Spring is only weeks away...honest

Guess what we saw in the shops today? SEED packets. My friend was looking forward to growing veg, that really made me think "the time to plan is NOW". We may have yucky weather right now but that doesn't mean we can't start thinking of sunshine!
Another thing on the to-do list. I will grow different things this year though. This year I will be thinking of architectural shapes in the garden for the photography side, maybe Sea Holly, Teasles etc. Any suggestions on good plants to grow with this in mind gratefully recieved!

Doxie, looking forward to Spring. :o)

Planning ahead

I just adore cottage garden plants. Every year I dream of having the "perfect cottage garden" but rarely get the whole herbacious border thing going...I may have pretties at the front of the border but so often the back is lacking impact, bar a few sunflowers. I look at the plants and always wish I had put in Hollyhocks and lupins but of course they don't flower the same year as sowing...it feels like cheating to go and buy the year old plants so I kind of put them out of my mind and think

" Oh well..."

Next year it will be different though. Hopefully we will be in a new location and that means NEW garden...and the first year of that new garden will be bursting with Hollyhocks and Lupins because I have a greenhouse full of them right now! I actually remembered to think ahead! :o) I just hope I can get them through the winter. I think this will be the first year I will buy a greenhouse heater. I do have another garden I can "borrow" space in to put them in to get established between now and next Summer but I would feel a bit mean digging them up when they had just got their roots down. The same goes for Asparagus. I have several pots now in their second year of growth looking forward to their new home in the hopefully not too distant future.

My best friend is moving too and she loves gardening equally...so between us we have been planning what we can grow and share for our new plots.

I think in the new garden my moto will be NO MORE KNEE JERK GARDENING. I will actually use my garden planning book for what it was intended instead of a convenient coffee mug mat!

Something else I need to take care of is the front garden. I hate being out in the front so it gets very neglected...I live in hope that I will like the next place we move to so much more that I enjoy the front garden just as much as the back.

Doxie so excited about the future.

Green Beetle, green beetle who art thou?

I am trying to identify the species of a beetle found on one of my succulents.I have narrowed it down to the family Oedemeridae... if my classification skills are clearly way off please let me know...I'd love to know who this little fellow is ( and the ever present biology geek in me wants to know why...hence the interest in Genus species LOL )

Doxie... who is definitely lacking in the Insectology department.

slugs

I hadn't found that many slugs this year but didn't want anyone to eat my freshly planted cornflowers so I put pellets down as insurance anyway...boy oh boy am I glad I did!... after a night of rain the flower bed was littered with dead slugs. It was quite a shock to know that many had been hiding where I couldn't see them...a few had got to the odd cornflower but I have no doubt that the whole flowerbed would have disappeared over night if I hadn't taken precautions. They have been picked up ( YUK ) and put in the bin so the birds don't get them, although I do use wildlife safe pellets. ( obviously not safe to slimy wildlife though! )

Doxie the relieved.

Just posting this pic to remind myself next year what kind of flowers were out in the garden and when. I think they were Nerines in front of a laurel, but I will have to double check.

Enjoy.

Doxie

Gardening starting in earnest

Look at what Mr Doxie treated me to...aren't they wonderful...I love the idea of making the functional and possibly boring beautiful. I know I will be the only one using them seeing as they are covered in girly flowers, but I don’t care because I love them! We took advantage of the super weather we had last week and the gardening really started in earnest.

During the Winter the garden is a disgrace and only the very brave would venture out there… but come the Summer time it is transformed and we use it most days. If it is warm enough then we have breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner out there. I think of the garden as an extension to the dining room, except we get to redecorate every year! This year the theme is my favourite, the traditional English cottage garden. Okay we don’t live in a cottage but it doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the same beauty when we are outside. The seeds above are a small selection of what will be going in this year.

Seeing as it was so dry last week I decided it was a good time to attack the Spiraea which was long over due. The amount of deadwood was amazing…anyway being a true crafter I just could not bring myself to throw away some of the very straight sticks…I have wild ideas of thatching bird boxes ( in my own unique style, eek that’ll be interesting ), or making some nice dangly tree art… we shall see. I have cut some shorter sticks too and tied them in bundles. Hopefully that way they look useful and nobody will think they are rubbish and chuck them in the next green recycling load. Any ideas for what else I could use them for? Answers on a postcard or alternatively leave a comment below. :o)

...and just to whet your appetite if you haven't put any seeds in yet, here are a few french marigold seeds waiting to be covered by a nice layer of compost. They were put in about a fortnight ago and are up already...as are my sunflower seeds and some of the cornflowers. I'll post pics soon.

I am rather slow with my veggie seeds , so they will be next on the list.

It sounds as if next weekend is going to be cold and wet which is a pain just as we are getting used to working outdoors again. Anyway I live in hope...

I hope wherever you are, you are enjoying the first few signs of Spring.

Doxie

Celebrating Celandine

Don’t you just love a carpet of Celandine? It has been very rampant and obvious in the woodlands around here this year. Also in the garden environment. Okay I know some people view it as a pesky weed, but it is sooooo beautiful, a real herald of Spring. I say enjoy it whilst it flowers and then rip it up with great abandon after. Here is a picture just in case you can’t get out to enjoy it.

My Kinda Saturday

This is the result of my pottering around in the garden today. The flowers are primroses and pansies. One of the primroses looks a bit poorly but I am hoping it will buck up now it has it's feet in the ground. Can you see that little fellow there keeping guard?

Meet Edwin, the garden gargoyle...If that is how you spell it. It’s not a word I'm used to writing. We brought him back from a holiday in Cornwall years ago. I fell in love with him as he is so unusual being a cheery gargoyle, not at all scary like those on historic buildings. We have an understanding Edwin and I, he guards the flowers and if he does it well and looks his best I make sure he has pride of place each year. So far he's done a good job.

And here are the flowers before I put them in, just because I thought they looked lovely in a basket.

All in all it has been a good day.I am looking forward to seeing the results of DH’s DIY. He is working on some custom made cabinets to go either side of a shop bought one in the smallest room in the house. The left hand one will be for loo rolls and the right hand one for bit and bobs and cleaning products. I am blessed to have such a handy and obliging DH. So if you are reading this Mr, yes I do appreciate you.

To top it off we have been accompanied all day by the sounds of the genius that is Hans Zimmer.

Until next time,

Doxie x