Spring at Last!

Spring is well and truly here, we have come to the end of March and it's nearly Easter and it's that time of year when we have those beautiful displays of bright crocuses and yellow daffodils popping up everywhere. It's that time with the longer days and lighter nights when everything in the garden starts to wake up again and there is one display of flowers after another through the rest of the year. 

Sunny yellow daffodils are always a welcome sight, brightening up the garden - they usually arrive around the time when we've just tidied up the garden after the winter and cut the lawn for the first time in months. Suddenly the garden looks set and ready for the growing season and full of promise for the enjoyable days outside in summer. 

I always associate the vibrant colours of the spring flowers with Easter time: yellows, purples, pinks and white - early colour before the summer's vivid displays. 

The daffodil blooms always coincide with the busy activity of the birds too. Suddenly the dawn chorus is getting louder and the birds in the garden are hypnotic to watch. Blue tits and great tits are coming in and out of the nesting boxes and the feeders are being emptied by greenfinches, robins, long tail tits, chaffinches and goldfinches - even the blackbirds are flapping around them eager to join in, but they struggle to balance and are a sight to watch! The pond is full of frogs and their spawn and you can see it bubbling with activity too. 

It's an exciting and promising time in the garden - enjoy it! Here's wishing eveyone a very happy and enjoyable Easter holiday! 

July in the Garden

July is pretty spectacular in the garden this year. I've been really pleased with the new planting in the front garden where we had a big overgrown tree chopped down earlier in the year. We deliberately tried to choose plants that would come at their best during June and July and be a magnet for the butterflies and bees. We picked various colours of blue, lilacs, purples with a few pink and white plant varieties too. 

The weather conditions during the last year have been good for breeding butterflies and we seem to have literally created our very own butterfly garden, so I've been delighted. Planting out new plants and just seeing how they turn out and what unfolds can be so rewarding! 

Varying heights of purple wallflowers and different varieties of lavender. 

Butterfly enjoying the blue catmint. All the blue and purple plants have been covered in butterflies. Every time we come out of the house and walk past this area we are treated to dozens of butterflies fluttering up from the plants. It has been fascinating, you find yourself stopping and staring, it's not so good if you are in a rush! 

Enjoying some verbena, which is now out in full. 

Delphiniums are out at the back of the borders. 

Wallflowers, lobelia and geraniums make a good combination by the back patio. 

The water lilies are just beginning to flower now, the pond is full of their leaves and blooms. 

Bright pink carnations make a great colour combination with the bronze leaves and pink flowers of the heuchera. 

Sidalcea malviflora flowering in the back border. 

The tomatoe baskets are full of fruit and are ripening nice and early with all the hot sunshine we've been having. 

There are still plenty of foxgloves blooming and popping up in all different places. I love the colour combinations of this one. 

I've made a few pots full of wildflowers planted from seed and they are looking great at the moment, full of vibrant colours. Cornflowers are one of my favourites, I love this shade of blue. 

We have quite a few hebe plants flowering in pinks, blues and purples, another good one for the butterflies! 

There are lots of these little froglets around. We have to look out for them jumping into the house. The pond is full of frogs, when we have the heavy showers we've had recently they all seem to come out of the pond and jump across the garden. It's a mass exodus of frogs and quite entertaining and funny to watch!