Monday, May 13, 2019

In the Garden

  After the much needed rain the garden now needs some warmer weather, perhaps  a little more sunshine and it seems that we are going to get that over the next few days. 

 The sparrows, goldfinches, blackbirds and robins are in a feeding frenzy at the moment flitting backwards and forwards between the feeders and the hedge, cramming their beaks with as many nibbles and sunflower hearts as they can. 


Squirrels with ragged tails have been running around the garden looking harrased and the female fox seeks peace and quiet in the garden away from her cubs.
She could see me with my camera up in the bedroom window.

Yesterday and today we have been able to get into the garden, it has been lovely in the sunshine just to potter.  Below are some of the flowers and plants I spotted as I went around the garden weeding here and there - mostly dandelions that had gone to seed.  We'd left the bright yellow flowers as long as possible for the bees.

Lily of the Valley

Bugle

Aquilegia, also known as Granny's Bonnet.

 
Clematis Montana
Strawberries

Broad Beans

Wild Garlic or Ramsons

Ceanothus

Wallflowers

Peony

Perennial Cornflower

Have you been spending time in the garden over the last few day?

26 comments:

  1. Our growing season is much behind yours... :-) We just have wild flowers, like violets and dandelions. The lily of the valley is sprouting though.

    I love your view of dandelions... "We'd left the bright yellow flowers as long as possible for the bees." Yessss! I like our lawn, with its bright happy yellow heads. Dislike all the pure green lawns. It means, they have chemicals used, on them. :-((((

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    1. Thank you WoW, I think our lawn is full of lots of other plants and moss too in places, more grass areas than well kept lawns:)

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  2. Oh, such a lot out so early. They are all so pretty. Spent a an hour weeding our veg beds ready for........umh, that is debatable as to when & what to put in as we have some time away coming up. Dandelions are the bane of my life, as here in Oz, they just take over everywhere & no WOW we don't use chemicals, but dandelions means in the end we have no lawn or "pasture grass" as I call it as nobody ever planted said lawn on our block. The squirrel upside down is so comical. Only birds come to our feeders, as we don't have squirrels. Thanks for the garden update, hope the sun shines for a while & take care.

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    1. Thank you Susan, I find it more and more difficult each year to cope with the garden, I don't work in it so much now, Paul does all the heavy work. Weeding the grass and weeds in the beds hurts my fingers but we keep going on. There seems to be lots of dandelions this year too but they seem to be dying back now:)

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  3. Lots of lovely blooms in your garden Rosie.
    The pic of the naughty squirrel could have been taken in my garden, I have 4 of them that try to snaffle the birds goodies. Mrs Fox looks very elegant

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    1. Thank you Julie, the squirrels take such a lot of bird food at the moment. This year's Mrs Fox is very tall and long legged not like last years who was smaller:)

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  4. It really was far too cold and wet for gardening last week, wasn't it? We spent several hours working in the garden among the butterflies on Sunday and watched a buzzard being mobbed by crows high overhead. The crows were fierce and didn't stop until they had escorted the buzzard off the premises. It was wonderful to watch. x

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    1. Thank you Mrs T. I love to watch the buzzards soaring and thermalling as they hover overhead but more often than not they get 'seen off' by crows. We seem to have warmer days this week to loo forward to:)

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  5. Your garden looks wonderful, lots of colour and wildlife. We're a bit in between seasons at the moment, it's mainly green out there. 😊

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    1. Thank you Karen, driving out today the hedgerows where white with hawthorn and cow parsley - so beautiful:)

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  6. A start has been made in the garden, mainly containers until we have finished the indoor garden and veg plot. It is slow going I am afraid. Your garden is beautiful full of colour.

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    1. Thank you, it will be wonderful to have an indoor garden where you can guard delicate plants from the elements:)

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  7. Now that the weather has improved I'm eager to get out-and-about and leave the gardening. There's always something to do in the garden. Mr P has been putting out some of his tomato plants against a sunny wall, but still bringing them in at night due to the drop in temperature. It looks as if you are ahead as our peonies are still in bud. I'm disappointed the ceonothus has not flowered. It was one I chose last year as a gift. I think it might need planting in the ground instead keeping it in a pot.
    Gardening is a learning experience as well as a pleasure.

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    1. Thank you Linda, there seems to be so much grass in the beds this year and it is so hard to deal with and pull out when our clay soil is hard and dry. Both our peonies are in flower the one on the front of the house came first, then the smaller one at the back. It'sthat time of year when we're taking plants in and out too:)

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  8. The Squirrels have been going mad for the sunflower hearts here too, one just hangs upside down for ages and pours them into it's mouth from the feeder! How lovely to see the Fox, we haven't had one in the garden for months now. Your garden is looking lovely, so much colour :)

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    1. Thank you Pam, yes the squirrels just fill their pouches don't they? We watch for the fox every evening after nine and as it gets darker we can see the bats flitting too:)

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  9. Replies
    1. Thank you Tanza, it's one of my favourite flowers:)

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  10. Your garden is looking wonderful and so colourful. Still envious of your Wild Garlic :) Birds still feeding well here too. We've been busy here sowing some more seeds - a bit late but hopefully they will catch up with the hot weather we are now getting. We rarely see foxes (or hedgehogs) these days but there are a lot of grey squirrels about.

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    1. Thank you RR, we never see hedgehogs now or any evidence of them it is so sad. We too have been setting extra seeds hopefully they may grow. Let me know if you come up to this area or nearby and if we are around we could arrange to pass on some wild garlic:)

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  11. I love that your garden is so perfect for wildlife. A fox , that's amazing. Your flowers are a combination of garden and wild which is lovely. Second lily of the valley seen today. :)

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    1. Thank you Shazza, we try to keep a wild area not far from the pond. There does seem to be lots of coour in the garden at the moment, later in the eyar it goes more green. Love Lily of the Valley:)

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  12. The fox was quite well aware of you.

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    1. Thank you William, she is very aware of us watching her, last year her mother would come and sit closer but her daughter is less trusting of humans:)

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  13. You've got a good lot of flowers in bloom Rosie. My garden could do with more but I seem to excel in growing dandelions! x

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    1. Thank you Simone, all the agilegias are in flower now so the garden looks very pink at the moment. It seems to have been a good year for dandelions:)

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