For the first time since I picked up a heavy cold, accompanied by a number of flying insects I took a walk round our garden with my camera.
A wasp basked on the leaf of a budding rhododendron; a bee climbed into yellow wallflowers; a fly took a rest on a golden euphorbia.
Other budding rhododendrons were closer to blooming,
which camellias have been doing for months, and still carpet paths.
A number of Japanese maples are in full leaf.
Honesty photobombs many pictures,
but cannot upstage these sunlit hydrangea leaves.
These cowslips share a bed with forget-me-nots and ajugas.
Libertia is spreading across the weeping birch bed which is due to come down on 25th, when
it will be replaced by this gingko, which filled a pot we inherited from our predecessors. It has split the pot and we have wondered what to do with it for the last ten years.
Finally I pictured this pieris, an antirrhinum and cinerarias, and some frilly tulips.
This evening I joined the others at the kitchen table for fish pie, ratatouille, carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli with which I drank Caliza Tempranillo Rosado La Mancha 2022.
Once again I stayed inside with Vanity Fair, until a lull in the drizzle outside led me to photograph the signs of life.
Many of the new shoots, moss, blooms, in or out of season, and even a fresh white feather, bore jewels of nurturing precipitation. Clicking on any image will access the gallery in which each photo bears a title.
This evening Jackie and I dined on chicken Kiev, chips, and peas, with which she drank more of the Sauvignon Blanc and I drank La Petite Pierre vin rouge 2022.
On a breezy, largely overcast, afternoon with glimpses of peeking sun, I wandered around the garden with a camera, pulling up the occasional weed. Each image, including daffodils, tulips, wallflowers, primroses, cowslips, and fritillaries, bears a title in the gallery.
Late this afternoon we were able to collect the repaired Modus and celebrate with a short forest drive in light rain.
At the top of Holmsley Passage a bunch of ponies appeared to be settling down for the night.
One persistent mare had made it rather difficult for me to disembark as she persisted in trying to replace me in the passenger seat. She then stalked me closely, until I managed to escape,
when she turned her attention to scratching on the wing mirror,
and expressing her feelings about being photographed at this activity.
Still stubborn, she planted herself in front of our car until Jackie managed to get round her and drive off up the road, returning for me when the coast was clear.
This evening we all dined on a KFC Bargain Bucket, sweetcorn, coleslaw, and baked beans, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Fleurie.
On a warm day with sunny intervals it was time to record the garden as it comes alive.
The Brick Path and the Back Drive borders each hold some of the plants I am about to show, like the euphorbia fronting one of the dead stumps on the Back Drive.
We have many tulips in pots and in the beds.
Varieties of daffodils proliferate.
Camellias have been blooming since last November, and are now accompanied by magnolia Vulcan.
Hellebores hang about everywhere.
Japanese maples are coming into leaf.
Spring snowflakes are spreading nicely; forget-me-nots; primroses; pulmonaria; white fritillary; epimedium, wood anemones; cowslips; chionodoxa; and mahonia are further delights.
Unfortunately, on my rounds I found the body of the ailing dove, which had suffered no further damage.
This evening we dined on Jackie’s delicious chicken and vegetable stewp and fresh crusty bread, with which she drank Hoegaarden and I drank more of the Red Blend.
Following the call of the moon last night Jackie took her camera into the garden to photograph
its light;
she moved on to sculptures Florence
and her Owl
She worked on the garden during the day, beginning with lining up tubs of
tulips on the patio, showing those in the process of uncurling alongside earlier arrivals.
Those tulips, and this more standard red one, are cultivated and have limited life spans.
Species, on the other hand, will naturalise. These red ones are new.
Lilac Wonders bloom and proliferate year after year, brightening
the Palm Bed,
diagonally opposite which stand these fritillaries
at the corner of the Cryptomeria Bed. This view takes us through to
the Weeping Birch Bed.
Alongside that is the Oval Bed with its splendid marigolds and cowslips.
Nearer the house the red Japanese maple is regenerating in the Kitchen Bed. Apparently dead, this was heavily pruned three years ago by me, and the following year by Aaron.
