Six on Saturday – My garden 27 April 2019

/ karen

I’d forgotten how sweetly scented some tulips can be. This one has a fruit salad, pineapple scent. Reminds me of the tropical trifle my Aunty Betty used to make, liberally decorated with sugar strand sprinkles. Such happy memories of family outings, picnics and seaside trips. A kind and much-loved lady who seemed to have a never-ending supply of fairy cakes, toffee apples and other sweet treats.

Three weeks of joy with these double tulips; they take a long time to unfurl. This one is called Peaches and Cream. I’ve never grown it before and have made a note to plant a whole row for next spring.

Tulips can be grown anywhere. These are in a 2ft by 3ft portable raised bed on wheels. I’ve grown these in the unheated poly tunnel for early flowers. They will be planted out in the orchard for an informal display next year.

Tulips are also planted 2″ apart in a cut flower bed. These were bought in the half price sale at Christmas and planted in January. They were described as a “mixed cut flower patch kit.” It’s a great idea for trying out new varieties.

In the beds behind the tulips, there’s a rather rustic, ramshackle A -frame made from hazel rods. This week I finally planted out my sweet peas. These were sown in root trainers last October. There are heritage varieties such as creamy white Dorothy Eckford bred in 1904 at Wem in Shropshire by Henry Eckford and named after his daughter. How lovely to be immortalised as a beautiful, scented sweet pea. Also there’s new varieties such as Capel Manor which I’m trying out.

Step out of the gate at the top of the garden, and this is the view today. Yellow oil seed all across the ridgeway. You can see for miles around.

Thanks for joining me this week in my garden. What are you growing on your plot at this time of the year? Spring is my favourite season, with so much colour and frangrance all around.

Links : Six on Saturday : https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2019/04/27/six-on-saturday-27-04-2019/

61 thoughts on “Six on Saturday – My garden 27 April 2019”

  1. Lovely photographs, they are almost as good as your cakes, tarts and other goodies that you bring along to BBC Radio Leicester’s ‘Down to Earth’ gardening program. Sunday 1.05pm on 104.9 FM.

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    • So true. I’ve been transported back to the 1970s when we all used to pile into our ancient car and whizz off to the seaside. No seatbelts then so we were crammed in like sardines. With grandad and Aunty Betty’s picnic. She was a fan of hundreds and thousands (sugar strands). Happy carefree days. Amazing the power of plant to bring all that back.

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  6. I’ve never thought to smell a tulip flower. They are such formal beings I’d assumed them scentless. I have photographed them quite close though so would have expected to notice by chance so it may just be I didn’t have the right varieties.

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    • I must admit, I’ve not noticed the scent before. I’ve been round and sniffed all the other tulips, and most (modern types) do not have a scent. You must grow Peaches and Cream though for that trifle scent. It’s got time travelling properties back to the 1970s xx

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  7. Tulips do provide some stunning colour. We came across some vivid ones, carefully spaced and placed in a thriving herb garden attached to a museum café. The herbs were used in preparation of the culinary offerings.

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  8. Wow, that is a lot of color. Tulips are very popular it seems. I do not grow them, but I have been seeing so many pictures of them in other gardens in other regions. I have been wanting to grow just a few of the simple varieties, like ‘Maureen’, but have not done so yet. I will not get another chance again until autumn.

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  10. So many lovely tulips, it’s hard to pick a favourite altho I do love the above shot of peaches & cream. The others look great, both in the planter & the ground. The cat looked great, too, btw. Love a garden w/a cat. Most of all, I loved the rustic A frame for the peas. Look forward to seeing it in bloom.

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    • Thank you Lora. The cat is Called Grace. She was from the RSPCA. Can’t imagine anyone not wanting her. She is so lovely and kind natured. Always by my side when I’m gardening.

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    • Did you use those root trainers? They give them a deep root space. I start them off in the greenhouse,and then move them to the cold poly tunnel in about February. Usually they are planted first week April, but this year the night frosts were so bad I didn’t dare risk it.

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  13. Karen, your Aunt Betty must have been someone very special to you, an elegant lady, a great baker and her very generous family. No wonder the first Tulip reminds you of her. The tulip “peaches and cream” I love. The tulips on the raised bed are divine like your cat that sleeps on another empty elevated bed. What is your name? The Tulips of the cut bed are wonderful. The frame for sweet peas is lovely. The sweet peas of the old variety should be a jewel like the new ones. What a wonderful view of the field all yellow in bloom. Is it Colza? Many thanks to you Karen for teaching us your magnificent and charming garden. I am very happy that Primavera is your favorite season: enjoy it to the fullest. I also like it very much if and I would like it more if I had no allergy to pollen. I have not asked you again how the adoption of the dog is going. Karen love, health, strength and happiness for your whole family and for you. Do gardening but not until exhaustion! Take care and rest. Loving greetings from Margarita. 🙂

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    • Dear Margarita. Thank you for your lovely kind words. Yes, the field is oil seed. It’s bright yellow at the moment. Lovely against a blue sky, or a grey sky like today. I have some news. We have adopted a little cross breed puppy and named her meg. She is white all over with little brown speckled legs and nose. So far she has been so good. She respects the cat! Thank goodness! Grace cat is the queen here and is allowed to sit on the chairs and window ledge. The pup has had to learn that her place is on the floor! But we do give her a pile of lovely cushions and rugs to lie on- and a nice warm log fire to lay before. She is a little joy in our lives after so much sadness with our elderly relatives. Loving greetings from karen xx

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      • Karen congratulations! I am very happy that you have finally adopted a puppy. The race does not matter. Meg, it’s a girl, with her brown nose. Must be beautiful and very good to get along with the cat who is the Queen of the house. That grows with much health and you of much affection and many joys. I’m really glad. Loving greetings from Margarita.:)

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  15. Peaches and Cream is a beauty and your mention of trifle reminded me of tinned peaches and carnation milk for Sunday teatime when I was little! Tulips are still the main attraction in my new flower beds – those raised beds on wheels sound like an excellent idea, not just for tulips. You have a lovely view. The oil seed is just opening here too now. 🙂

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    • Oh yes, we had that too, every Sunday! It was a treat. Haven’t had that for 30 years! And we had pretty little China bowls, or pressed glass bowls which sparkled like the more expensive cut glass it was mimicking. Happy memories. The oil seed is just starting to fade here. It has been so strongly scented though, I won’t mind.

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    • Thank you Derrick. Isn’t it funny the things remind you of your favourite and much missed relatives. Makes me laugh when I remember that Aunty Betty didn’t like eating sweet things, and never ever ate them herself. She only made them out of love for us. She just wanted to make us smile. She made wonderful toffee apples for bonfire night too. It’s a wonder we haven’t all got bad teeth, and yet none of us have fillings 🙂

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    • Thank you. I knew you would understand what I was talking about. I’m going to get the recipe from my Mum and make that trifle again in memory of Aunty Betty. And set the table with those tulips which have brought back happy memories 🙂

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  18. Very beautiful tulips and cute little cat who monitors them while taking a nap …
    Impressed by your canes used to grow sweet peas. They are very high and would be almost useful for climbing beans or are you going to grow something else on them at the same time?

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    • Thank you. It’s amazing how certain scents can transport you back to childhood isn’t it. That one tulip took me back to all the wonderful family occasions where tropical trifle was on the table in pressed glass bowls. It’s my job now to make new moments for my family to reminisce about. Enjoy your weekend.

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  21. Your tulips are beautiful, especially Peaches and Cream, it is gorgeous. Oil seed rape is brightening up the countryside round here too, quite often interspersed with fields of blue flax, very colourful.

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    • Thank you Ron. The rest of the garden is suddenly very green. As soon as all the trees get their leaves it becomes a green glade. But no colour as the woodland floor shades out. So the tulips on the veg plot are a focal point. Thanks for reading 🙂

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    • Isn’t it a joy Eliza. So wonderful to discover something new! That cut flower kit was the best value ever. So many new types I’ve never grown before. I’ve taken photos and researched what they are for next time. I’d got a bit stuck on a few old varieties to be honest. Enjoy your Sunday xx

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