Friday 11 March 2011

Flaunt your flowers!

It’s time to get flaunting your flowers again for fertilizer Friday!

My last essay was handed in today… I don’t think I have many left for the entire year now and just the looming dissertation to do……………….

I might actually be able to get out into the garden soon, new fence posts were put in last weekend and tomorrow they’re due to complete the finishing touches and to remove the summer house. So I’ll have a whole new space to play around with – no big plans for the area other than willow screen and climbers along the fence for the time being.

As a result of all the essays I’ve barely seen the garden let alone taken photos of it, as a result these photos were taken over the past two weeks.


Ajuga bought a while ago were finally planted under the Cherry tree

Astrantia is growing, it’s grown significantly since this photo was taken!

Aubrieta will flower soon

Geranium Phaeum is growing nicely and I look forward to its flowers

I finally managed to find a miniature Lilac in a garden centre, so I just *had* to get it.

One of the Clematis I dug up ready for the new fence posts, I was worried Rubens had died because it seemed to have almost no rootball, but there does seem to be growth on it!


Crocus Tommasinianus continue to bloom, I love their purple





Ladybird!

Crocus Snowbunting is taking over the show now


I think these are Allium seedlings??

See the black shell? They’re all coming up in the Allium areas. When they were first popping up I noticed they looked like chives when they first sprout and then realised they must be Alliums!
Do Alliums work from seed? I imagine they take a while to flower?

There are a few Iris ‘Pauline’ left, and actually they contrast quite nicely with the yellow Violas.

And the Peas and Sweet pea seedlings are doing well…




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29 comments:

The Quacks of Life said...

really nice to see the flowers appearing eh!

Su said...

I've never seen a ladybird that looks like that - obviously different varieties here in Suffolk!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

LOVE the crocus! That is my favorite sign of spring...

Kimberly said...

Everything is budding for spring! I miss the crocus..they don't grow in S Florida...so I love yours that much more! Nice photos!!

On My Soapbox said...

O thought that Allium could only grow from a bulb, but who knows?

No flowers here, although there are a few signs of life. My Nishiki Willow is the prettiest this time of year.

Carol said...

What a magical time Liz! You have captured it so beautifully!! Happy Spring . . . it is alive in your garden . . . no matter what the calendar day.

Esther Montgomery said...

I'm small daffodilish at present but, after flowering all year, the primrose has stopped. Ditto the new primrose. I have a helebore for the first time - it's very tatty and slug eaten. There are some very tiny crocusses (they aren't meant to be this small!) and that's it for flowers. Honeysuckle leaves are lovely though and, although very late, the Clematis armandii will be beautiful when its buds deign to open. It's cold, dull and dry.

Esther

Anna said...

Glad to hear that progress has been made on the dreaded essay front Liz. Now you can take time to enjoy the progress of spring's footsteps :)

Anna said...

PS - forgot to say that alliums do grow from seed although I am not sure how long you will wait for flowers. The only alliums I have grown from seed have been of the edible variety. This site might give you that sort of information : http://theseedsite.co.uk

Pam's English Garden said...

Dear Liz, Congratulations on the wonderful progress you are making with your studies. Your spring blooms are awesome. And how exciting to have a new space in the garden to plan for. P x

Liz said...

Hi Pete,

Indeed, it is very nice to see things happening... It's just a shame it's only happening in a select few areas, it would be nice if all of it had lots of growth.

Liz said...

Hi Su,

I think these black and red ones are fairly common, as far as I'm aware anyway... Not as common as the 7 spot Ladybirds though!

Liz said...

Hi Kate,

The Crocus are wonderful, this year my showing hasn't been as good as last year - I think because everything was so late last year that they all came up at once but this year it's been more spread out.

Liz said...

Hi Kimberly,

Sorry to hear you can't have Crocus in Florida, perhaps it's possible to attempt to force some in a pot? I guess they need cold winters in order to flower?

Liz said...

Hi OMS,

From what I've read Alliums can grow from seed but may not come true and do take a while before flowers appear.
I'm just surprised this is the first year I have come up because I've had Alliums there for the past 4.

I'm hopeful they'll manage to flower this year...

Liz said...

Hi Carol,

I think I'm heading for a lull in flowers very soon, the Crocus and Snowdrops are finishing and then I need the Daffodils, Tulips and Alliums to flower. Daffodils and Tulips don't look like they're about to show so I think I'll end up with only a few blooms for a number of weeks.

Liz said...

