-
An Early Heatwave
My rhodendrons have finally flowered but they are not as lush as usual and each plant has just a dozen or so blossoms. Luckily, one that I thought had been killed in a storm is showing signs of life but the dry May weather is probably not helping it. My azaleas on the other had…
-
Survivors and Casualties
22 April 2025 This willow is one of my favourite trees in the garden proper. Its shape has been honed by the endless gales that have battered it for at least thirty years. Each spring I await the first catkins with trepidation as I am never sure if it has survived the winter. So far…
-
Sometimes I Just Play
The bad winter prevented me from doing many of the routine and necessary tasks in the garden. However, I was able to prune some willow shrubs and took the opportunity to play with the willow stems weaving some into a small fence. The colours of the branches that I used are striking. The orange-stemmed Salix…
-
In the Absence of Spring
Each year I am visited by flocks of forty or more small birds who join the ‘locals’ at the bird feeders. This year it has been sparrows. I have enjoyed their noisy twittering as they waited patiently in the shrubs by the feeders. They were not deterred by storms Darragh and Eowyn – even though…
-
More Suprises
My first apples. This is an impressive sight as I have never knowingly planted apple trees in this garden and now have two. They are half hidden in a thick and deep hedgerow that I created in an empty field when I moved here, so I guess they came with a batch of hedgerow trees…
-
Caught in the Act
I have finally admitted defeat in my efforts to have Hosta plants in pots by my back door. These had hardly started to produce leaves this year when the snail attacks started. To my mind this is earlier than usual and if other years are an indication I will soon have no leaves left. I…
-
Repair or Replace
This a picture of a corner of the garden that I created shortly after I moved here twelve years ago. I was particularly pleased with the mix of formal planting and wildflowers which were allowed to seed themselves at will. Sadly, the last two winters have taken their toll and the corner is a sad…
-
Waiting Impatiently for Spring
30 January 2023 I am not usually envious of other people, but recent visits to my local village have been turning me green. Here on the coast the winds are rarely benevolent and we are still having frosts and days when the wind chill can reduce the temperature dramatically. My camellias continue to hang back…
-
At Least the Rain has Stopped!
16 January 2023 The last leaf in the garden against the backdrop of winter heather. It is hard to imagine how this has remained on the tree throughout all the gales but the colour is a bright spot on a dull day. The heather in all of its glory. I still have to look carefully…
-
Nemeses
This is the night time activity on the wall behind the house where all of my Hosta sit in pots in the shade. The snails are already shredding some of them and I presume that this one is on his way home for the evening after a satisfactory feast. I have tried everything to deter…