Six on Saturday – views from my garden April 11 2020

/ karen

Tulip Mount Tacoma and forget-me-nots.

My favourite Italian terracotta pot near my front door. So sad there are no visitors to enjoy this lovely sight. I’m including it here, so you can all share in the magic of spring flowers. Fairly new introduction Exotic Emperor, a double form of the classic and popular Purissima. Has peony-like petals that curve and twist as they open, revealing a flash of green. Very lovely and my favourite. This is a fosteriana tulip, and here in the Midlands, it always flowers through April. Planted with Narcissus Geranium an heirloom bulb dating back to pre 1930. Beautiful, delicate fragrance. Perfect for cut flowers. I have a row in the veg garden for cutting. Multi-headed – some of the bulbs have four flowers to a stem. I love mixing the old with the new. I’m fond of traditional plants, but I love trying something new.

I’ve always grown the white Purissima tulip, so I thought I would try the new sport, Flaming Purissima, another fosteriana tulip. It is such a joy, with all shades of pink and red ‘flames’ over an ivory white background. Beautiful under a white cherry blossom tree. I’ve planted these in a trench on the veg plot for cut flowers. They last a week in a vase, and watching them turn from tight buds to open, flat, almost water lily-like flowers is a joy. These were introduced in 1999, and they reliably come through the winter and flower each spring for me.

So comforting to know we will have masses of cherries this summer. We leave the trees unpruned. Blackbirds enjoy the crop at the top of the tree, and there’s more than we can use around the downward – arching lower branches. I’ve planted narcissus Pheasants Eye under the trees as an experiment. They flower at the same time. They look so glorious, I’ll fill the orchard with them next spring. They cost very little and are a joy to behold. I’ve taken photos of the garden and made notes to remind myself to order bulbs in July and plant in September. If I don’t make a note, I seem to forget!

In the wild garden around the pond we have this un-named beauty. We planted these 30 years ago. I wish I’d recorded the name as I’d love to plant more as pretty and reliable as these. They have a wonderful scent too. Petals glisten and remind me of sugar coated violets. I wonder if you know what I mean.

And finally, a humble bellis daisy, growing in the cracks between the paving by the back door. I’ve been imploring (nagging) the family not to step on them all winter. I have a little patch 60cm square of delightful little daisies. There’s absolutely no soil there. I feel they deserve to live, having made such an effort to survive.

Enjoy your weekend everyone. This is not to say that we are not all desperately worried by what’s going on in the world, and in our own country. But I’m thinking this sharing of garden photos may help someone keep calm and carry on. There is really nothing else we can do at the moment. Stay at home, help the NHS, stay safe. And look around you and enjoy the beauty of nature. When this is all over, our gardens will still be there waiting for us.

Links: all bulbs were bought from https://www.gee-tee.co.uk/

The bellis daisies came originally from my Mum in a little pot stood on the patio all summer. Seeds can be bought from https://www.mr-fothergills.co.uk/Flower-Seed/Bellis-Goliath-Mixed.html

Please leave comments below and let me know what’s flowering in your garden this Easter time.

42 thoughts on “Six on Saturday – views from my garden April 11 2020”

  1. Lovely photographs. I,too, marvel at the flowers that manage to survive in cracks in paving or in stone walls, they deserve a special appreciation for tenacity. At least you can share the garden through the blog but it is sad not to share the garden with friends. Amelia

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  2. I really enjoyed seeing the daisies on my walk today. I’m not sure if verge cutting has been stopped now, but been very nice seeing so many with the lovely pink hue around the edge of the petal. And a lovely mix of tulips. I’m so glad I went all out on bulb planting last autumn now I’m in and getting to enjoy so much of it.

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    • Me too, with the bulbs. I was frantically busy and everything was rather thrown in pots and the ground. Little did I know how much I was going to need those flowers! Take care. Karen

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  3. I can not comment on what is flowering in my garden right now. I have not seen it in days. I have been avoiding it because I know it is blooming spectacularly, but no one is here to see it. I will go out there today. However, it is not as flashy as yours. Spring bulbs finished a while ago. One of the flowering cherries might still be in bloom. I really should try tulips next year. I keep putting it off because they do not get much chill here.

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  7. I love the Flaming Purissima tulip Karen! I will definitely have to look out for that one. I also have some pretty tulips just opening in a terracotta pot, and some parrot ones too. But my current favourites are the orange ones planted in my herb bed with Narcissus Actea -Apricot Emperor and Ballerina. 😃 Your daisies are lovely too! xx

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    • Thank you Cathy. Only two of my orange tulips came up this year. I was so disappointed. Will plant some more in the autumn. It was a very wet autumn and winter and I think they just rotted.

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  8. Tulip Mount Tacoma and forget-me-nots make an adorable couple. Your Italian terracotta pot is a paradise of divine flowers: I love them. And among them a bulb of the Heritage from before 1930, Narcissus Geranium, a jewel to continue with it for many years. Tulip Flaming Purissima is charming with its pink and red flames, I adore it. The cherry blossom is divine, I love it. You share cherries with blackbirds: how you like Karen animals and how good you are with them. The Narcissus Pheasants Eye are divine and blooming at the same time that the cherry trees must be a glorious sight, I love it. Well done in taking photos and garden notes! Save your 60cm square patch of bellis daisies from stomping, they deserve to live, I love them. Karen thank you very much for the magnificent photos of your wonderful flowers: they make me smile, they cheer me up and it makes me forget about home confinement. In these difficult moments they help me a lot. Thank you. I hope you are all well. Health, strength, encouragement, hope, positive thinking and a lot of love for all your family, Mr B and for yourself. Stay safe and at home. Take care. All the best. Very loving greetings from Margarita xxx

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    • Thank you Margarita. I am so glad you enjoy my garden and the photos help you. Taking the photos and sharing them also helps me forget my troubles. Health and strength to you too. Stay safe and strong. Take care. I’m staying right at home and not moving! Loving greetings from karen xxx

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      • Thanks to you, Karen. I am very glad that the photos also help you to forget about the problems. The photos of the flowers have something very special: they heal like flowers, although to a lesser degree. A living flower is something exceptional, wonderful; and being able to see it every day as it grows and evolves and seeing its beauty makes you forget everything else. We both stayed at home and didn’t move from it! Stay safe and strong. Many moods! Much love to all. Very affectionate greetings from Margarita xxx

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  9. A great reminder to keep a garden journal and to annotate it regularly. Now that we can photograph/records so easily, it is simply a matter of that becoming habitual. I’m viral at themoment but will try to make sure I institute the photography element in a digital record. Thanks for the nudge!

    Happy Easter to you and your family.

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  11. Lovely flowers, Karen! Thanks for sharing these sights. I have a lot of forget-me-nots all over my garden. They move around from one year to the next. Do you do anything to yours to keep them from crossing the line to weediness? Many of the most reliable plants are near-weeds, but I’d hate to be without them.

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    • Thank you Audrey. I pick a lot of the forget me nots and put them in little jam jars. That way they won’t set seed. They are rampant, but I love them so much. I’m sure they will become the flower to remember the covid lockdown and all those who have suffered. Thanks again for your kind words.

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    • Thank you. I planted those in October, lasagna style for the garden radio show I’m involved with. It’s been a picture since January. We planted the tulips half way down the pot, the daffs on top, and the top later was snowdrops, followed by white. Joan of Arc crocus and early tete -a-tete daffodils. Then we had February gold daffodils with blue hyacinths. The hyacinths lasted long enough to just show through the daffodils and tulips. Definitely a hard working plant pot. Thanks for reading.

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