An Opened Garden

Cuttings on path

Front path lined

Yesterday Jackie carried out some further heavy pruning and clearance in the shrubbery at the front of the house. This meant that before I could continue with the path, I needed to cart several barrow loads of branches and dead plants to the far end of the garden. Well, she is the head gardener, and I did have the dubious bonus of returning each trip with a quantity of stone for the edging recycled from the soon-to-be rose garden.

After this, admittedly rather painfully, given that the knee didn’t really appreciate what it had been expected to do, I wandered around the garden listening to the music of the birds. The tits enjoyed the feeder, and the pheasant, until sent off squawking by my presence, strutted around, returning to be photographed later through the kitchen window. You may need to zoom on the second image here in order to spot this visitor..Blue titPheasantComfrey

IMG_2271Elephants' ears

Comfrey, leucojum, and elephants’ ears are now vying for space with all the other spring flowers.

I felt very satisfied that the garden we had spent all last summer opening up is really coming into its own.Bench on shady path

The bench on the shady path, so called because at first it admitted no sunlight, was suitably inviting.Pansies and daffodils in chimney pot

Plants, like these pansies and daffodils, in the chimney pots are blooming.Five ways

This particular pot is situated at five ways, which takes its name from the number of paths that radiate from it. The prunus in the foreground has recovered from severe pruning. We don’t know what the magnificent evergreen is.Heligan path

The Heligan path, named after The Lost Gardens of Heligan, because we didn’t know it was there, runs alongside the weeping beech. The log pile continues to grow, and the IKEA wardrobe sections keep triffids from next door at bay.Bed alongside weeping birch

The bed we cleared on the other side of the tree is burgeoning.chair and bed head

The bed head behind the chair in this picture was screwed to the tree, and can be seen from the side in the Heligan path shot.Camellia through euphorbia

We have cut down much of the euphorbia which covered the garden but left some, such as that which shrouds this camellia, to bloom later..CamelliasDaffodils, hellebore and fallen camellia

The camellia flowers themselves, as they fall, adorn the paths and the soil where they lie.Daffodil and cyclamen

Almost all the cyclamens have survived the gentle winter.

Later this afternoon I had a bonfire.

I am happy to report that we still had plenty of Jackie’s delicious chicken jalfrezi and fresh savoury rice for our dinner this evening. They were accompanied by paratas and Hoegaarden for Jackie, and the last of the claret for me.

27 comments

  1. I can’t believe how much colour you have in the garden already! And you’re not that far from us, if you think of the whole of the blogosphere. I have primroses and a few crocus and that’s it. I have no idea what’s happened to the Daffodils. Your garden looks beautiful.

  2. All summer you will have a lovely secluded area to read or just relish the nature around you – worth the effort, don’t you think?!

  3. Derrick, it looks like a lovely place to hang out. I have to say I am also envious. I tried to get our yard to look nice a few summers ago and about kiled myself doing it only to have a drought for the last two years…go figure. 😉

  4. It sounds like it has been something of an adventure, discovering all the nooks and crannies … and paths … in your garden. All the hard work really looks like it is beginning to blossom now.

  5. Your garden is beautiful, gorgeous camellias. Love the Heligan path after the Lost Gardens of Heligan, it’s one of my top favourite gardens. Enjoy the satisfaction after all your hard work! 🙂

  6. So much hard work and it’s really paying off. You are making a huge difference there. It’s so lovely and now all the lovely crowded plants can breathe more easily. Sorry about the knee giving you trouble.

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