Today was one of sunshine and shirtsleeves.
While Jackie worked on the Oval Bed I carried a few trugs of refuse to the compost bin, and a few cans of water to the Head Gardener. It may seem hard to believe that the plants need watering at the moment, but we have not received rain for a while.
We have bright magenta aubretia.
Bees are very much in evidence. Interestingly they seem to prefer yellow flowers, selecting that hue from this pot of tulips, particularly ignoring this
pale pastel specimen nearby.
Celandines have nestled beside one of the
two pots of tulips
brightening the Rose Garden.
We have a number of creamy yellow primroses
and golden cowslips.
Hoping that some would successfully germinate Jackie had buried clusters of wood anemone corms around the beds. We now have numerous clumps.
She is even more delighted to find the first blooms of her new camellia Jury Yellow.
Various euphorbias are also flowering.
Overhead, the copper beech still bears bare branches
The winter flowering clematis Cirrhosa Freckles continues to adorn the iron gazebo;
while summer snowflakes defy the season.
Jackie also photographed snowflakes with daffodils;
honesty which promises to be prolific;
new shoots on a pink carpet rose;
backlit honeysuckle leaves;
and her own perspective on the Rose Garden.
Nugget put in a few fleeting appearances, showed no interest in the worms the Head Gardener was unearthing, and declined to spare the time to pose.
This evening we dined on Jackie’s splendid chicken soup with crusty bread from the freezer. The soup consisted of the compost base made yesterday with plump chopped chicken breasts, crispy bacon, peas and sweetcorn. The Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden and I drank Mezquirez reserva Navarra 2013.