Dear Diary

When I started my blog many moons ago I had some notion that I would be able to make use of it to track gardening and allotment activities. I thought of it perhaps developing into regular diary type entries which would enable me to record the plannings, plantings and general going ons in the garden and what was then an allotment too. Well I was never brilliant at keeping a diary even when I was much younger and in the way of all my previous chronicle keeping attempts entries slowly but surely fell by the wayside. I have decided to have another attempt at a weekly or thereabouts diary type post. I'm sure that some weeks I will have more to say than others.

After the cool and dry April we experienced the first week of May has been decidely chilly too with some dramatic wintry precipitation. What has been remarkable though has been the amount of rain we've had over this time which has been welcomed by the garden, although perhaps not as much by the gardener whose attempts to get out there have been thwarted. Everything though looks so refreshed and the air smells better. We are promised warmer days in the week ahead starting with a prediction a temperature in double figures tonight! For the first time this spring a mollusc patrol will be mounted when darkness falls.

Plans for this week include planting out some of the September sown hardy annuals later than I would have preferred. These include orlaya, ammi visnaga, scabious and calendula. There should have been snapdragons too but only one germinated. Mind you it's a fine specimen if I say so myself but it is destined to be a lonely only. There are also some February planted on the heated sand bench 'Galilee Pastel' mix anemones to be planted. Once I have freed up a number of three inch pots there will be more pricking out and hardening off of various greenhouse residents. I reckon that everything is behind this year because of the combination of cold and dry. The first batch of March sown sweet peas are also ready to be planted. There is a wigwam already in place awaiting them.

Seed sowing plans for the week include zinnia, French beans, and direct sowing sowing some nigella. There is something else too but it is evading me just now. No garden centre, plant fairs or garden visits planned for this week but hopefully there will be more soon.

Giving me great pleasure in the cold and often damp gone past week have been my zingy pots of tulips. One filled with 'Ballerina' tulips, whilst the other two have a mixture of 'Ballerina', 'Jan Reus' and 'Purple Dream'. Although I love the colour combination 'Purple Dream' is much taller than the others and is rather wayward. I will tweak the combination next year. Apologies for the quality of the photo but it was a lightening snap with my phone on a chilly evening. It still conveys the colours. I feel so smug to have three containers of flourishing tulips as I have a love hate relationship with them, the leaves leaving me stone cold. The secret might be that himself planted them for me under my supervision. What has given you pleasure gardening wise this week?

Wordless Wednesday ~ Norton Priory Walled Garden, Cheshire - Spring 2021

 

IAVOM ~ 'Purple Rain'

 

The occupants of 'In A Vase On Monday' were gathered on Sunday afternoon in anticipation of a rainy Bank Holiday Monday, a forecast which so far has been spot on. I wish that I could share the scent coming from these flowers with you as it's most pleasing. In the vase are :

• Geranium phaeum - an old favourite. It's not scented but the bees love it, it seems to be reasonably pest and disease free and flowers for a reasonable amount of time. A good haircut after flowering promotes fresh growth. I think that this one is a seedling, possibly of geranium phaeum 'Lily Lovell' rather than a named variety. They do self seed but not to the extent that they should carry a government health warning.
• Wallflower - I mentioned this one a couple of posts back or so. It was grown from in 2019. It flowered last spring and looked exactly as the seed packet described it namely 'Wallflower Sunset Apricot'. I was delighted with the flowers and looked forward to a repeat performance this spring but as you can see it has morphed into this purple/ pinky shade with only a touch of apricot remaining. It is scented but will be removed when flowering is done and I will sow some more seeds next month.
• Lunaria rediviva also known as a perennial honesty. This is the most soft shade of lilac and  has the most sweetly scented flowers. I grew this from seed in 2017 and after moving it it sulked for a while but seems to be happier this spring. It is quite a big plant and I'm still not sure whether it is in the right place. Unlike the biennial honesty the seed heads are elliptical. 

My vase, an old pickle or relish jar of some description is now on the kitchen window sill. I don't think that it will last long but I am going to enjoy the scent whilst I can when standing at the kitchen sink. 

Thanks as always to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for inviting us to share our vases on Monday. I don't think that there will be much in the way of gardening done here today other than under the cover of the greenhouse. The rain is forecast to continue for the day which is quite reassuring given how dry April was. The wind is getting up as promised which is not as welcome. Still time to do some cosy potting up in the greenhouse and visit other vase posts sounds a much more attractive proposition than being stuck in bank holiday traffic. I hope that you're enjoying your Monday wherever you are.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Arley Hall's Double Herbaceous Borders, Cheshire

 

Slightly Wordy Wednesday ~ The Changeling

Back in the early summer of 2109 ( which seems a long time ago now) I sowed some wallflower seeds - 'Sunset Apricot ' and 'Sunset Purple'. Germination was a disaster - with only a scanty number of the apricot shade emerging and not one of the purple. It was the first time that I've ever grown wallflowers from seed and as usual in these situations wondered whether the fault lay with me. I contacted the seed company nevertheless who sent me a replacement packet of the purple without any questions. 

The few apricot seedlings struggled on and I was eventually able to plant them out. I don't have any photos but they produced a lovely show for a good period last spring and into early summer. I left a couple of the strongest plants in where they came through the winter although the foliage did suffer badly in February but nothing that a haircut wouldn't sort out when it warmed up slightly. I noticed the plants plumping up and flower buds forming but something didn't look quite right. The penny slowly that the buds looked a different colour and sure enough the flowers are!  You definitely couldn't call them 'Apricot Sunset' this spring. Funnily enough though the eyes of the flowers are the same colour as last year's flowers. Has anybody else had this experience of wallflowers?

