Monthly Archives: March 2018

Happy and sad…

I don’t do very much with the front garden but last year I noticed that the Mahonia has some powdery mildew on it so I took off most of the affected leaves and cut back some of the top growth.  It still doesn’t look very happy although it will be flowering very shortly and I might just pull off the poorly looking leaves, give it a feed, and see what happens.   The daffs look just fine though.  I think these are called King Edward but I lost the label years ago.  The clumps need dividing so I can fill the gaps.

front garden, plants,
Mahonia
front garden, plants,
King Edward

Bulbs and …

It is a lovely day here again and there is some pretty colours in the conservatory.  I planted a few daffodils (Pontresina) in a pot to bring indoors so they are in flower now whereas the outdoor ones will be a while yet.  The little blue bulbs are Puschkinia libanotica, which were free when I bought my tulips, from Bloms bulbs last year.  Some of which came up flower first yet others came up leaves first.  There is a little viola, cyclamen and a cactus too in this picture.

conservatory, plants,

Hens and chicks…

no not chickens but houseleeks or in other words Sempervivum ‘Reginald Malby’ to be precise.  I bought one last year at a charity stall planted up in an old tuna fish tin and it had a central plant with lots of little ones surrounding it.  I split it up and planted all the little ones and gave them to friends and family and kept a couple back for myself.  I planted then individually in tiny pots and this is one of them sending out runners with the little chicks on the end.  It looks really cute from above.

I noticed a few days ago that the frogs have finally surfaced and we have a few blobs of frog spawn in the pond. Trouble is, it is exactly where the birds like to bathe so I hope the birds don’t disturb them too much.

conservatory, plants, flowers,
Sempervivum ‘Reginald Malby’

Sparrowhawk woohoo…

So I haven’t been out much in the garden for a few weeks due to the snow.  It only snowed for a few days and lay for a few days but is has been pretty darn cold.  It looked almost the same as it did in the winter of 2010/2011 so I didn’t take any more photos of the snow.  Today though I spotted the sparrowhawk and this time is sat on the fence for a good 10-15 minutes – enough for me to race through and grab my camera.  It was too far away for a good closeup, and it was through the mucky window, and the sun was creating glare on the window too but I took the shot anyway.  It had it’s left leg tucked into it’s breast feathers and only put it down to fly away.  Now the garden is just soggy so I will wait for a while yet before doing much.  The frogs should be making an appearance about now and a few more bulbs too.  Bring on some decent sunshine and warmth.

birds, wildlife,
Sparrowhawk