From the Garden

May has gently turned to June and the garden looks and feels different.  Everything is less blowzy and frothy, less full of exuberance and and is now more mellow, golden and green.  The birds are less frenetic in their feeding and flying around.  It seems that young have fledged and parents have more time to relax in the trees and hedges around the garden.  The blackbird has time to run through his full repertoire of melodious song in the late afternoon, joined occasionally by the robin, wood pigeons and the call of the herring gulls high above.

 We have ripe courgettes in the greenhouse

These three made a courgette bake for tea this evening.

 The first of this year's strawberries tasted so sweet and yet sharp at the same time.

 The plants are covered in berries as more and more ripen each day.

We have an elderflower bush which has pushed its way through the trees between us and next door.

The taste of Elderflower always seems to go well with gooseberries another fruit that is ripening in this warm sunshine.

I brought in just a few cut flowers from the Sweet Williams which grow in a pot by the back door.

You may remember my post about this plant the Sicilian Honey Garlic - here -  the little bell like flowers are now turning their faces upwards and making tight cone shapes which I assume will be full of seeds.  It has been a fascinating plant to watch over the last couple of months.

How does your garden grow at this time of year?

In the Garden

The garden isn't looking too bad at the moment although in places the grass seems to be taking over a bit.  I've been busy removing the seed heads from the Aquilegias that have finished flowering but leaving others as the bees are still buzzing around and popping in and out of the little  bonnets.

Pink seems to be the dominant colour at the moment

Tamarisk Tree

Lupins

Clematis

 Valerian - the bees love this and sometimes to is covered with them.

Of course, there are other colours too.......

Flag Iris
 

 Yellow Rose

 Climbing Hydrangea

Blue Hardy Geranium 

 Perennial Cornflower

Chives 

We were awakened early this morning around 4a.m. not by the dawn chorus although that was beginning but by four little fox cubs running round and round the paths in the garden, jumping and playing being watched over by father fox.  It was such a wonderful sight to see.

The Lovell Quinta Arboretum

The Lovell Quinta Arboretum can be found in the village of Swettenham which is about four miles off the road which runs between Congleton and the village of Homes Chapel in Cheshire.

There is a very large car park behind the church at the Swettenham Arms and the gate through to the Arboretum is easily found off the car park.  You pay the entrance fee into an honesty box near the gate.

The arboretum was founded by Sir Bernard Lovell who is best known for his work on radar and for his telescope at nearby Jodrell Bank which can be seen for miles around.  He bought the land in 1948 and worked on building up the collection of trees and plants throughout the 1950s. In 1996 it passed into the hands of the Cheshire Wildlife Trust and in 2003 it was passed on to the Tatton Garden Society.

There are currently two thousand five hundred trees at the site including national collections of both Pine and Ash.  There are also displays of snowdrop, daffodil and crocus in Spring.

It was dry but hazy with that feeling of rain not being very far away as we arrived at the arboretum.

There are some interesting and unusual trees and most are labelled.
Above a Goat Horn Tree from Western China

Some of the colourful shrubs which we had just missed being at their best.

Conifer -I loved the fluffy spikiness of this one.

Sorbus

Laburnum

One of the paths through the woods

I loved the light on the oak leaves

A view across the flood plain of the River Dane which rises in the Peak District and wends its way through Holmes Chapel to join the River Weaver at Northwich.

At this side of the arboretum is a gate through to the Quinta Nature Reserve which a mixture of wetland, woodland and grassland. We didn't have time to explore on this visit but intend to return to see more. This part is still administered by the Cheshire Wildlife Trust.

The nature reserve runs at the side of the field above with trees on the opposite side of the path.

Acer - Snake Bark Maple

It was quite magical under the trees but it had started to rain.  Soft and gentle drops at first turning to more persistent sploshes as we decided that perhaps we should return to the car park.

You can see how heavy it was from the splashes in the pond which is surrounded by ancient trees including two old oaks both over three hundred years old whose holey branches are home to birds, bats, beetles and spiders.  The lake was created by the family of Sir Bernard Lovell close to the family home The Quinta. 

The Swamp Cypress has its own island on the pond.
 

It was lovely to see the place in the final days of Spring and  we will hopefully return in Autumn.

Sicilian Honey Garlic

Nectaroscordum siculum 

also know as Sicilian Honey Garlic, Sicilian Honey Lily or Mediterranean Bells.

We have only a vague recollection of buying the bulbs last year  They were planted in a pot last Autumn and left over winter. 

Over a month ago they looked like this.  We were bemused as to what they were.  They had been labelled but the name had smudged in the damp weather and on the other side of the label it said pumpkin! Full marks for recycling the label though. The packet top had either been put somewhere very safe or thrown away.

A few weeks ago one of the spears popped open to reveal the little buds inside.

 Gradually they all opened into buds which then began to open into little dangling bell like flowers.

 How delightful! 
We tried again to read the label and put into google what we thought it said which seemed like gobbledegook but we found its real name quite quickly.

Anyway now we know what they are and they are delightful and most importantly the bees love them.

Here is a - link - to the RHS site to find out more.

Early Morning Walk

Yesterday we were up and out  fairly early in the morning and when we arrived at our usual place to take a walk we were the only people there.

It was so quiet and peaceful under the trees who'd have thought it was the first day of a bank holiday weekend. 

  The woodland birds were singing their little hearts out, pheasants called from nearby fields, buzzards mewled overhead and ducks on the nearby pond sounded as if they were laughing at a coarse joke or two.

 Everything was lush and green.

 Except where it was white.

Lovely dandelion clocks were everywhere all ready for the breeze to catch and distribute their seeds or fairies as we used to call them - in fact still do!

The towpath by the canal was glorious with its soft tones of green and white

 There were many other plants to spot as we walked.  Some of them I can easily identify others I can't without the aid of a reference book.  Where I'm not sure I've put a question mark in brackets.  Any help with identification will be gratefully received.

Yellow Dead Nettle - also Yellow Archangel - thank you Ragged Robin, Mrs Tiggywinkle and John Scurr.

At first I thought 'self heal' but it isn't like the 'self heal' in our garden so now I'm not sure.   Apparently this is called Bugle - thank you John Scurr.

 Wild rhubarb - there must be another name for this but I can't find it.  I assumed the tall flowers were part of the same plant but I'm not sure. I now know that this is butterbur thanks again to John, I think somewhere in the back of my mind I'd found this out before but had completely forgotten.

 Buttercups

 Clover

 Vetch

 Wood Avens

 White Dead Nettle

 Horse Tail 

 growing at the sides of the canal towpath it looks a
very ancient looking plant.

 Ash Keys

Hogweed (?)

Rhododendron

The heat of yesterday was cleared by a storm during the night, at one point loud rain and thunder woke me up.  It is cooler and breezier today and as I type this post the rain has started again.  At least the gardens will benefit from it.