Tuesday 31 March 2015

This month's new acquisition

I found myself at the local garden centre with a cunning plan in my head for Easter presents this weekend. The plan didn't come off so I wandered around looking for a consolation prize and candidate for something in flower to add to my garden. I'm trying to do this every month and so far have planted Snowdrops and Cyclamen Coum in January, Hellebores in February and I thought that March (now spring has sprung) would be easy. 
However I was surprisingly uninspired. Most of the things there were things I already had or things that I wanted but weren't in flower yet. 

So in the end I went for these and I am very pleased with them.

 Iberis sempervirens or perennial Candytuft


These are prolifically flowering rockery plants. Apparently they grow into 'bushlets'. I rather like the idea of bushlets.



These are evergreen and 2 different varieties, a dark leaved 'Appen Etz' and a golden leaved 'Golden Candy'.
I'm hoping they will act as a reliable and floriferous base for other plants.

And then I found this...


A beautiful white Fritillaria meleagris. It is small and needs nurturing, I found it at the back of a tray and part of it is growing horizontally due to being squashed by some Tulip thugs, but it is lovely and definitely my March star buy. 
Wish me luck nursing it back to health.

Thursday 26 March 2015

A Plan (but not necessarily a cunning one)!

I have a plan! I have felt that my posting has been a little directionless recently, not helped by the fact that although spring has definitely sprung it's still freezing out there and the mountain of new season work is just not very inviting. 
As I was decluttering the other day I came across a beautiful children's book by Brian Wildsmith called Birds. It was mine when I was little (my Mum has fantastic taste - no Disney Princess's for me!) and I still love it, the illustrations are just beautiful.


Brian Wildsmith illustrates his birds in groups and uses collective words for the groups. Some are well known like a colony of penguins but some are not...



So I got to thinking, could I come up with some collective terms for different flowers. Turns out I could and so I am putting together my'Feast of Flowers'. It's bound to catch on, it'll be viral in seconds - or it will at least keep me happy for a while!

Sadly my illustration skills aren't up to Mr Wildsmiths standards so I'll stick to photographing my subjects and as the garden springs into life inspiration is coming to me daily. It's amazing when you see a flower how terms suggest themselves, so I have made a start.

A Cocktail of Camelias




Sadly none of them were in my garden but many of them were in Jayne's and the rest were in the 3 minute walk between our houses!

Also on the way home...


I know there's only one of him but if he had a friend they could be a snooze of cats, or maybe a mooch of moggies?




Wednesday 18 March 2015

Sunny Celandines

A cheery sight on a sunny day.

The Lesser Celandine Ranunculus ficaria growing wild locally in the Cornish walls.
It's very hard to control in the garden, it doesn't look like a weed but...






Tuesday 10 March 2015

Aarghh - It's started already!

Whilst clearing and pruning on Sunday in the damp, and appreciating my late winter colour I made an horrific discovery. I was prepared for the sprouting of weeds - all the things that you want to grow are starting so inevitably the ones that you don't are too. So I was getting ready to brush off the hoe for enthusiastic use once the clearing has been done, perhaps in a few weeks time.

 But then I found this!!!!!


I can feel your sense of anti climax but believe me this is my garden nemesis - Bittercress - and it's already flowering in the first week of March!

This is a clearer picture of a seedling just before it flowers - this is the moment to tweak it out. It has a jolly rosette of tiny leaves and delicate white flowers but don't be fooled - it is intent on world domination! It is the cockroach of the garden and survives anything.
Please join the Anti Bittercress League and hoick it out.


The RHS says 'Hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) is an annual species, common throughout the British Isles, particularly on bare ground, path-sides, and on walls.' 
From which you can be assured that it grows EVERYWHERE!

It also grows super fast and has explosive seed capsules that fire seeds over huge areas! I am on a one-woman (completely futile) mission to eradicate it from my garden and the only respite I get from my obsession is during the dark months of winter - evidently the respite is over. Once you spot one flower (they are tiny and inconsequential on purpose)  you can bet that there is one seeding somewhere close.

The most common entry point for this weed (other than next doors Bittercress hurling it's seeds at you) is pots from garden centres and nurseries. So when you are shopping for lovely additions to your garden keep a very close eye on any tiny seedlings in the pot, remove them and leave them at the garden centre!

Right! *heaves huge sigh* I better get out and start ripping it out sharpish otherwise I will be inundated within the week!


Saturday 7 March 2015

The Garden at the turn of the month!

I had been intending to do an 'end of the month' February round-up of what's in the garden, but the Hellebores were so on the edge of opening that I waited a couple of days to try and catch them at their best. So now it's turned into a 'beginning of next month' round-up instead and the Hellebores haven't disappointed.

(pesky snails got to this one!)

Bosvigo double veined pink

 Bosvigo single speckled pale pink

Dark single...

...dark double. Glorious and they are almost all from Bosvigo Nursery. I haven't included my two new hellebores either, see here, which aren't in the ground yet so somehow it seemed a bit of a cheat to claim them as a success quite yet.

But it isn't just Hellebores...

 I have Iris reticulata...

Snowdrops...

Cyclamen Coum...

Primroses...

and Crocus.

They're all flowering their little hearts out and when the sun pops out it really does feel like spring is well and truly on the way.

Which is a bit of a worry as I haven't even ordered my seeds or finished clearing and pruning - eeeek!
Best get those skates on, busy time ahead!