A Nostalgic Farewell

We only have until the weekend in this house before moving to our new one, so I've been looking through my photographs of some of the plants and creatures that have made the time in the garden special.

Here's Charlie strolling up the path.  This was in the midst of Summer and all the plants are in full growth. One of my favourite plants is the Angelica which you can see in the middle foreground, with the large lime-green seed heads.



These Anemone de Caen were a gorgeous surprise.  I planted the corms not knowing what colour they would be and I was delighted.  I never knew flowers could come in such a shocking pink!  They looked stunning on the patio.

This is Esmerelda who lived in the greenhouse a few Summers ago.  She laid eggs and I saw all the little babies after they hatched - hundreds of them!

This is a beautiful climbing rose called Cecile Bruner.  I can thoroughly recommend it.  It's a strong grower, but doesn't get out of hand and it produces flowers in early Summer with a repeat flowering in the Autumn.  The flowers are gorgeous, especially when the buds are just beginning to open.  The flowers are tiny and produced in abundance.

Here's a very special friend, the robin who nested in our greenhouse and kept us company from early Spring right up to late Summer.  It was pure joy to work in the garden with Robin flitting backwards and forwards with food to feed its chicks.

A favourite fuchsia, 'Blue Heaven'.  This one is the closest to a blue fuchsia you can get, in my opinion.  It's a robust and beautiful plant and I still have one flowering strongly even though it's nearly November.

'Bart Comperen', my favourite of all fuchsias.  The dark aubergine of the corolla and the rose-pink sepals is an entrancing contrast.  If I could only grow one fuchsia, this would be it.

  

This is our friends, the collared doves.  They visit our garden daily.

This little nettle is one of my favourite wildflowers in the garden.  Growing at the base of a birch tree, it produces a neat bushy plant and the flowers provide early food for bees.  I think it looks very pretty, especially intermingled with the Geranium Johnson's Blue.

Robin again!

Seeing the garden like this in its full glory reminds me of all the happy days spent in it, or just watching the wildlife from behind the windows - the frogs, mice and all the different birds and insects.  The house we're moving into is smaller and will be more economical to run, but it has a garden to three sides of it and I know that we'll spend many happy years there too.  It's only a few minutes walk from this house so I'm hoping that we'll get the same birds visit us at our new garden.  I'm not sure what distances they travel to feed but I'm hoping it's within their boundary.  We have really appreciated the pleasure that the garden and its inhabitants have given us - I hope that the next people who come to live here respect and care for it.

  

  

Blooms and Beasties Crafts

As far as the garden goes it's in a transitional stage. In the propagator there are pots of seeds just about to spring to life (the seeds, not the pots!). There are no jobs needing done at the moment..... I prune the roses at the end of February, all tidying up will wait until the warmer weather and the only digging I ever do is when I'm planting something big. I'm a member of the 'no-dig brigade'. I prefer to let all the underground beasties do the work, such as breaking up the soil and aerating it. So I'm posting some garden-related crafts that I thought would be fun to make.

Loveworm Bookmark

Here's the ideal gift to make for someone you love this Valentine's Day..... and make one for yourself too! Click here for instructions.

Fuchsia Earrings

I'm definitely going to have a go at making these. Fuchsias are one of my favourite flowers. This could also be adapted into a pendant or a bookmark, using one of those silver/silver plated hooks. Go here for instructions.

Daisy Friendship Bracelet

This is sweet and very simple to make. Click here for instructions.

Rock Talisman Necklace

I like this because it's a nice way of keeping a special stone or pebble close to you. Here's the instructions.

..... and just to end with.....this made me smile

Ooooops!

I took this from the bedroom window a few days ago. These are our 'resident' collared doves. I'm thinking the one on the lower branch should get himself a hat! :O)

Sulking in the rain....... just sulking in the rain.... lalala

This photograph was taken a couple of days ago (Saturday) when it was 'bucketing down' with rain. The poor collared doves must have sat here for an hour or more just waiting for the rain to stop. They look pretty miserable, don't they. They're sitting in the birch tree which is part way down our garden. I took this photograph from the bedroom using the zoom lens. You can't see the rain in the photograph but, believe me, it was wet.... Wet..... WET!

My favourite flowers in the garden at this moment seem to be all pink. Here is a new bud on the climbing rose, 'Cecile Brunner', which is growing up one of the arches in our garden. This is a stunning rose and well worth the money paid for it, as it blooms from late May right up until October. The tight little rosebuds are often used in corsages for weddings.

This is another bloom on the 'Cecile Brunner' rose. This one has started to open. The wonderful thing about Cecile Brunner is that it's an evergreen rose and the foliage is mid to dark green with bronze tints throughout the Winter.

This is one of my all-time favourites for Summer 2009! It's Anemone de Caen in a hot pink!

........ and here's an even closer look!

It's lovely how certain colours seem to dominate the seasons. Early in the Spring flowers seem to be mostly yellow..... in the Summer it's pinks and blues and the Autumn brings us glorious oranges and bronze, whilst Winter brings forth the shiny red berries of the Rowan and Holly, etc. Nature has its very own fashion show!