Tuesday 13 April 2010

Spring!

Isn't the weather wonderful?? I'm so glad that spring is finally here: the plants and shrubs are looking beautifully fresh and green, the blossoms are opening and the butterflies and bees are visiting the garden once more :-)



When I let the big girls out on Saturday, Prudence and Abigail spent quite some time scratching around the pots ~ and weeds! ~ near the patio door. They had obviously found a little treasure-trove of goodies to peck at.



The sight of their fluffy black bottoms up in the air made me giggle!



This tub of grass and sweet woodruff is actually Amber's (she has a couple of tubs to nibble on when she feels the need, since we don't have a lawn) but Abigail and Prudence thought they would just help themselves.



And this is what happens when you turn your back for a few minutes!



The little daffodils in the gnome hamlet need dead-heading now that the flowers are going over. The rhubarb is coming along a treat and on the other side from the daffs is a little clump of tulips, which will soon be flowering.



I do love this clematis, which is growing on the side of the hen house. Its blooms are so small and pretty.



This little bed is between Amber's toilet area and the back gate. It's pretty shady in this part of the garden but the ivy, creeping jenny, sweet violets and grape hyacinths don't seem to mind.



I'm amazed that this dandelion has managed to escape the attentions of the chickens! I know it is classed as a weed but it is very sweet nevertheless, and such a lovely shade of yellow.



I suppose I really shouldn't show you the terrible mess my garden is currently in, but I'm just so impressed by how determined these two lonesome daffodils have been to flower regardless of the chaos around them!





Bleeding Hearts are another plant which I love and I think this white variety is even nicer than the more usual pink.



This clump of moss gets larger each year LOL It is growing at the base of a very tall pond plant which lives in one of my tiny nature pools.


I do wish I could remember the name of this shrub. It has masses of flower buds again this year and looks so pretty when they all open ~ a frothy confection of white :-)

This year's flowers on a heuchera.


See, this is how it begins. You quite innocently plant up a little aloe vera off-shoot and before you know it, it is having babies LOL I had a very large mother plant which I stood outside last summer. I remembered to pop it into my little grow-house when the weather started to get cooler, fully intending to divide it as it was trying desperately hard to escape from the pot it was in! But ~ of course ~ I forgot and only got around to pulling out one little shoot. The poor mother plant didn't survive the cold weather. Mind you, by the look of this I don't think it will be long before I have to think about repotting some of the new plantlets from this one. It obviously likes living on the shelf above the computer!


Isn't she gorgeous! Isadora arrived yesterday and I am absolutely thrilled with her. She is a porcelain doll and has the name "Kelly J RuBert" on the back of her neck, who is apparently a doll artist. Isadora is tall, standing about 55cm, and heavy too. She is a lovely addition to my doll family :-)

These vintage glass Christmas tree baubles arrived yesterday, too. I remember this type of decoration from when I was a child. Only ten of the original set of twelve have survived but they are in the original box, which is nice. And look at the original price ~ 35p!

No comments: