Tag: Gardening

Our white lilac

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I saw a post on my friend Martha’s blog and I realised her lilac and ours are flowering at the same time despite being on different continents.

At the side of our house near the front door are several bushes and trees. These include a white buddlea (not in flower yet) and a tall white lilac which has ivy scrambling up through it. The lilac is two thirds the height of our house and is happy there, which is strange because the two purple lilac bushes we had in the garden died off because they were shaded out.

I can see the lilac bush as I’m driving home down our hill. The white flowers are all over it. It sparkles in the sunshine. The blossom should be there for a while. I only wish I could smell it, but a head injury several years ago means my sense of smell is limited. I will post a few garden photos soon.

Back yard

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It’s growing,

a bit of water

It’s gone mad!

Pots overflow

Burgeoning leaves

With green waterfalls

Bubbling out of the soil

Brown turned green

Ferns in the wall..

Yellow Welsh poppies

And dark mauve geraniums

Fun to see it grow

But no room to walk

A path is required

But raspberries

And blueberries

Have flowers

Now I need bees!

Dorothy Clive garden today

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A few miles from Stoke on Trent in the Staffordshire countryside is the Dorothy Clive garden. We went there today because I knew the rhododendrons would be in flower and also I wanted to see if I could drive that far (my arm is still shaking and very sore and it’s hard to drive). Luckily I was OK and it was a gorgeous day and a lovely place to visit. You walk up from the car park at the bottom, past the pool, up a steepish slope covered in trees and flowerbeds. There is a cafe at the top and a dry garden and quarry garden at the top (where the majority of the rhododendrons are). There is also a stag sculpture and a waterfall. From the top of the garden you can see three counties, Staffordshire, Cheshire and Shropshire. Worth a day out….

Retired

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How do you balance work and home life?

Balance, what’s that?

Retired: bored or busy?

Sometimes life sucks

Other times it’s lovely.

Time passes quickly

Flowers grow, and fade

Trees shed leaves

And bud.

Stay up late

Lose the daylight

A twylight time?

Prevaricate and regret…

Loss of what’s left…

I should work more

But my mind is tied

In gossamer threads

Of nothing…

Frustrated by

My lack of

Vision and

Determination

To do more…

Potting bench

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“We should be sitting on this!”

“But I need a table to pot on”

“Yes, but you have one”

“But it’s got my trains on”

“Well can you move them?”

“No, I’m making a layout, I got some ‘n’ gauge stock” “I want to build it up”.

Sigh, “OK but the plants can go in the garden, the bench needs varnish or something to protect it”.

I didn’t mention to hubby that the last bench was treated in the same way, the wood rotted and the bench collapsed. I bought new wooden slats, but ‘someone’ (hubby), nailed them on to something else….

Garden nine years ago

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We had lots of aqualegias and tulips, geraniums, and alliums. The photos just popped up on my Facebook page. I forgot how much the trees have grown up in the intervening years. We are cutting some of the branches back, to let more light in. The photos were a bit blurred but it was good to see them. Gardening is a lovely pastime. When you get results like this it makes the work worthwhile.

Close up

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Flowers today, I thought they might be forget-me-nots but I’m not sure. The camera on my phone seems to be quite good if I can avoid shaking too much, so they are quite detailed in this photo Perhaps they are a type of Cranesbill? I like the way there is a reddish purple flower developing in the background. I love the bright green of the foliage, so luscious and fresh.

Gunnera

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One plant we tried to grow in the garden was Gunnera, seen here at Rode hall. It’s a large leafed plant with a spiky surface. It grows in wet conditions and the leaves can get to 2 or 3 feet across. This was by a large pond that has a waterfall at one end flowing down a stream to the lake. There are a large variety of plants at the hall but this is a favourite.

We also noticed there were rhododendrons in flower today, which means we must visit the Dorothy Clive garden to see how that is growing.

Developing tulips

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The top left tulip and bottom right are both the same type, but the top left one has developed and the colour is coming out. The other still has a green tinge. The top left is a different, more rounded type, but there is a yellow throat to it. Finally the bottom left was a larger pale pink flower. I’m loving the way they are developing.