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Early this morning the sun shone on the wall-bound wisteria aiming for the en suite bathroom.
Lingering early raindrops rolled around the Diamond Jubilee tulips
onto which a thirsty fly dropped for a drink.
Another rhododendron, leading the eye to the pieris on the grass, is beginning to bloom.
The day dulled over as it progressed. We spent the morning working on the garden. Jackie did some general planting and weeding, and sprinkled chicken pellets over the newly composted beds. Before you imagine otherwise, we do not keep chickens. The pellets come in a large bucket and are marketed as manure.
Vinca makes an attractive ground cover, but it does have a tendency to sprawl, take root, and make life very uncomfortable for bed-mates. So it has been for the Weeping Birch Bed. I therefore concentrated my efforts on that. Fast approaching is the warmer weather when a thinner duvet will be in order.
A black-spotted ladybird and a tiny striped snail suffered an enforced eviction as I ejected their shelter.
Our stone urns and other containers are mounted on dry brick pillars. The ground under one of these subsided a bit last autumn and it fell over. We spent the last few minutes before lunch levelling a space and beginning to rebuild the column.
This evening we dined on succulent roast pork and apple sauce, roast sweet and savoury potatoes, with al dente carrots, cauliflower, and runner beans; followed by rice pudding and blackberry jam. I drank Reserve des Tuguets madiran 2012, and Jackie drank Hoegaarden.
Wisteria is one of my favorites.
Oh, me too! My husband thinks that anything that grows happily and spreads needs to be cut to the bone every year – so I don;t get as much wisteria as I’d like. : )
The white and the purple are both lovely. I never had much luck with it. Beautiful flowers and so is your garden…extraordinary!☺
Oh you are a quilter! I have known a few people with that skill and patience. I like your blog!
Oh, Maria, thank you so much! Re: wisteria – my father-in-law gave me a white wisteria one year; I had only seen purple before that. I love it!
We’re in autumn and our night time low is your day time high. Maximum today will be 23ºC, down from yesterday’s 26ºC. No wonder it looks like summer in the UK – I’ve also been squashing snails.
It is only hovering around 10 currently 🙂 Thanks a lot, Mary
I love wisteria – I once had one that every summer inserted a flower or two through a bathroom window – it was lovely!
Thanks a lot, Pauline. Maybe ours will do that too.
My favorite…the lingering raindrops. Poor little snail. 🙁
Many thanks, Jill. At least the snail has its home on its back 🙂
Lovely spring garden captured in your photos, Derrick.
Many thanks, Merril
The rolling water droplets upon the superbly beautiful white tulips with their red tips and markings was my favorite photograph while the ladybugs, thirsty fly and poor evicted snail were lingering on my mind for a moment.
Oh, well! They will survive! 🙂
Thanks very much for this descriptive comment, Robin, and for reading as carefully as usual.
You’re welcome. I feel the post and work you go through with so much displayed, you deserve some thought going into my response.
🙂 Very much appreciated
Of course! I appreciate your outlook and talent in photography. Thanks, Derrick.
The close ups are lovely, as always. I do enjoy the long shots of whole garden beds. I like to steal good ideas. : )
🙂 Many thanks, Jodie. We promise not to prosecute you.
That made me laugh.
Vinca is great ground cover, though I agree it needs control. We bought a wispy piece for 50p from Hampson’s bargain corner in Wakefield and three years later it had filled several large spaces and we were pulling it up.
Roast pork sounds just the job after a hard day in the garden. 🙂
Thanks very much, Quercus
Why did you have to evict the wee snail and the ladybird?
Poetic licence, Uma. I left their perches for another day. 🙂 Thanks a lot.
Lovely Dinner Derrick!
Thanks, Lynn. Jackie was pleased with that comment.
Beautiful!
Many thanks, Ann
Always been partial to a bit of roast pork, with or without the apple sauce, much prefer it to roast lamb which is un-Australian, but that doesn’t matter as they still call me a Pommy B. 🙂
Good to see you have retained a modicum of culture 🙂 Thanks, Brian
Lovely!
Thanks, Geetha, for this and for the big catch up – I know you are busy.
With snails in my garden I’d be drinking more than Reserve des Tuguets Madiran 2012 – or maybe just have another one.
Thanks, Bruce. Fortunately we still have thrushes.
Now that’s something to sing about!
The tulips are lovely! This reminds me I promised my flower gardens I’d take care of them this year. I need to be several of me!
Thanks a lot, Elizabeth.
Your garden is looking lovely in the spring sunshine.
x
Many thanks, Melanie
A truly lovely garden. It is amazing that you can bear to leave it so as to get out and about so much!
Many thanks, Leslie. You know what’s out there.
Beautiful images as well as poat
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Many thanks, Purva