End of Month View - March 2010

Wow, is it really that time again??

So, what has happened since last month? Well all the Iris and Crocus have been and gone and we're now in another lull until the Alliums and Bluebells open - how annoying?!

Some Snowdrops are still with us and a few Crocus in the front garden the Primroses are also in full flower, none of which I have taken photos of to show on here.

I have managed to put some plants in, which really ought to have been planted in Autumn…And I currently have 6(!!) spring pots by the front door, all looked stunning when the Iris were in flower… So the Violas and Skimmia are keeping the colour going until the Tulips and Daffodils flower.

Some Anemone are coming into flower

Surprise white one…

The rest are all blue

Muscari are coming into flower

Muscari, Viola and the Hellebore in the background is *still* in flower… that's 4 months now!

Hawthorn leaves, I love the vibrant shade when they first emerge!

Clematis 'Marjorie'! I am *so* excited to see her flower.

Fresh Cotoneaster leaves

And fresh Rose leaves

Aubrieta will soon join the party.

And the Winter Jasmine is flowering happily, hidden from view.

I expect the Fuji Cherry and Forsythia to also flower in the next week - other Forsythia's around me are flowering *grumble grumble grumble*

Missing from the above are photos of the Autumn Cherry in blossom, and a few bulbs peeping their heads up which I believe to be 'Glory of the Sun' and a few Daffodils... Speaking of Daffs, I am yet to see any sign of the 'Silver Chimes' planted a couple of years ago... I hope they come back, they were late flowering compared to others, not a fan of Daffodils but I will be upset if they don't come up.

I Spy With My Little Eye…

Is… That a leaf??

Mmm, but it’s moving…

I think it’s a Vole, no sign of ears, much too small for a Wood/House mouse

Oh my, it’s a teeny tiny baby Wood mouse!

It really shouldn’t be out of the nest by the looks of things.

So, so tiny!

(urgh, the walls look awful, and to think I only power washed/painted them last summer…)

Hopefully this will give you a good idea of its size.

I went outside to see how close I could get…

I was able to get far too close.

I followed it, trying to see if it would notice danger.

Then it decided having a wash was a good idea with me stalking it…

Gradually getting ever closer…

Found something interesting

I herded it into the hedge

However, when I went up onto the tier to refill the cleaned bird feeders it joined me… I hope it’s found its home or otherwise grows up very quickly, there are far too many cats around here.

Poor baby.

And so it began…

We started the border!! Woo hoo!!

I decided we ought to at least get the turf up this weekend, snow is apparently forecast next week and over Easter, so I will not be able to get it done.

Does anyone have tips on making loam? I don’t want to bin all the turf… The problem is, as you can see in the photos there’s lots of thick, golden clay, no doubt this is why the grass was so poor on this side of the garden.

Camera batteries were dead when we started… So I couldn’t get ‘before’ shots.

Hard at work!

But don’t let that fool you, it was me who did all that, after these shots I finished off the rest. Pete was really struggling. I believe he said something along the lines of:

“It looks really easy when you do it, does it look easy when I do?”
“No, it looks like you’re really struggling.”
“I am.”

The main body of turf is removed, I need to get a lawn edger tomorrow to cut the curves. I’ve left it relatively small, I can always extend it in future.

Clay, glorious clay.

I am not looking forward to turning that clay, pulling out the large hunks and finding some way to dispose of it all.

And now for something totally random… All my plant labels seem to be pulled out of the ground and scattered around the garden… What is doing it??? I think it’s likely to be Magpies or Jays… Seems odd, why have they done it? I leave them in the ground so I know where the plants are when they die back in winter. Strange and somewhat annoying.

Perhaps faeries are doing it? Pixies perhaps, it seems like something pixies, imps or brownies would do!

Macro Monday

And time for another macro bokeh instalment!

If you too would like to take part in Macro Monday, leave your link at: Lisa's Chaos

Sunday Safari

My apologies, it’s another one of those incredibly long posts… It’s been such a wonderful day and there’s been so much to photograph that I just couldn’t help myself!

You will be shocked to hear this is actually a cut-down version too!

Phew!

Please, grab yourself a hot drink, or maybe even some whisky to help this one go down…

Dark border in the front garden, I’ve never seen so much colour in it! Haha, more needs to be added next year.

My large pot by the front door, crammed with Irises, looks amazing.

Muscari is almost there…

As is the Anemone

The growth is just a few days has shocked me, these Allium are so much larger

Snake’s Head Fritileria

Crocus

Aquilegia

Black Currant leaves opening

The only 'prins claus' to have survived - the smaller one on the right

Sweet Pea seedlings have been pinched out

Cosmos seedling

Brachyome

Autumn Cherry is finally in flower…

Clematis ‘willy’ buds almost open

The big Bumbles are out now, plenty of Queens seen

And the smaller Honey Bees too

I even managed to have some washing out to dry…

I’ve no idea where this white Anemone has come from… I bought only the blues, but it’s very welcome!

First 2 spotted Ladybird in the garden.

Nature can be so cruel sometimes…

I found this Queen by the door, I noticed the cobwebs and knew something was wrong. On closer inspection I thought a spider had got her…

I hope she survives, I tried to get rid of the tick/mite for her, but she flew away.

Wolf Spiders were out in force today…

Urgh, is anyone else itching now after seeing that poor Queen Bee??

:(