#cathy

In a Vase on Monday – 15th July 2019

/ karen / 33 Comments

I’ve discovered, by accident, the magical effect of a sunset on sweet peas. It turns them into mini “stained glass” windows.

Picking them at 9pm, I suddenly find it’s too dark to take photos. Nights are rapidly drawing in. Mid-summer lulls you into a relaxed state of mind. Surely there will always be time to meander round the garden. Then, quite soon after the solstice, everything changes. There’s no streetlights here; dusk means picking your way through tall corridors of dark trees, along grassy paths, past the horseshoe wildlife pond. If you are lucky, you’re accompanied by a barn owl, sweeping along the hedge in eerie silence. You’ll marvel how such a large bird can ever catch any prey without being seen. But they make not the slightest sound and pass by like a shadow. If they see you, they don’t panic and madly swerve as some birds would. They barely acknowledge your intrusion, calmly changing direction and floating over the hedge to continue on the other side. They seem not to flap their wings, but soar and glide as if carried by the wind.

Our boundaries are made from farm posts and galvanised pig wire. We like to keep a connection with the surrounding fields. After all, our garden was once part of the farmland. We’ve simply borrowed the ground to grow fruit and flowers.

There are 10 beds, 1.3m wide by 3m long, divided by narrow slab paths. This year it’s a muddle of potatoes, broadbeans, Sweet williams, daisies and verbascum. A rickety A-frame of hazel rods runs through the centre, for sweet peas. This year I’m growing a combination of heritage types from Easton Walled garden and Higgledy Garden, and new varieties on trial from Mr Fothergills.

Amethyst and rubies; sweet pea flowers shine like jewels in the sunset.

My flowers are being sold at Six Acre Nursery, Costock, Leicestershire, with all proceeds going to Rainbows Hospice for children and young people. I am a voluntary fund-raising ambassador for Rainbows, and I also give slide shows and talks to garden groups for charity.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this peaceful walk around my garden at dusk. There’s much to see, even in the gloom.

Links : Cathy In a Vase on Monday : https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2019/07/15/in-a-vase-on-monday-think-pink/

Easton Walled Gardens : https://www.visiteaston.co.uk/

Higgledy Garden Seeds. https://higgledygarden.com/

Mr Fothergill’s Seeds https://www.mr-fothergills.co.uk/Flower-Seed/Sweet-Pea-Seed/

Barn Owl Trust https://www.barnowltrust.org.uk/barn-owl-facts/

Notes: Most birds make a flapping, swooping sound when they fly. Owls have special edges to the front of the wing that breaks the air into small streams of wind that rolls to the end of the wing. Comb-like feathers further break down the air into even more smaller streams to create almost silent flight.

In a Vase on Monday- All White

/ karen / 26 Comments

I’m practicing for wedding flowers. You never know when you might need some….

White larkspur and Ammi majus. Such a simple combination. I’d probably add white sweet peas for scent. I’ve got heritage variety Mrs Collier growing on the hazel A frame. And some white love-in-a-mist. The bouquet would be tied with white satin and pearl pins, and not grey twine. But you get the idea.

Larkspur White King was sown on 4th September in 12″ pots in the polytunnel. I used a 50 /50 mixture of peat- free multi purpose compost and John Innes no 2 compost with some added grit for drainage. I used Sarah Raven/ Johnsons Seed, sown thinly, covered with a sprinkle of compost and left to grow on without pricking them out.

I also chose seeds from Higgledy Garden. These were part of a cut flower patch kit. Very good value and nice fresh seed. Everything germinated and grew well. Highly recommended. Plus, I like to support independent companies such as Ben’s.

White “cow parsley” type flowers in my bouquet are Higgledy Garden’s Ammi majus. This lovely airy flower always does better from an autumn sowing. Once you start cutting them lots of side shoots appear and you can harvest flowers right through the summer.

Higgledy’s larkspur mix contains some beautiful ice blue flowers, shell pinks and whites. All packets of seeds cost between £1 and £2.50 each. I probably spent less than £10.

Once I’d sown the seeds, I laid the packets on the pots and took photos to remind me what I’d grown and when. Labels have a habit of moving – all by themselves- on my plot!

Seedlings germinated by 21st September.

I had a bit of a problem with mice. Luckily they just thinned the seedlings for me. I put down peanuts and bird food for them, which they preferred. Hopefully the barn owl will have helped me out over the summer. I know she is feeding fledglings as we see her most nights, and we hear them calling for food. Loudly.

Those few pots of plants have been supplying me with posies for a several weeks now. I’m not sure they produce blooms any sooner than plants grown outdoors; but they have super long stems with plenty of flowers and haven’t been damaged by rain.

I particularly love the green markings on the back of the petals.

Green-tinged buds make a lovely contrast to the white flowers.

If anyone wants to get married next summer- I have the perfect plan for the flowers! Just saying.

links : Cathy IAVOM : https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2019/06/24/in-a-vase-on-monday-respite/

Sarah Raven / Johnsons Seeds : https://www.johnsons-seeds.com/Flower-Seed_0/Annuals_3/Larkspur-White-King.html#.XRDKaGfTWfA

Higgledy Garden, Ben Ranyard : https://higgledygarden.com/

Cut flower growing and arrangements -courses and books: Georgie at https://www.commonfarmflowers.com/

First Polytunnels :https://www.firsttunnels.co.uk/

Dalefoot peat free composts :https://www.dalefootcomposts.co.uk/

Twine : https://nutscene.com/collections/twines/products/candytwist-twine-nutscenes-bakers-twine-large-spools

Please feel free to share this post on any social media platform.

You might also like to read :

https://bramblegarden.com/2019/06/23/prize-draw-winner-hansford-coil-spring-chair/

And

https://bramblegarden.com/2019/06/20/ngs-garden-visit-oak-tree-house/

Or

https://bramblegarden.com/2019/06/15/six-on-saturday-a-walk-around-my-garden-15-june-2019/

Thank you 😊

In a Vase on Monday – 10th June 2019

/ karen / 28 Comments

It’s the much-awaited summer. And it’s raining. It’s pouring. And it’s 9C. So only one photo today for my Vase- and it’s sweet williams and sweet peas again. They are loving the cool temperatures and moisture. I must admit, I am not.

My dark red sweet williams, Dianthus barbatus Sooty, are suddenly providing buckets of flowers. Sweet williams are such good value plants. For a couple of pounds for a packets of seed, you can have a steady supply of flowers three months or more. They are like dark velvety chocolate. Dark colours don’t show up in photos very well, so I’ve screen shot the picture and homed in on the flowers.

There’s a few forget me nots left to go with the love in a mist. And sweet peas are also flowering faster than I can pick them.

Calendulas are looking fab with peach butterfly antirrhinums, and blue chives are being thrown in every bowl of salad, as well as every vase of flowers. Such a versatile perennial herb to grow. The antirrhinums are flowering for their second year, but I’ll sow some more seed for next summer, just in case they don’t overwinter. They last for nearly a fortnight in a vase, if you change the water each day.

I do hope the weather is better where you are. Hopefully we will all get some sunshine again soon. Meanwhile, it’s dark clouds and white cow parsley -aplenty!

Links :

I’ve been to visit the Cotswold Wildlife Park. Here’s a blog I wrote about it: https://bramblegarden.com/2019/06/10/the-cotswold-wildlife-park-a-celebration-of-the-gardens/

Here’s my recent blog listing the varieties of sweet peas I’m growing: https://bramblegarden.com/2019/06/03/in-a-vase-on-monday-3-june-2019/

Don’t forget to leave a comment on my blog review of Hansford Coil spring garden chairs- there’s one chair to win in our prize draw competition. They are wonderfully comfortable and easy to carry about the garden: https://bramblegarden.com/2019/05/31/product-review-hansford-coil-spring-chair/

In a Vase on Monday : https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2019/06/10/in-a-vase-on-monday-the-very-pink-of-perfection/

In a Vase on Monday -3 June 2019

/ karen / 32 Comments

The first sweet peas are always for my Mum.

I’m growing a mix of old and new. Heritage varieties: Mrs Collier (cream) and Dorothy Eckford (white). New this year: Capel Manor. Old favourites: High Scent, Wiltshire Ripple Mix, Albutt Blue and Chatsworth.

The best Blue is Chatsworth. Five or six flowers per stem, prettily ruffled and gloriously scented. Long lasting in a vase, and flowers until the first frosts. The Duchess of Devonshire, the last of the Mitford Sisters, lived at Chatsworth and was president of the Sweet Pea Society for many years.