Hi Esther,

I've 1 Daffodil just coming in to flower under the Cherry tree but all the rest look to be a good way off yet.
The purple primroses in the front garden are just beginning to bloom now, and I really need to divide them up because they're very overcrowded.
My Hellebores aren't doing very well, I think they're another plant that I need only look at and they die.
I hope you get some more blooms soon, and that the weather warms up a little for you. Today here has been mixed, and the sun was very pleasant when it made an appearance :)

Liz said...

Hi Anna,

I think we have another flurry of essays all at once relatively soon, but for the next week I fully intend to get the jobs done that have been putt off for the past 3/4 weeks in favour of essays.
I have a number of plants that need dividing and moving, then once the fence is finished I can get replanting the clematis that I had to dig up.
Yep, from what I can see the Alliums may not come true, but even if they end up white I'll be quite happy. I'm surprised this is the first year I've had any seedlings as I've had Alliums in these areas for around 3 years now, granted last year I did go Allium happy...

Liz said...

Hi Pam,

Thanks! I've passed semester 1 - can officially 'progess' into semester 2! lol.
I had plans to spend more time on my essays this semester after messing around in the first, but they decided to lump them all together and I didn't have chance to take as much time writing them as I had hoped.

I don't have any big plans for the new space, I don't want to spend a lot of money on it as I plan on moving in the next year or so. So I'll just put some bark up and a few pots of plants I think. Then maybe have a table and chairs up there when I come to sell.

Sarah Knight said...

Lovely shots!

ShySongbird said...

Glad to read the study pressure is lightening a little Liz, I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end. Have you ever told us what the ultimate career is which you are working toward, I know it is in the environmental area.

Love the Iris and Viola combination, gorgeous colours!

Glad to see the Sweet Peas are coming on, I can almost smell their beautiful scent.

I bet you will be pleased when the fence is finished and you can 'reclaim' your garden, I hate those sort of upheavals!

Liz said...

Hi Sarah,

Thank you very much for visiting, I'm glad you enjoyed the photos.

Liz said...

Hi Jan,

I aim to become a planner either with design knowledge or an urban designer, ultimately I want to be the latter. Aiming to be somewhere which specialises in 'green' design, maybe even work as a consultant advising on green design but somewhere in that field.

I'm looking forward to the sweet peas, need to sow some more but hopefully I'll have a much better show than last year, so really need quite a few plants. But since I now have another 2 or 3 fence pannels to cover, the sweet peas will be a nice quick fix until the Clematises and willow screen mature.

The fence should've been finished yesterday - the fence is in, but there are gaps at the bottom because the land steps. The plan was to fill them using wooden kick boards, when they came round to put in kick boards it was soon discovered that the lengths of wood are not as long as ordered. So I still have gaps under the fences and I can't really plant the climbers yet until they've been done.

Janet/Plantaliscious said...

Hurrah for the end of essays, an almost-finished fence and beautiful flowers. My astrantias are racing away too, very exciting. I keep sowing more Sweet Peas because they are always slower to germinate than I think. I may be over run, though U'm not sure this is possible with such gorgeous flowers. Beautiful crocuses. Here's hoping you get some time to enjoy your garden before the dissertation takes over.

Alice Joyce said...

Dropping by to say hello,
Lurking even when I do not take time to comment:~D
I'm flaunting a few early blooms, too,
simply glad to see anything popping up as the weather warms.
G. phaeum is a favorite of mine, by the way.
And your clematis Rubens, another favorite I share in common with Gwirrel's garden!

Rose said...

It definitely looks like spring in your garden, Liz! Nothing like the delicate little blooms of the crocus to let you know that spring is on its way.

Good luck with your dissertation!

Nutty Gnome said...

You've got some good stuff coming through there Liz!
I lost quite a lot of plants to the big freeze, but I'm quite reassured by the plants that are now starting to pop up!
I've finally started planting seeds, so I WILL have vegetables and stuff this year :)

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

I love finding signs of life in a plant that I've otherwise given up on. How exciting. I hope it thrives. Your blooms are all gorgeous, but I'm especially partial to the crocus 'snowbunting'. That ladybird is a fantastic color. I'm not sure I've ever seen one quite like that. Good luck with your dissertation!

Tootsie said...

you have all sorts of signs of spring!! lucky!!
we woke up to 3 more inches of snow today!!! HELLO!!! MOTHER NATURE? IT'S MARCH....TIME TO MELT!!!
thanks for linking in this week!