The garden is suddenly a blaze of colour. Most of the daffodils have gone now (save for the pipit in the rockery and the hot garden and baby duck in the nuttery, both lovely smaller varieties) and tulips have taken centre stage. The ones planted out in the garden have been marvellous this year. They are a mix of new ones and previous years’ pot tulips moved on in hope, if not necessarily expectation. By the time I planted out the pot ones, to make space for summer bedding, I’d completely forgotten (a) what they had been and (b) where the previous year’s tulips had been planted so there are some interesting height and colour combinations! I suspect the squirrels of exacerbating this… I am firmly resolved to move them on more quickly this year when I have at least a vestige of a memory of what they are. My late season pot tulips, I confess, have suffered a little from mum’s absence – as she is much more reliable than I with the watering can when the weather warms up – but I have overcompensated with liquid feed the last couple of days and they are perking up nicely.
Down by the bottom pond the blue camassia have at last got their act together and come out together with the marsh marigolds as per the original masterplan. The giant rudbeckia I split and moved there in February have taken well and the whole area just behind the irises is looking hugely better for last winter’s fettling. Of course, this just serves to show up the weedy bit next to the path at the back so I shall be trotting along there with my hori hori knife in the next few days….There’s also a huge clump of hellebore that really would be so much better if it was just moved back a couple of feet. I’m steeling myself as they don’t half dig themselves in. If it would just rain overnight to loosen things up that would be ideal.
At last the cherries are out with their glorious marshmallow clouds of blossom. I climbed up the garage stairs today to ascend into the old creamy coloured one that grows against the back of the garage and tries to poke out Keith’s eyes every time he swings round there on the mower. It’s a funny shaped old thing and in an inconvenient place, but for these few weeks it’s absolutely beautiful. The orchard is also swinging into blossom mode, with all the pears out and one surprisingly early apple.
Down in the nuttery a mass of white fritillaria and pink hyacinth have joined the wood anemone. The hyacinth were supposed to be white but there was a mix up with the order. Every year I hum and haw about replacing them but the dolly mixture hues are pretty and maybe (though I’m not certain) you can have too much white and yellow….The plants there are really benefitting from Keith’s coppicing. Spotty Dotty has never looked so perky. We got one bed done this year and will crack on with the other in the winter after I’ve collected the nuts. I expect we won’t get a great crop on the coppiced bed but mum collected tons last year so muesli stocks are safe…
Keith has thoroughly licked the vegetable plot into shape and the greenhouse is full of tiny tomato plants and sprouting dahlias I shall have to find homes for somewhere! Despite insisting I was giving them up after two years of dreadful results – I cracked at the seed counter the other day and I am yet again attempting chillis (I think it’s the humidity – I’m going to locate them as far as I can from Keith’s tomatoes) and a few annuals. The new netting for the fruit cage has arrived and all that remains is to work out how on earth to put it on. We got into a right pickle last time so have firmly resolved to read the instructions before starting.
All in all I’m quite pleased with progress so far and with all the splitting and moving the area for the open day plant sale is practically full of potted up plants and I’ve had to send out an all points bulletin to the neighbours calling for spare pots as there’s still quite a lot of splitting to do!