High Scent and Albutt Blue are modern grandiflora varieties with a picotee edge. Albutt Blue, bred by Harvey Albutt I’m 1999, has a blue rim on a white ground. High Scent is a cream flower with a mauve edge. High Scent is also known as April in Paris.

Seeds are planted in root trainers in October. Use 50/50 compost and grit for drainage. I start mine in a propagator at 15C. As soon as a green shoot is spotted, I remove them from the propagator and grow on in a cold poly tunnel. Sweet peas can cope with cold, but shouldn’t be too wet or they will rot. To out-wit the mice, I stand the root trainers in a deep straight-sided plastic storage box. When the seedlings are 3-4″ tall, I pinch out the tips to make bushy plants. The tips can be grown on as cuttings. Very useful if you are growing heritage varieties and only have a few seeds in the packet.

I planted mine in April in no-dig beds. I mulch the bed with Plant Grow (plant based) fertiliser. This feeds and holds in moisture, and seems to deter slugs and snails.

My sweet peas scramble up an A-frame of hazel rods. I grow them in the same place for four years, then move them to a different bed to prevent the build up of pest and diseases. By then, the hazel rods are collapsing anyway and need replenishing. Each year I weave in a few more twigs to strengthen the supports. I water with a liquid Plant Grow feed.

In front of the sweet peas there’s a row of calendulas and highly-scented pinks. Every space is crammed with flowers.

Alongside, there’s dianthus barbatus (sweet williams). These are sown in summer, make good strong roots and leaves in the first year, and flower in the next. This year I’m growing a dark red variety called Sooty which is just coming into bloom. Sweet williams follow wall flowers to give a continuous supply of cut flowers. I learned how to grow cut flowers at Common Farm Flowers with Georgie Newbery in Somerset.

Little extras in this posy are the last of the forget-me-nots and some pink alliums I always harvest, as a way of controlling them. They can become invasive.

And finally, a favourite pelargonium. This originally came as a cutting from my grandfather Ted Foulds. He loved his garden and each week came to visit and “inspect the plot.” He never arrived without a pot of something, a few seeds, an offset, a cutting. Half my garden came from my grandfather and my Mum. He died 22nd May 2005 aged 83. Still desperately missed, but not forgotten. I faithfully take cuttings of his pelargoniums each autumn, and they flower every summer, as a lovely reminder of him.

Links : In a Vase on Monday :https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2019/06/03/in-a-vase-on-monday-oops/

Sweet peas at Easton :https://www.visiteaston.co.uk/whats-on/coming-up

Ripple Mixed varieties : https://www.mr-fothergills.co.uk/Flower-Seed/Tall_3/Sweet-Pea-Ripple-Mixed-Seeds.html#.XPTo-4zTWfA

Plant Grow fertiliser : http://www.plantgrow.co.uk/our-products.html

Root Trainers : https://www.haxnicks.co.uk/garden-products/rootrainers

Sweet William seed: https://www.mr-fothergills.co.uk/Flower-Seed/Sweet-William-Seeds/#.XPTptYzTWfA

Common Farm : https://www.commonfarmflowers.com/

You also might like to take part in a prize draw for a Coil Spring garden chair : https://bramblegarden.com/2019/05/31/product-review-hansford-coil-spring-chair/

In a Vase on Monday- 6th May 2019

/ karen / 30 Comments

Happy Bank Holiday Monday! I hope you are all managing to get some gardening done today. It’s still cold and windswept here. Only 11C, but feels much colder due to the biting north wind. Rain and high winds have caused some damage here. The beautiful lime green beech tree leaves have been blown into the paddock. They only opened a week ago. So soft and delicate. It looks as if someone has laid them as a fine velvet mulch everywhere. Some of the fancy double tulips look as if they’ve been cut with a scythe. They are all cleanly sheared off half way down their stems. Heads just too heavy for gale force winds. So today, I’ve made table arrangements with the casualties.

Mount Tacoma looks pretty in three glass jars in a row. The short stems don’t matter for this garden table arrangement.

This late-flowering double tulip is a favourite . I love the flash of green on the outer petals. The flowers remind me of feathers.

If I could re name it, I would call it Swan. Beautiful, simple table arrangements for a laid-back bank holiday.

I’m cutting some branches from the orchard for tonight’s dinner table. Flower arrangements don’t have to be complicated. Especially on a bank holiday.

Here’s a view of the garden today. The hawthorn hedge looks like seafoam in the wind. Looks like there will be more rain, judging by the colour of that sky.

