Tulips

Posted on May 7, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Cheerful, Colours, Flowers, Gardening, Plants, Spring, Spring flowers, Spring Garden, TulipsLeave a comment

Such nice spring flowers. Bright, colourful, petals like satin. Soft and shapely. It’s no wonder that there was a tulip frenzy a few centuries ago. Tulips with colours that look like flames due to a virus. A single tulip bulb could cost more than a house. I think this was in Holland. My favourites are the dark coloured ones, deep magenta or purple, almost black.

Yes tulips are one of my favourites. You have to remember to plant them deep enough about double the depth of the bulb I think? They tend to fade a bit in their second year but they give a good show if planted in drifts.

Seedpods

Posted on April 26, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Flowers, Frost, Garden, Gardening, Green, Interesting, Life, Plants, seed pods4 Comments

Not sure what plant these pods are on. I just found the photo on my memories, I must have taken it because it was interesting. To be honest it’s not a good photo, so it could easily be deleted. Maybe that’s frost? I shall try and find out what it us. Might be good to try and grow it again.

Freezias

Posted on April 26, 2021April 26, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blackberries, Chain, Freezias, Garden, Gardening, Gate, Ivy, Nettles, Security, Spring Garden3 Comments

Blurry photo in the garden, freezias in a big blue pot. I need to do some weeding, we have too much ivy spreading across the ground and random bits of blackberry bushes that are thorny. Nettles are welcome in the garden for butterflies but they keep encroaching into the flower beds.

Spent the afternoon in the garden weeding and helping drill a hole in our garden gate for a padlock and chain (we are still upset by having the motorbike stolen and want to make it more secure). Also did a bit of college work… Better do more!

Freezias

Posted on April 23, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Colour, Freezias, Gardening, Green, Indoor plants, Life, Purple, Scent, Windowsill8 Comments

Just some spring flowers on the upstairs windowsill. Freezias smell lovely. Fresh scent. It’s nice to buy plants that are a bit different. They are indoor plants unless it’s warm enough outside (above 1°C). But as we are having continuous frosty nights I have kept them in.

Plum blossom

Posted on April 17, 2021April 17, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Garden, Gardening, Painting, plum blossom, Plum tree, Spring, Tree, Watercolour4 Comments

View from the kitchen window. This is the little plum tree ar the bottom of the garden. There is a cherry tree trunk in front of it and branches from that obscure the view. I decided to leave that out. I painted with watercolours. Palest first, then the pale greens and blues. It’s hard to fit the dark colours in without leaving white edges but I have never used masking fluid to hide the paler areas and I don’t want to start now.

Purple tulip

Posted on April 16, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Bbc TV, Drawing, Gardeners World, Gardening, Green, Purple, purple and green ink spray, Sketching, Tulip, TV2 Comments

Just watched Gardeners World on TV. Who knew that you should plant tip bulbs about eight inches deep to get them to flower well. Or that if you take off the flower and stem when the tulip flower dies the leaves will photosynthesise and feed the bulb so it flowers again next year.

I decided to draw a tulip, but I used some gold glitter and spray ink (purple and green) to create some texture. The gold is really sparkling in the first photo, but top the sketchbook and it calms it down a bit.

I used a thin nib black ink pen for the details. Î

Aubretia

Posted on April 15, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Colour, Gardening, Joy, Photo, Poem, Poetry, Purple, Rock, Spring, Stone, WalkLeave a comment

Seen on a walk:

Purple

On rock

And

Stone

Curtain

Of colour

Life in its glory

Joyous

Strength

Growth

Garden Wall.

Tree again

Posted on April 12, 2021April 12, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Gardening, Leaves, Penkhull, Photo, seasons, Spring, Sunshine, Time, Tree, View, YearLeave a comment

I keep coming back to this tree as it spreads its branches over the view from Penkhull. I have watched it in leaf, with dying leaves, bare and now in bud. It makes me realise how fast a year can pass. The same with gardening, the seasons and plants come and go. And I’m a year older and no wiser….

Blackthorn?

Posted on April 7, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blackthorn, Blossom, Butterflies, flies, Gardening, Insects, Life, Magazine, March, native shrub, Plants, Quote, Staffordshire wildlife Trust, Wild flowers, WildlifeLeave a comment

Flowers from a bush in our garden, tentatively matched in the Spring 2021 issue of the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust Magazine, page 13 in the Nature Spy section.

It says ‘Blackthorn is one of the first native shrubs to burst into flower around mid-Marsh.’ (I think it means March) ‘Its fluffy white flowers, tinged with pink, provide vital nectar for the first of the years butterflies, bees and flies. See how many different insects you can spot feeding on the blooms.’

Repurposing

Posted on April 3, 2021April 3, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #MendNotTrend, Bathroom sink, cracked sink, Flowers, Gardening, Life, pedistal, Repurposing, waste not want notLeave a comment

I used our old cracked bathroom sink and pedistal as planters in the garden rather than sending them to the tip. #MendNotTrend is coming up with different challenges to re use various objects…
This was Good Fridays challenge (day two) we actually did this last year… They are looking bright and cheerful today.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Gardening

Tulips

Seedpods

Freezias

Freezias

Plum blossom

Purple tulip

Aubretia

Tree again

Blackthorn?

Repurposing