited with the land where the garden is now, corydalis, geranium phaeum, lunaria 'Chedglow', bunnera and forget-me-not. I was reluctant to pick the honesty as it is attracting butterflies but decided that perhaps one flower would not be missed too much.

Thanks as always to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for hosting. Now if you don't see a vase from me for a while you will know the reason why..... I'm out there vase shopping.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day ~ April 2015

It's the turn of a pea and a cabbage to star in this month's GBBD post. The spring pea or lathyrus vernus grows quite happily in lightly dappled shade. Mine is planted in the gabion border with hellebores and pulmonarias for company. This plant has a bushy habit unlike the summer flowering climbing/scrabbling sweet pea but it sadly lacks the scent of the latter. It seems easy going and does not seem to suffer from any damage by pests. It's the colours of the flowers that I find its most attractive feature. There's also a pink version namely lathyrus vernus 'Alboroseus' but this one is my favourite. Both can be grown from seed although I always seem to miss gathering seeds before they have silently shot off into the stratsosphere.

The cabbage in question is a cardamine which has only taken up residence very recently. Cardamines are a member of the brassicaceae family which includes those good for you edibles such as cabbage, brussel sprouts and broccoli. I came across it at a plant fair under the name of cardamine enneaphyllos but having since done some research the jury is out on this one. The flowers of that particular plant are described as creamy whilst the plant I have come home with has most definitely got white flowers. I was advised that it prefers a moist shady spot and is not in the least bit fussy. I know that some cardamines can be invasive so I am going to have keep my eyes on in at least until I can establish what it is.

April is such an exciting time of the year in the garden with new flowers seemingly opening when you have turned your back just for five minutes. I'm still looking for more April colour, so will no doubt gain inspiration as usual, when I visit May Dreams Gardens later to see what other bloggers are highlighting today. With many thanks to Carol without whom we would not have a Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

In A Vase On Monday ~ Spring Bling

The last week has seen some most balmy weather and with more apparently on the way the daffodils will soon be going over. With this in mind I picked a trio of those which were not out in time for last week's vase - these being 'Minnow', 'Toto' and 'Sailboat'. I was entranced by the latter which I initially came across over at 'Lead Up The Garden Path', so many thanks to Pauline for prompting me to add these to my bulb list last autumn. I planted them in pots but having seen them in the flesh will definitely order more to plant in the borders later this year. A few sprigs of omphalodes cappadocica 'Cherry Ingram' then snuck their way in. The vase still felt as if there were some holes to be filled so it followed me round the garden where a couple of stems of pulmonaria jumped in the vase. I'm not absolutely sure which one it is but think that it is 'Blakes Silver', which I have to make a conscious effort not to refer to it as 'Blake's Seven'.

The little vase is one of set of four purchased recently from a well know discount supermarket. Each has its own motif. This one is my favourite of the set.

My Monday has mainly been spent travelling on a train with three changes en route so it has been quite relaxing to unwind in the garden, with a hot drink in one hand and my snipers in the other. Thanks as always to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' who enables us to share our vases each Monday.

Tree Following With Lucy ~ April 2015

Hopes of reporting clouds of frothy white blossom adorning my pear tree have been cruelly dashed as you can gather from the above photo. Records have been checked to confirm that last year blossom was fully open by 13th April but it is lagging behind this year. The flower buds are now clearly visible but not as much as a tantalising sliver of white. I'm not sure whether I noticed any brown marks on the emerging leaves and flowers last year but they are very much in evidence this spring and are rather unsightly. Are they the sign of something sinister or is this a normal occurrence on pear trees? The tree was only planted in the autumn of 2012 so we are still getting acquainted.

In terms of wildlife there is nothing to report. I've still to see a living creature on it. Given the fact that my 'Doyenne du Comice' is only a young slip of a girl it's not surprising. I'm sure that any self respecting bird would not want to perch so near to the ground in a garden which has several regular feline visitors. Even the squirrels are not attracted ...... yet ......

In other news her neighbours which include another pear and a crab apple look set to blossom around the same time possibly even sooner.  A couple of Westmorland Damson slips have been bought this very day and will be joining their company soon. The pear blossoms may well come and go before May's tree following post but I will certainly take photos to record the occasion. As always a big thank you to Lucy over at 'Loose And Leafy' who enables bloggers to share and celebrate a glorious diversity of trees each month.