The camellia behind this bears new and old blooms
which carpet the ground beneath it.
This evening Jackie served up her own savoury egg fried rice with meaty spare ribs coated with spicy barbecue sauce; crisp prawn toasts and spring rolls, with which she drank Hoegaarden and I drank Mezquiriz Reserva Navarra 2013.
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.
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We enjoyed another splendidly sunny summer’s day. In the garden the eucalyptus cast its welcome shadow across the grass;
while tulips, daffodils, wallflowers, and cowslips glowed in the sunshine.
At lunchtime I received a date for my first knee replacement. It is 18th May. I have never heard of anything so fast. This afternoon I undertook the blood test for the hip replacement check. Jackie having driven me to Lymington Hospital for the latter, we continued into the forest.
The primrose bank alongside the stream in Royden Lane was also streaked with shadows. A pair of cyclists happily rode by at an opportune moment.
I imagine the hay heaped in the field opposite was essential food for the horses a week or so ago. Now the grass is coming through again.
This land may have dried out now, but parts of the forest, like this area outside Brockenhurst, were still waterlogged. Instead of shadows we were treated to reflections of trees, some of which had fallen. After such wet periods as the terrain has recently endured, there are always more fallen trees. Often the roots rot and the giants topple.
Two ponies, dozing under a railway arch may, perhaps, two or three weeks ago have used this shelter as an umbrella; today it was a parasol. A pair of cyclists skirted the animals in order not to disturb them. “It’s their road, not mine”, said the leading woman.
Orange berberis flamed in the hedgerows outside Exbury Gardens, while white wood anemones, yellow celandines, and little violets festooned the banks of a dry ditch opposite.
This evening we dined at The Royal Oak. Jackie enjoyed a huge portion of chicken tandoori, while I tucked into an excellent rib eye steak cooked exactly as I asked. Jackie’s drink was Amstell, mine was a rather good Argentinian Malbec.
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Yesterday evening we enjoyed the usual excellent food and friendly efficient service in the perfect company of Elizabeth, Danni, and Andy, at Dynasty Indian restaurant in Brockenhurst. This family grouping is always full of stories, fun, and catching up with current events. So it was then.
When John Keats penned his immortal line ‘Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ he was not thinking of Spring. This morning, one could have been forgiven for thinking so. Well, at least the ‘mists’ image. As I stood peering into the film covering Lymington River, a gull winged its way into view, alighted on a circular yellow buoy, and quickly sped off again.
I crossed the road and leant on a rail chatting to a little family who were on their way to the quay for a crabbing expedition. I was able to tell them about the reed beds, and thatching. One little girl told me that her Mummy had a coat like my jacket. “Well, it’s red. But longer”, she added.
On leaving Lymington we followed a pair of cyclists up the hill towards the east. These two had the good sense to stay in single file and on our side of the road. We are accustomed to and accepting of this. Whilst I can fully understand the joy of cycling for exercise, I cannot fathom why anyone would charge around bends on our narrow lanes two abreast. This happened twice today. On the second occasion a large group was involved. Fortunately our vehicle is a Modus, not a large lorry.
Donkeys were just about visible at Tanner’s Lane. Three grazed in the field against the backdrop of a burgeoning rape crop; another pair chomped on dry seaweed on the shingle.
An angler in a boat would not have been able to see the Isle of Wight behind him; a black-headed gull floated nearer the shore.
As we drove away from the beach, a decidedly grey pony, deviating at the last minute, headed straight for us.
Fat pheasants wandered quite leisurely around this area. Why, we wondered, would one decide to cross Sowley Lane?
Ah. There’s the answer.
Bright purple aubretia lit up the ancient stone wall alongside the ruins of St Leonard’s granary, beside which
drowsed representatives of the usual group of ponies. Before the rains set in, the chestnut against the rusting fence rails would not have been able to enjoy admiring its mirrored image. What, perhaps, these photographs cannot display is the absolutely still silence conveyed by these creatures.
Only the tiny Falabella raised an eyebrow as I approached.
This afternoon a smiling sun warmed the garden from a cloudless blue sky.
