29/04/2013

It's all happening now!

It's been crazily busy here over the last week or so. I decided to get all the 'boring' jobs out of the way early in the year so I could spend the latter months doing the things I really enjoy, like planting, sowing seeds and taking cuttings, as well as just sitting and admiring the garden when everything is in bloom.

So, I've painted trellises and fence panels, scrubbed a zillion pots, had a shed revamp, re-lined the fish pond and generally worked my little socks off to get everything ready for the coming season.

My beautiful Hellebore Xsternii, a hybrid between Argutifolius and Lividus, is still putting on a great show of delicate green flowers tinged with pink, providing the bees with some much needed pollen.


The petals on my Angel Heart tulips are just starting to fall now. I do wish they would bloom for longer, as their colour is just wonderful.



Dicentra are getting ready to show off their fabulous teardrops. I must have gone a bit made with divisions last year, as they seem to be appearing all over the garden! The white varieties are lagging behind the pink though, no sign of their little blooms yet.


Clematis Freda leaves are appearing...and leaves are all I got last year! They were new plants though, so I'm hoping now they're established in their permanent homes and have had lots of tlc, they will reward me with masses of their deep pink flowers. I have one growing up my shed and another along the fence. I'm hoping they'll eventually meet to clothe that whole corner.


I still have Narcissus Thalia, a beautiful double headed white, in full bloom. And Muscari are everywhere!



Bluebells are just beginning to show. Still nowhere near as many as I want in my garden, so this might be the year I finally get around to purchasing more. I really want to fill the gaps I have in my little woodland areas  with them.


Anemone Blanda still in bloom. Azaleas and Aquilegias waiting to blossom and Marsh Marigolds are adding a touch of yellow sunshine.






And, this is not pest I really wanted to find in my garden again. They stopped me growing my favourite Oriental Lilies because of the devastation they caused, they started on my pond lilies last year, and now, NOW, I find them on my fritillaries! Pfft, darn things. Beautiful they may look, but they are complete pests, leaving barely anything of their favourite plants left. Leaves, buds, seed pods, they eat them all! Bye, bye Liliy Beetles, it's the squish for you!!


But these little darlings are more than welcome. At last, the first batch of tadpoles have emerged! Still lots more to come so the ponds are definitely going to be heaving and I'm going to need more fish food to keep their tummies full!


26 comments:

  1. It's good to see that there's so much already going on, and lots more to follow, in your garden.
    I like the look of that white narcissus. Flighty xx

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    1. It's a very pretty one, Flighty, and the fact it's a double headed variety makes it even more interesting.

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  2. What a spectacular show you have going on.
    Your hellebore picture is just delightful. Your dicentra, tulips and Thalia are miles ahead of what's going on here.
    Isn't it marvelous to get all the boring jobs out of the way!
    I'm sorry to read the dreaded Lily Beetle is now affecting your Fritillaria - we are not bothered by them up here (yet). Loosing your favourite blooms must be heart breaking!

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    1. Yes, it is a bit, Angie, but one of those things you just have to live with when you garden organically. I have squished those I found, but more always seem to appear!

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  3. We have Thalia too in my blue and white bed and I love it! The hellebores really are hanging on aren't they. Ours have been flowering for months now. As for the dicentra ours has no flower buds yet - it's very late.

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  4. So much going on in your garden, it must look really pretty at the moment. We have Thalia blooming everywhere, they do make the garden look nice, I think nicer than yellow daffs. So far I haven't seen any lily beetles on my fritillaries, some years I have and they soon get squashed!

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    1. Yes, I'm quite a fan of white flowers in the garden, Pauline. They seem to add that extra dimension. Mind you, I still love the bright yellow daffs :-)

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  5. You are very smart - and must have been very busy - to get all those chores out of the way! Your hellebores are gorgeous, and I just love bleeding hearts. How fun to have so many tadpoles! It will be fun to see them turning into frogs.

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    1. I can't wait for the baby frogs! It's a shame they have a mass exodus one night though and all disappear.

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  6. Those red beetles are so pretty but bad boys of the plant world. You've some lovely plants and photos.

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    1. Yes, definitely bad boys, Kelli! I'm still on the lookout for any others that might appear.

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  7. It's great that everything is finally coming to fruition - you have to keep alert so that nothing passes you by - My camellia has just started flowering but nothing on the Dicentra yet. I think some parts of the UK are a little behind others.

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    1. I agree, Elaine, flowering is happening at different times over the country. I guess we've been lucky here lately with some very mild weather.

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  8. What a great idea, getting all the boring jobs out of the way at the start of the season so that you can spend your time doing the things you enjoy. I usually spend the year catching up on all the boring jobs which I should have done at the start of the year. What a lot you have going on in your garden. I think plants which should have finished by now are hanging on because of the late start as well as the later ones just coming in to flower, so there's so much more colour at the moment. My bleeding heart isn't even nearly ready to flower yet, it's very late this year.

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    1. Lol, Jo. I usually have all the jobs piled up too, but I decided this year would be different and I would get some relaxing time.

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  9. Lovely photos of some beautiful flowers and I love the bee! Wonderful to see the tadpoles. It is a good idea to get the boring jobs out of the way, I just wish I could get all my weeding done in one go and not have to worry about it for the rest of the summer!

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    1. I'm fairly lucky and rarely have to do any weeding, Wendy. I just pack the plants in so there's no room for them ;-)

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  10. Oh no not the red peril on an outing so early in the year :( Lots of glorious colour in your garden Paula. Now wondering what type of clematis 'Freda' is so off to investigate forthwith.

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    1. Yes, so annoying, Anna, especially on my Snakesheads. I thought most spring plants were safe, but it appears not. Freda is beautiful, or, it will be if it ever flowers ;-)

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  11. Goodness you have been busy! I love 'Thalia', a real beauty, I must look out for that one for my autumn bulb order. The hellebore is new to me, but I have been thinking about getting a argutifolius, so am off to look this one up to see if would be better, such lovely colours...

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    1. It is a real beauty Janet, I can't wait for it to spread in the garden.

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  12. Lovely photos, and great to see your garden really getting off, we have had some lovely days, right! A white Dicentra is on my wish list, I have Dicentra 'Bacchanal' and Dicentra 'Valentine' already, a white one would complete the collection.

    Have you tried ‘Pireco Greenfly, Whitefly and Red Spider Mite Repellent’ from Bakker? It is completely ecological product, made from fermented soy beans and herbs, mainly meant to deter greenflies and red spider mites, but it also helps (somewhat) against red lily beetles, each treatment last 4-6 weeks. I have used it for many years but only started treating my lilies 2 years ago. Last year I had hardly any lily beetles, and I have around 120 lilies in my garden I have to patrol and inspect every day. I used to squash up to 30 lily beetles a day years ago! The population will go down if you find them and get them before they have time to make babies. And if you do find larvae, pick them off, or the whole leaf if you can’t stomach touching them Ugh!, that’s what I do, that will keep the population down too. The product is quite expensive but saves my garden so much damage and me so much work.

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    1. Thanks for that recommendation, Helene. I'm going to get some and try it, as I don't want them damaging anything else. Hopefully it will mean I can grow lilies again too, I do miss them in my garden.

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  13. Oh, it's WONDERFUL to see all your lush growth, I'm a little jealous as not too much is going on here.

    I do hope the pesky lili beetle keeps away.xxxx

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  14. I like your hellebores. I had a nice stand of them at my former hme, and I plan to plant some at this new house. Clematis has just started blooming in my neighbor's yard. Your white narcissus thalia is lively. Hope the lily beetle doesn't cause you too many problems.

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