It’s a while since I went for a wander round the garden with my camera…it had been a long while since I did any gardening but here in Yorkshire it feels like spring has finally sprung. We’re still having some very cold mornings, but when the sun comes out it can be quite warm. Over the last few days I’ve finally got out and done some gardening.
Somewhat late but I finally got round to pruning my roses, not heavily as I am a bit late, but interestingly the ones which Sally, my gardening friend had cut back in the autumn hardly needed anything, just a light trim, so I think I’ll try and do an autumn trim in future.
Sally came round again today and we worked on the amber and amethyst garden at the top. I think I have finally got the hang of the hand rake, a wonderful little tool she introduced me to last year with three strong prongs, it just makes everything look tended and helps with the mini weeds.
The dark blue flowers on the left are pulmonaria, the purple growth under the dome is a peony and the dark grey looking flowers are hellebores which when freshly out are a stunning dark purple.
Plants are putting on lots of growth at the moment and spring flowering trees are looking beautiful, I love seeing the cherry and almond blossom around the town and at home I have a mini cherry in a pot, its blossoms are so delicate, I love it.
The camellias are all in flower too, the blooms are easily damaged by cold winds so some have browned a bit, especially a white one I have at the side of the drive. The dark pink one by the conservatory is a bit more protected…
The two plants underneath are camassia on the right, which will probably flower in about a few weeks time and two brunnera leafing up nicely. Interestingly the silvery one is the original plant, the off shoot is clearly reverting back to a plain green.
Up by the pond I have a very pretty pale pink camellia, a fairly young shrub, which at the moment has a single perfect flower, isn’t it beautiful…
The pond area which is the area I’m embroidering at the moment, is still looking a bit bare, the hostas are just starting to push their shoots up. Having cleared a big bank of flag iris last year which were hogging the pond and causing access issues, I really have no excuse for the pond weed, I think I need to put a fishing net nearby so I can have a dip when I’ve got 5 minutes to spare. I took the photo on my phone which seems to have gone into a wide angle mode…not sure what I did but you can see a bit more of the garden!
The snowdrops in the bottom corner were lovely this year, it’s getting to be quite a big patch now, these are all from a bunch my mum gave me from her garden a few years ago. It works quite well as when they die back the bed is covered by a rogersia and some geraniums, layered planting at it’s best!
The patio garden is slowly coming to life too, though the birds are very busy on the feeders and collecting moss from the walls for their nests. In the space of half an hour whilst I sat in the conservatory drinking coffee, I saw two bullfinches, two goldfinches, nuthatches, a blackbird, a wren, a pair of long tailed tits, bluetits, great tits, dunnocks…and a pair of pigeons! I could sit for hours watching them!
Hopefully now it’s warmed up a bit I can get out a bit more, though it’ll come to a bit of a halt again just after Easter as I’m having my gall bladder out, keyhole method fortunately so hopefully I’ll be back to normal activities in three or four weeks…I’m sure I can find some sewing to do in the meantime 🙂
thecraftycreek 
The pink camellia is beautiful!
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Thanks, it’s just so perfect!
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It’s looking so beautiful and I loved the wide angle photo 🙂 I have camellias too which are blooming – usually damaged from wind and rain but so far so beautiful blooms like yours – they make me happy!
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Thanks Sharon, camellias make me smile too as they’re surprisingly blousy for this time of year
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Simply lovely, Margaret! I don’t see hoses…how do you water your garden? Do you get a lot of rain? 🙂
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Thanks Laura, we do get a lot of rain, that’s what makes England so green 🙂 We’re in early spring, I don’t usually need to water until mid summer and even then it’s usually just the pots unless we get a prolonged dry spell. As the pots are clustered together in a cooler spot they seem to make their own little micro-culture and even they don’t get watered that often – plants in my garden just have to survive, they don’t get pampered 🙂
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Thank you for such a lovely tour of your garden! First time I’ve read your blog and I’m enjoying it tremendously. We are putting in our garden – the previous owner took out every single tree and plant on the property before selling! Evidently the realtor told him to at least put a lawn and a few shrubs out front, so he did. We are in the process of removing that lawn and going to transplant the few shrubs out back as we’ve put in extensive planters. We are going to put in many yards of rock out back and out front, interspaced with planters, free standing pots, and patio areas. Much easier to care for as we grow older (we are 67 & 69). I’ve picked up several ideas from your blog and thank you for those! Looking forward to future postings! Deb E
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Thank you, glad you’re enjoying my blog. I’m gradually trying to make mine lower maintenance too, though an extra pair of hands has helped hugely, none of us are getting any younger!
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Looking lovely and neat, I’m glad you have your friend Sally around. Your peonies are romping, mine are a lot slower. Strange weather for down here. We, and lots around us, have lost nearly every hebe in the garden. Sad as they’re good backbone shrubs and do so well on our shallow chalk.
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My peonies seem to have grown every time I look at them! I’ve lost a hebe in the front garden though it was one of the larger leaf ones which I was told years ago were more tender than the small leaf ones. I love hebes and they do OK on my heavy clay too
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I just love the assortment of colours in this. Nowdays so many people seem to just have lots of green and little colour in the garden but mine is full of colour and it looks like yours is too. An old English garden x
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Thank you, mine is definitely more on the traditional side 🙂
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