They will be allowed to linger another month or so as I love the scent of wallflowers but then it's into the compost bin and I will start from afresh in another couple of months or so. 

IAVOM ~ Snow White

In my vase this fine Monday are just a few of the beautiful and scented 'Thalia' narcissus which I think must be my favourite narcissus. It spreads well, is easy going and never seems to be troubled by any pests. The settled weather we have had for a while now is suiting her. My vase is an old Horrell's Devon cider stoneware jug purchased from a charity shop many years ago.

The weather here has changed since I last posted a couple of weeks ago and it seems now that spring is very much here. We are still experiencing some cold nights but I am sure that we've seen the last of the snow. We could do with some rain but hopefully it will come soon and considerately fall overnight. The hardy annuals grown from seed last September are hardening off, other more recently sown seeds are still sheltering in the greenhouse and a few more seeds are still to be sown before the end of April. We went to a plant fair on Saturday - more of that soon. Looking forward to settling down later tonight or tomorrow to peruse other spring time vases from near and far. As always a big thanks to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for so graciously and diligently hosting whatever the season.

In A Vase On Monday ~ Love

 

Last week our 'In A Vase On Monday' hostess Cathy invited us to share our favourite love poems but I missed posting a vase. So a week later after finding it impossible to narrow it down to one poem, here are just a short extract from one of my favourite books of all time to celebrate my dear sister's thirty fifth wedding anniversary which is today. The book is Kahil Gibran's 'The Prophet' which has accompanied me since 1973. His words on love include the following lines :

"Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but itself

Love possesses not nor would it be possessed

For love is sufficient unto love"

My sister was married on a day most similar day to today - bitterly cold and windy but blue skies and sunshine too. There were other weather surprises thrown in to the mix too - hail, thunder and a beautiful rainbow. We shared laughter reminiscing about her wedding day yesterday when we enjoyed an Easter family phone call with my youngest brother and his two daughters. She and her husband are now enjoying the joys of grandchildren but have known some darker times too with both of them both going through serious illnesses during those years together. I will be raising a glass to them tonight.

The little violas in my sunshine vase, hand painted by our mum are 'Morpho', a recent purchase from my first trip to a shop since last March. 

Cathy today is celebrating the appearance of some lovely and elegant ladies in her garden, in the shape of her first tulips of the year. Do have a peek over at 'Rambling In The Garden'. I wonder what other firsts of the year might be appearing in other vases today.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Shades Of Green & White

 

IAVOM ~ Almost Spring In A Jar

 

Spring in my book has another few days to arrive with the arrival of the spring equinox on 20th March. The weather has been behaving accordingly with some very windy days and more rain. Today a little brighter in that we've seen some sun but there is a still a wind - less intense but still with a chilly sting in it's tail. I like to think that this is the final tussle between a stubborn digging it's heels in winter and an impatient and eager to get properly going spring. In my vase today are a collection of winter slowly morphing into spring stalwarts - hellebores, narcissus including the ever reliable 'Tête à Tête' and a trio of one of my last flowering snowdrops. I'm afraid that the hellebores lost labels a long time ago and the name of the snowdrop is not coming to mind. My snowdrop map has gone absent without leave but hopefully the penny might drop later and I will edit this post if it does. It is a lovely large snowdrop and is still looking good whilst most of the others are now finished for another year. 

If any one of you are snowdrop fans and also have an Instagram account - Jimi Blake from 'Huntingbrook Gardens' did a live broadcast from Huntingbrook on 21st February. His snowdrops and other winter flowering plants are fabulous. You will be glued to the screen! It's rather long so you might prefer to leave it until the evening or a rainy day - just sit down with a cuppa and you will be entranced.

With thanks as ever to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for all her encouragement to share our vases on Mondays. 

March Musing - Daffodils

 

Narcissus pseudonarcissus in a Cumbrian churchyard -13/03/2014

"At first, you can hardly see them : slim, green tips barely distinguishable from the dew-drenched grass. Some, it's true,  are not so slim - here and there are pale swellings, hardly enough to alter the outline but firmer somehow and more promising. Day by day they become less reticent, and though, some stay hidden amongst the clumps of chaotic dead grass, others stand tall and straight ready to meet the sun when it may choose to appear. Their heads begin to tilt, as if still too shy to look at you straight in the eye, but almost at once their astonishing secret is out in a flash of yellow and a silent, spectacular chorus of trumpets. Daffodils herald the spring with vim and verve, seizing the limelight from the more diminutive earlier risers. Brighter than snowdrops, taller than celandines or aconites daffodils instantly command attention ...... only prolonged falls of heavy snow can utterly defeat a company of daffodils: when the sun returns and the ice retreats the yellow stars will generally be out again. Daffodils upright and bright, seem invigorated by seasonal setbacks.

'The Daffodil Fairy' by Cicely Mary Barker.

Just as it seems that it will never be light or warm again, huge teams appear in their high vis-jackets to rescue us from the effects of a prolonged winter. In villages across Britain, worn-out verges begin to gleam with scattered daffodils in early spring to , until the roadside is ablaze in a luminous citric glow, often outshining the sparse street lights.

A few of my own daffodils, March 2016.

As the chilly dawn begins to break a little earlier, these seasonal signs reminds yawning drivers and shivering teenagers that things are not, after all quite as dark as they have been and that brighter days are coming.

~ an extract from ' The Brief Life of Flowers' by Fiona Stafford,  which is well worth a read, revealing how even the most ordinary flowers have extraordinary stories to tell.