Half an hour later, the downpour has passed. There’s some blue sky and we can see for miles from the top of the garden. Skylarks are singing overhead. Always a good sign.

Links : IAVOM In a Vase on Monday. https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2019/05/06/ina-vase-on-monday-delicate/

Mount Tacoma tulips : https://www.gee-tee.co.uk/bulbs/tulips/double-late-tulips/tulip-mount-tacoma

Alton Cedar greenhouses : https://www.altongreenhouses.co.uk/

The view in the distance from the top of the garden is : https://www.nottinghamshirewildlife.org/nature-reserves/bunny-old-wood-west

In a Vase on Monday – Venetian Shades

/ karen / 30 Comments

Monday 8th April 2019

Dashed home from work and, what a joy! It’s still light enough to run round the garden and cut some flowers. Photos taken at 7.30pm. I’ve chosen rich purple tones for my flower posy today.

Hyacinths have been the highlight of the garden this spring. I’ve managed to get them into flower from Christmas through to April, just by staggering the planting times and bringing them into light and warmth at different times. My favourite is hyacinth Blue Jacket, but today’s posy features deep plum/ purple hyacinth Woodstock. The scent is drifting across the garden as the light of the day fades to dusk.

Just unfurling is Anemone de Caen, pale pink with plum coloured streaks and black stamens. Planted last october in 4″ pots, these will be planted in the wild garden to flower again next year.

Hellebores are still looking good. This one is a seedling from a plant I bought at Hodsock Priory several years ago. It tones beautifully with spring bulbs. The tiny flowers alongside are Daphne Jacqueline Postill, and from the veg patch, some winter salad and mustard- which has run to seed.

Nestled in along side is pink comfrey flowers. I grow this for bees. They simply adore the plant. An important nectar source, early in the season. Also lasts for a week in a vase as a cut flower. There’s plenty for everyone.

When they have finished flowering, I cut the whole plant down to the ground. It will regrow and flower a second time. Nothing is wasted. The leaves are put into a barrel and topped up with water. After a few weeks, the resulting noxious -smelling brew makes a fabulous high potash liquid feed. Just dilute it 1 to 10 when you use it. Free plant food is always welcome.

Forget me nots form a cheerful frill around the base of my posy. Such a pretty biennial, it seeds itself freely around here and is growing in the wild garden- and where it shouldn’t- in all the gravel paths. Cutting them for vases stops forget me nots self seeding and is my attempt to control them, a little.

I hope you’ve enjoyed a mad dash round the garden with me. The sun set within minutes of taking these photos. Still, we must not complain. I’ve more than once has to cut flowers by torchlight, while tripping over the cat. Roll on lighter evenings. That’s what I say!

Thank you to Cathy for hosting In a Vase on Monday. https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/category/gardens/in-a-vase-on-monday/

Anemone :https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/26664/i-Anemone-coronaria-i-De-Caen-Group/Details

Hyacinth Woodstock : https://www.gee-tee.co.uk/bulbs/hyacinths/ordinary-hyacinths/ordinary-hyacinth-woodstock

Comfrey. https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/92452/Symphytum-Hidcote-Pink/Details

In a Vase on Monday…..or Wednesday.

/ karen / 26 Comments

I don’t know where the time goes. I’ve been trying to find a few spare minutes since Sunday. But every time I sit down, the phone rings, and that’s the end of any thoughts of escaping to the potting shed.

Anyway, apologies to Cathy for being late again with my IAVOM. Without further ado, and before the phone rings again, here are some photos of my jam jar flowers this week.

If you were listening in to Radio Leicester on Sunday, these are the flowers I took in to talk about. I’ve made a heart out of six stems of red dogwood and willow. It’s so simple to create. Basically, hold the stems in one hand. Bend three one way in a hoop and hold in the middle. Bend the other three the other way and hold in the middle. Bound with twine. Cut the long stems level at the bottom. Attach a jam jar wrapped in hessian or any pretty fabric around the middle of the heart. Then you can add whatever flowers you fancy.

I’ve used two stems of creamy white Exotic Emperor tulip. This is my new favourite. Its the colour of rich clotted cream. Outer petals have a beautiful green flash. In the heat of the radio studio the tulips opened flat like an orchid.

Here’s the same tulip with cherry blossom, Prunus Kojo-no-Mai, showing what it looks like as it opens. It reminds me of a peony.