This evening we dined on smoked haddock fish cakes, piquant cauliflower cheese, mashed potato and swede, and carrots and broccoli, with which I finished the Comino Nuevo.
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In the garden this morning, envious of the attention given to the daffodils yesterday, many other plants clamoured to be photographed.
Readers may have noticed a hyacinth lurking among the daffodils. Here are a couple more, one seeking camouflage from the as yet uncleared autumn leaves.
Cowslips soar from the soil at the bottom of the back drive.
Along the beds there we have perennial wallflowers and primroses. That lady’s bedstraw will have to come out.
Alliums are beginning to proliferate,
and grape hyacinths are popping up.
Some bulbs, like these forcing their way through geraniums
or these from between patio stones, we cannot identify. The second, thanks to Rusty duck’s comment below, I can now say is Ipheion uniflorum. Geoff, thebikinggardener.com has added this information: ‘The first one – the pinkish one, is Chionodoxa ‘Pink Giant’ and the next one is Ipheion uniflorum as you say – although it has just had its name changed to Tristagma. (not just a minute ago)’
Some aubretia seem almost fluorescent.
The tiny clematis Cirrhosa now festoons the gazebo.
Jackie spent the morning clearing the garden beds, while I transferred the residue to the compost heaps.
Anyone who has followed this blog for the last two and a half years will know how invaluable Aaron, of A.P. Maintenance has been. He gets through a phenomenal amount of work on his regular Sunday morning visits. Today, for example, not only did he finish weeding the back drive, but he also
fixed the House sign into position at the front of the house
and pruned the crab apple trees in order to promote fruit for next winter’s blackbirds.
Jackie’s sign has now been switched to the other side of the entrance.
Ponies in the New Forest are normally to be seen fending for themselves. They are naked but for their own hair which generally lengthens during the winter; and they have to find their own food. Late in the afternoon, we drove out into the forest where, close to Linford, I spotted an equine group who appeared to be enjoying hotel facilities. They were all chomping away at a large hay bin, and one wore a rug. Like young children at the trough, more of the fodder landed on the floor than reached their stomachs.
The five-barred gate on which I leant to photograph the diners bore the sign for Newlands Farm. On our return home I Googled the farm. It was indeed a horse hotel of sorts. This is what their website has to say:
“Newlands offers you over 75 acres of well-managed grassland. We offer two types of grass livery care packages,with amazing riding from the farm gate directly onto the open New Forest , with no roadwork at all.
The farm is superbly located being less than 3 minutes from the market town of Ringwood yet set right within the New Forest National Park. The farm is run and situated alongside New Forest Livery and Training. Newlands is a professionally-managed farm providing superb grazing and care packages for your horse combined with access to superb outriding.
Grass Livery – Horses at grass are either :
– Visited regularly by their owners, or
– Retired/resting, ‘Owner-Away Option’, where owners visit less often, so we maintain the care.”
This evening we dined on Mr Chatty Man Chan’s Hordle Chinese Take Away’s delicious fare. I finished the Fleurie while Jackie drank sparkling water.
Our own cowslips are now rivalling those in Downton Lane, and in parts are tall enough to force their way through the not yet flowering geraniums.
The long-pile erigeron welcome mat outside the patio doors is beginning to reveal its woven floral motif.
We also have more tulips opened out. In the daytime that is.
Like many sun-loving plants, tulips close up at night. None were awake early this morning, although it was likely that the pink striped yellow ones, not yet open yesterday, would reveal their inner secrets to the sun when it warmed them later.
By mid-day their peeled back protective petals presented their shy stamens to the light.
As the sun departed their corner of the garden during the afternoon, the plants gradually closed, their centres snugly enshrouded for the night.
Flo continued her avian photography.
She caught a long-tailed tit contemplating the suet balls;
her friend, the collared dove, quizzically tilted his head to her;
and an airborne robin imitated a humming bird.
This evening we dined on Jackie’s luscious chicken and egg jalfrezi, egg fried rice, vegetable samosas and naans. The same beverages as yesterday were imbibed, except that Jackie drank sparkling water.
