April and May In the Garden

Apologies I've been away a little while due to being unwell and April seems to have passed me by and suddenly we are well into May. Here's a little snapshot of what's been happening in the garden while I've been recuperating. When I went in hospital all the daffodils were out and since then the cherry blossom trees and tulips have been and gone and now the garden is full of vibrant colour and plants again. Here are a few photos.

The cherry blossoms 

Magnolia and tulips 

Vivid yellow and pink broom in the front garden with aubretia and yellow alyson in the foreground

Phlox making a purple carpet

One of my May favourites - Aquilega 

A deep red broom currently brightening up a back border

The Californian lilac bushes are in flower

The geums are out and will flower all through summer

Another May favourite - weigelia 

May isn't May without a clematis in full bloom

Borders are brimming with forget-me-nots

The wallflowers have sprung back to into life for the summer

And bluebells - well they sing of May and signal the summer isn't too far away now

A peony unfurling in the early morning sunshine

It's all come to life so quickly and as we approach mid May, the cold snaps and frosts are leaving us. It's already time to redo the summer baskets and pots...

April in the Garden

April is a beautiful month in the garden, the longer days and all the beautiful sunshine we have had this last few weeks has really brought the garden to life. There have been some stunning sunrises if you're an early starter and the song of the dawn chorus has been waking me up every morning - it is sounding at its loudest. 

There are so many gorgeous plants in bloom now - our recently planted miniature peach tree has been gorgeous, brightening up the front garden along with the deep red blooms of a well established quince.  Hopefully between them we will have some fruits later in the year. 

We've a few patches of hyacinths growing here and there - you can almost catch the powerful scents wafting as you pass them by. I often have hyacinth bowls in the conservatory and then we plant them out when they've finished so we can enjoy them in following years too. I love the purples of the aubrietas too as they bubble up in flower and spill over walls and rocks.

The blues and pinks of the lugwort are always at their brightest in April too and spilling into the pond we always enjoy the sight of the marigolds. The pond has been full of frog spawn this spring and now there looks to be millions of tadpoles. Rob has been clearing it out and the busy birds are enjoying bathing in the waterfall pools. 

One of my favourite plants in April, is the pretty and delicate Easter flower. It always flowers during the Easter holiday and is a welcome sight in our garden. I've brought this little plant with me each time we've moved house and replanted it in each garden we've had over the last twenty five years! 

The mahonia shrubs have flowered spectaculary this year too, giving a lovely contrast to the aubrietia in a little front corner plot. The butterflies are back in force again as well, fluttering around the front garden especially. 

There have been so many plants enjoying the sunshine and bursting into flower there are too many to feature in one blog - so watch this space, there is much more to follow.