Here’s where I’m growing them in the cut flower patch. I planted rows of tulips 10cm apart, mixed in with some Bridal Crown and Geranium narcissi. Rows of Blue Jacket hyacinths mingle with orange wallflowers. These were planted in November.

Planting closely in rows saves space. I never feel like picking the flowers in the main garden. It feels like I’m spoiling the display. These bulbs though are planted to be harvested for bouquets and vases.

In January, I tipped some more bulbs into a trench. These aren’t deeply planted as they will be dug up and planted in the orchard when they’ve been cut. At the top end of the trench you can see I’ve stood the bulbs up and spaced them out. I popped hyacinth bulbs in between. It’s much denser planting than for permanent displays.

Here’s the hyacinths coming up, with tulips to follow. This is a cutting mix from Gee Tee Bulbs. If you wait until Christmas, prices are reduced by half. They come up just the same, for bargain prices.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting IAVOM. Why not go over and see what everyone else is growing and cutting for their vases and flower arrangements this week. I’m often surprised to see we are growing similar flowers, all around the world.

Please feel free to share this blog.

links : Radio Leicester Down to Earth programme at 1.10.56 on the timeline

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0738k4d

Karen with Andy Pierce. Have a listen in on bbc Sounds.

Tulips : https://www.gee-tee.co.uk/bulbs/tulips/fosteriana-tulips/tulip-exotic-emperor

Narcissi bridal https://www.gee-tee.co.uk/bulbs/daffodils-narcissus/double-narcissi/narcissus-bridal-crown

hyacinths Blue Jacket. https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/62630/Hyacinthus-orientalis-Blue-Jacket/Details

Prunus Ko-no-mai : https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/70924/Prunus-incisa-Kojo-no-mai/Details

Also mentioned on the radio programme:

Sweet peas Wiltshire Ripple : https://johnsonssweetpeas.co.uk/Sweet-Pea-Wiltshire-Ripple

Easton Walled Gardens: https://www.visiteaston.co.uk/

Sweet pea Best of the Blues : https://www.johnsons-seeds.com/Home_4/Tall_10/Sweet-Pea-The-Best-of-the-Blues.html#.XKUZAozTWfA

Growing pea shoots: Twinkle : https://www.suttons.co.uk/Gardening/Vegetable-Seeds/Popular-Vegetable-Seeds/Pea-Seeds/Pea-Shoots-Seeds—Twinkle_183100.htm?gclid=Cj0KCQjws5HlBRDIARIsAOomqA2jKG_vIuhdZsnRcADU0wvEhRMuHVQeysA1onKhhJlM9i5JHRXUazIaAqPPEALw_wcB

Calendula Snow Princess: https://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/item_235k_calendula_officinalis_snow_princess

In a Vase on Monday.

/ karen / 26 Comments

I dashed home from work – and it was still light. Hurray! These photos were taken at 5.52 pm. This week I found some delicate apricot blossom. Four stems, displayed in my mother-in-law Joan’s cut glass vase. Such beautiful flowers. They seem to need no other companions.

These flowers will be a fleeting beauty. The weather has turned cold and windy. Snow fell yesterday but didn’t settle. I expect there’s more to come. Meanwhile, I’ll bring my vase indoors. Such pretty flowers will cheer up my kitchen table- and me.

Links:

IAVOM https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/

Apricot trees https://www.chrisbowers.co.uk/category/apricots/

In a Vase on Monday

/ karen / 40 Comments

It’s 25th February- and it feels like May. There’s a steady low hum of bumble bees on the hellebores by the front door. I’ve just seen a wren making a nest under the bedroom window; there’s been a nest there every year for the past 30 years. And joy! There’s frogs in the pond. So hopefully there will be frogspawn soon. Today I’m sharing a selection of photos of my containers. So it’s not strictly in a Vase on Monday- but rather in a container on Monday. I thought I would share photos of the places where I’m taking flowers from to make my daily arrangements for the summerhouse, and kitchen table. And of course some of the flowers will always go to the care home where my in-laws are now living. They can’t easily get out to see gardens, so I shall take spring joy to them.

These narcissi are Snow Baby, new to me, and a real beauty. Grows to only 6″ with flowers the same size as tete-a-tete. Flowers start off the colour of clotted cream and fade to white. Perfect in every way, and the bees love them too.

