A couple of photos popped up on Timehop today that really brought home how late everything seems to be this year. This time last year the prunus was in full flower ...
... and this time two years ago the magnolia was looking amazing ...
This year there is not a sign of a single bloom on either. The buds are all there ... I guess they are just waiting for a bit on sunshine and a bit of a rise in the temperature.
It has most definitely been a bit on the cold side for us for much gardening to have got under way, though we have made a start on a few jobs ...our top patio has had its first jet wash and the arbour has had a coat of paint and a new roof ...
Our next job is to tidy and reposition all of the pots back on to the top patio, before moving onto clearing and jet washing the lower patio, which leads down the garden.
In spite of not doing that much there have been a few garden centre visits ... after all what else is there to do?
I’m not entirely sure where everything will go but we are building a bit of a collection of plants for placing. Our first purchase was these two roses ... we don't come across purple ones in garden centres very often and we couldn't resist these two ...
In spite of not doing that much there have been a few garden centre visits ... after all what else is there to do?
I’m not entirely sure where everything will go but we are building a bit of a collection of plants for placing. Our first purchase was these two roses ... we don't come across purple ones in garden centres very often and we couldn't resist these two ...
Our next visit and we couldn't resist this gardenia ... something we've not had in the garden before ... it's an evergreen, but does flower and looks like it should do well in shade, so I do have a spot in mind for this one ...
We also picked up this Daphne ... another plant we've never had in the garden and I hope it does well because, for us, I would say it was pretty expensive. I did have a spot in mind at the bottom of the garden for it, but having got it home and realised how beautiful the scent of it is I think it needs to be closer to the house so it may end up in a big pot for now ...
We also picked up four bright red primulas, which will just give a real pop of spring colour ...
We have had one more garden centre visit, where we bought another plant we've not had in the garden before and, again, I do have a nice shady spot in mind for it ...
I am really hoping that they all settle well as our garden can be a bit temperamental sometimes. Over the years we've got to know what will grow and what will just disappear without a trace but as these are all first time plantings it will be a bit of a lottery.
One other job we have done is to say goodbye to our hostas. They used to do really well but we repositioned the pots into one of the borders a few years ago and they’ve not done well since. It was time for a change so I spent an afternoon emptying the pots and tracking down some ferns that had self set around the garden ... which were planted into the pots to replace the hostas ... I’m hopeful they will do well in the shade of the magnolia ...
We don't have much red in the garden at all, though I did notice a few tulips starting to make an appearance in the pot of spring bulbs that I have had now probably for about six years ...
We have also started off a fair few seeds ... with mixed success ... the cobea, tomatoes, peppers and chillis are doing well ... not so good for the cosmos, lettuce and leeks which all started off well, but seem to have bolted and then shriveled and died. I can only think that it may have been too warm for them indoors.
I'm hoping to do a bit more sowing and planting this month, maybe over the Easter weekend. I'm hoping to start off French climbing beans, herbs, more lettuce and cosmos. I think I will just buy my leeks from the garden centre and plant out later in the year.
If the temperatures warm up and bit and we get a bit of sunshine hopefully the garden will soon start to look like a garden again, rather than just an expanse of bare and mossy grass and dull, brown borders. I am so looking forward to being able to use it as a relaxing space to spend time again ... but know that to reap that reward there has to be effort invested first 😀
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I was wondering if, not so much that your Magnolia and Prunus, are not late but correct? Our springs have been getting earlier and earlier, so they may come in to flower nearer the time when they used to ... say ... 5 - 10 years ago? However, whenever they open - they are gorgeous :)
ReplyDeleteActually Kate I’m sure you are right. We had the magnolia as a wedding gift and the person giving it to us said it should be in flower on our wedding anniversary, which isn’t until the beginning of May. Now I think about it ... it definitely did used to flower later. I am more than happy for it to be a bit later as we are more likely to be outside more to enjoy it ... it does have plenty of fat buds so it looks like it will be nice again 😃
DeleteI too have noticed everything is much later, in the wild anyway. Your garden is looking lovely with all that colour. :) We are busy tidying our yard and hopefully I will get to the garden centre soon. X
ReplyDeleteThank you ... there are a few splashes of bright colour at the moment. May tends to be a lovely time for colour in our garden. Up until a few years ago after May all we had was lots of ‘green’. We have been gradually trying to inject a bit of summer colour and it has looked brighter for longer ... though I think we have lost a few perennials this year to the hard frost we had fairly late on 😃
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