A Day of Two Halves, Part 1.

A very mixed day so far.  I woke early to the sound of rain on the skylight which didn’t bode well for the plans I had for getting into the garden.  However, by the time I’d filled up with breakfast the rain had eased so I was able to venture out.  The morning has been spent mainly turning over the earth in the front garden; I have a very handy long handled fork for this sort of work which lets me get around the plants without disrupting them, whilst also allowing me good leverage to really get into the soil and give it a good  airing.  There’s nothing like newly dug earth.

Weeds, which are already suprisingly big, have been removed and I also dug out some small, self sown Digitalis and Pulmonaria.  These will be nurtured and planted out later in the year.  Having done this, and with a break in the cloud, I grabbed the camera and took a few pictures of plants that are starting to sprout and bud. Below are a few of the things I found:

Patty's Plum from above, very lush and healthyA pair of Patty's Plum, can't wait for the flowers!

A pair of Patty's Plum, can't wait for the flowers!

This Aquilegia will have lovely white flowers.

The following shot is of an Allium, of which I’ve planted three varieties this year: Allium hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’, Allium Cristophii and Allium giganteum.

Allium, though not sure which one!

It may not look much at the moment, but I do admire the strenght of the shoots and the coloured tips; in a few weeks the Alliums, poppies, and Delphiniums will form a wonderful display.

I can’t finish without showing a bud from my favourite rose, ‘Munstead Wood’.  The flowers are of course amazing but I also love the rich colour and complexity of the shoot and to know that it holds so much potential!

It's always exciting when the roses start to bud!

Raking up leaves, sowing seeds, and enjoying the garden

The central bed on a February day.

I’ve had a busy day in the garden today, raking up leaves, weeding, sowing seeds, filling a raised bed with topsoil and some general tidying. The garden is starting to look more alive than it has for a couple of months and there are plenty of new young shoots coming up.

The Delphiniums seem to be doing especially well at the moment and I have a number at different stages of growth; some are in the ground, some are mature plants that were removed from a bed at the end of last autumn and kept over winter in pots, and others are small seedlings from seed that I sowed in august/september time last year.

It was also cheering to see the Pulmonaria breaking into flower. I’m not a huge fan of the foliage as it seems to very easily go brown and slimy so I tend to cut this back to the fresher green stuff which makes for a tider, more attractive plant. The flowers are dainty but the colour is intense when there is so little else around it.

I managed to get some seeds sown too today: Broad beans, Nicotiana Affinis, and Lupins.  But the most exciting part of the day was discovering the root cuttings of the poppy ‘Patty’s Plum’ that I had taken on 9th January had finally sent up shoots. I had given up hope that they were going to do anything so I was overjoyed to see the little shoots reaching for the light! 

Tiny shoot but HUGE excitement!

I know it doesn’t look like much, but trust me, this is very exciting stuff!! A successful bit of propagation.