It’s good to try new varieties, while still planting old favourites such as February Gold and Paperwhites.

Speaking of Paperwhites, I’ve still got pots of deliciously scented flowers on my garden trolly next to the greenhouse. Very handy for picking and adding to bouquets. They are propped up with hazel twigs from the wild garden.

Hazel catkins- “lambs’ tails” – are a much awaited treat. A joyful sight. So full of bees today. I’ve never seen as many out in February before.

White crocus Joan of Arc has joined the trolly display. Also a wonderful pollen supply for bees.

Giving months of interest is hyacinth Delft Blue . Such a wonder to watch it slowly forming a flower spike and starting to unfurl. The scent is heavenly too!

I’m very fond of hyacinth Carnegie too. I love the green tinge to the petals followed by pure white flowers. Well worth growing.

And finally, even the humble daisy is putting on a show right now. Some of these dainty flowers will be going into my jam jar posies. I’m leaving plenty behind for the bees.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my roundup of what’s in flower in my garden. Thanks to Cathy for hosting In a Vase on Monday. Why not go over and see what Cathy and the others all around the world are growing and displaying in their pots, vases and containers this week. It’s a fascinating read.

Links : #IAVOM https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2019/02/25/in-a-vase-on-monday-it-had-to-be-you-2/

Paperwhites https://www.gee-tee.co.uk/bulbs/daffodils-narcissus/tazetta-poetaz-narcissi/narcissus-paperwhite-grandiflora

Hazel https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/native-trees/hazel/

Narcissi Snow Baby https://www.peternyssen.com/narcissus-snow-baby.html

crocus Joan of Arc https://www.gee-tee.co.uk/bulbs/crocus/large-flowering-crocus/crocus-joan-of-arc

Hyacinth Blue Jacket https://www.gee-tee.co.uk/bulbs/hyacinths/ordinary-hyacinths/ordinary-hyacinth-blue-jacket

Hyacinth Carnegie https://www.peternyssen.com/prepared-hyacinths-carnegie.html

In a Vase on Monday – Spring Flowers

/ karen / 24 Comments

Monday 18th February. I’ve run around the garden and picked flowers for a tiny posy. My mother in law Joan gave me the little cut glass vase. So cheerful, the reflection of light, and jewel- like flowers. How can such delicate beauties survive the cold.

There’s double and single snowdrops, chinodoxa glory of the snow, pink cyclamen coum, crocus, Paperwhite narcissi, and heavenly-scented daphne.

I’ve spun the vase round to show you the yellow aconites. What a joy to see them flowering in the wild garden. Just as the aconites start to go over crocus tommasinianus suddenly appear. A feast of pollen for emerging queen bumble bees.

Crocus are doing well in the woodland garden, but I didn’t plant these out in the meadow here. I wonder why an unexpected plant, growing where it wants to be, should make me so happy. I run out and check these little flowers each day and stand and ponder. I couldn’t be happier, and I’m not sure why.

For my summerhouse door wreath this week, I’ve popped a few crocus flowers in my recycled test tubes filled with water. No need to use florists foam which adds to pollution. Use little test tubes, glass spice jars or miniature jam jars.

Fresh green ivy berries and moss hide the workings, and wild clematis or old- man’s beard- makes a nest for the snowdrops.

There’s stirrings from the pond already. I’ve seen several frogs- maybe there will be frogspawn soon. A pair of bullfinches are investigating the nest box in the tree next to the summerhouse. They are going to be very noisy neighbours, judging by the racket they are making. A friend and I sat and watched them this afternoon, and marvelled at the weather being mild enough to sit outdoors, in the middle of February, the summerhouse doors thrown open. A moment to treasure.

Links; Cathy IAVOM https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2019/02/18/in-a-vase-on-monday-alternative/

Bullfinch song https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/bullfinch/

Crocus tommasinianus https://www.peternyssen.com/tommasinianus-ruby-giant.html

Cyclamen coum for autumn planting https://www.gee-tee.co.uk/bulbs/cyclamen/cyclamen-coum

Snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis https://www.cumbriawildflowers.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=181

Chinodoxa https://www.avonbulbs.co.uk/autumn-planted-bulbs/chionodoxa/chionodoxa-forbesii-blue-giant

clematis vitalba https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/trees-woods-and-wildlife/plants-and-fungi/woodland-wildflowers/travellers-joy/