Exochorda, the pearlbush, shining in the spring sunshine.
You are my sunshine
And although I cannot truthfully say that you are my only sunshine, you did brighten my day.
Anemone nemorosa “Robinsoniana”
This delicate little beauty is flowering in my front garden at the moment. Every time I walk past this very special wood anemone I think of Robin and Edwina and their wonderful garden at Andrews Corner on the edge of Dartmoor. When I visited this treasure trove of a garden, far too long ago, it was given to me as a parting gift. Coincidently they are open today for the National Garden Scheme http://www.ngs.org.uk/gardens/find-a-garden/Garden.aspx?id=6137. I am sure the mother plant is also flowering her beautiful little head off, along with all kinds of other gems. It is just a little too far for me to travel to find out, but if you can, then I certainly would. If you need any more persuading, there are cream teas too!
Hanging Basket
I do love a nice hanging basket
Beware
Clients beware. This is what happened to the unfortunate who suggested that I might plant Cotoneaster horizontalis in their garden. For the sake of my dear and most sensitive readers I have shown you the silhouette only. Some might say “harsh”, but I would say “fair”
What Lies Beneath?
At The Farm we have been working hard to reclaim the vegetable garden. To save you the trauma of our agonies over the last few months I will précis what we have achieved. There are now two distinct planting areas. These are rectangles of improved soil that have been released from the suffocating carpet lain many years ago and now covered in several centimetres of turf. The lower bed has been planted with potatoes; Foremost, Wilja, Red Duke of York and Blue Danube. Courgettes will join them later. The upper bed will be for peas, both sweet and edible, and all manner of beans and which will be supported by a trio of alternative wigwams created by Young Master George, one willow, one twisted ash, one sycamore. Both beds are encircled by recycled paving slabs, bedded in by Slasher.
Slasher also constructed a raised bed, on a piece of uneven ground adjacent to the greenhouse. We filled it with upturned turf, relocated topsoil and added a few bags of compost for good measure. It is to be used for salad crops and its height means it can be more easily protected from Those Who Wish Us To Fail. The members of this non exclusive club include, but are not confined to, badgers, rabbits and of course those pesky chickens. It has been succession sown with beetroot, spring onions, cut-and-come-again lettuce, carrots and of course radishes. Continuing with the recycling theme, we found abandoned in the bushes lengths of what I think is reinforcing steel. This was cut to length and used as an open cloche for further protection. But wait a moment, what is that top right, poking up between the ruler lines of emerging seedlings?
Rhubarb, that is what it is! Foolishly (in retrospect) we built the raised bed on top of the scrappiest, saddest, specimen of rhubarb you have ever seen. Its pathetic performance last year didn’t warrant even a single harvest. This weakling was so obviously a spent force, doomed and definitely not a threat to straight lines. Now it is vigorous, indomitable, chaotic. We are all doomed. I have cut it twice and still it continues its upward momentum. Shows just how much I know. Again.
Pledge
Several months ago, with much aplomb, Lavinia* announced that she would not be buying any more plants. It is true to say that neither of her audience quite believed her, although we nodded in appreciation of her intent. She has long been an addict, it was a tough call. Over the intervening weeks, new arrivals appeared; a lily (a gift, it would be rude not to accept), some pansies (rescued from the jaws of a skip), pelargoniums (an irresistible bargain), to mention just a few. Sometimes they have been secreted around the garden, tucked into nooks and hidden behind planters, but I have always sniffed them out. Today I planted out a Dicentra spectabilis “Alba”**, a couple of dozen gladioli and some white liatris whilst Lav potted up some pink gypsophila. Earlier I admired some golden osteospermum and a window box full of mauve ageratum, neither of which I have seen before. How can this have happened? Must be that Plant Fairy again!
* This is not her real name.
** Yes I know it is now called Lamprocapnos spectabilis but I’m not playing nicely today.
Icy
Everyone is shouting “snow”,”plummeting temperatures”, “wind chill”, “Arctic conditions”. So, in an attempt to redress the balance, I will whisper “beautiful icy-white Iberis sempervirens“.
Believe
This is Tulip “Blue Diamond”. When I bought the bulbs at last autumn’s Malvern Show I didn’t really believe they would be blue. But a little bit of me hoped they would be. The little bit that would like to believe in Father Christmas or that I will win the Lottery or that George Clooney is regretting marrying that skinny maid and has come to appreciate the more padded torso. They are blooming now and although the peony formed flowers are undoubtedly beautiful they are definitely not blue. Or diamonds, come to think of it.
Ephemeral
Ceanothus arboreus ‘Trewithen Blue’, fast-growing, short-lived, beautiful. This seems to be a popular option at the moment. I am aspiring to the slow-growing, long-lived, might pull a comb through my hair on a special occasion, approach. Unfortunately I am not at liberty to make these kind of decisions, my fate is with the gods. In the meantime I will try my best to enjoy every second and appreciate the wonder of the ephemeral.
