The best colour for spring

 

Little gleams of gold all over my garden.

I must be Rich!

(I do like the blues and purples too, but gold holds the promise of some much needed sunshine.)

Cheap, cheerful and eco-friendly

One of the joys of visiting new places is that you get the chance to see other people’s gardens.

Yes, I’m that nosy woman who looks over hedges and through gateways exclaiming, ‘Oh, look at that!’

I want a veg patch like this ...

... and I must have a purple and silver flower bed

 

Perhaps, when I am Rich, passers-by will want to peep into my lovely garden. If so, they’ll be very welcome.

But I wouldn’t need much money to copy this idea that I found during our holiday in Scotland. A greenhouse made from plastic bottles. Simply brilliant!

It was in a garden attached to a primary school. I do hope it inspires all the children there to become passionate and knowledgeable gardeners.

Have you seen any good gardening ideas lately? 
 

Watching the workers

When I am Rich I’ll have plenty of beehives dotted around my garden, and dozens of Californian lilacs (Ceanothus).

The one Californian lilac I’ve got is a bit of a problem. If I let it grow to the size it wants to be I wouldn’t be able to see out of my front window. Even with annual pruning it takes up a large part of my tiny front garden.

 

But I’m pleased it’s there because as soon as the first clusters of blue flowers appear it attracts all sorts of bees.

 I don’t know where they all come from, but I could happily watch them all day. It's so relaxing, watching other people work, isn't it?

 

Some rainbows are too big

So there I was, exploring Aladdin’s cave (otherwise known as my favourite art shop) and thinking that When I am Rich I’ll be able to buy the best quality paints, pastels, inks and pencils in every available colour and shade.

All those purples, violets, mauves and magentas!

    
         Yellows!
              Reds!
                  Browns!
                        Blues!

But if I had all those colours what would I do with them?

I’d probably spend the whole day admiring them while I tried to decide which one to use first.

I think I’ll stick with my little paintbox for now.

It’s got all the colours I need for teasels and trees. 

   

Growing inspiration

One of the many pleasures of my recent trip toScotland was gathering some new ideas for the garden I plan to create when I am Rich.

I love the colour scheme of this barrel,

 and these tumbling  

 nasturtiums,

 

and I really want

these trees!   

A clever way to give new life to an old boat.

  

And no garden would be complete without one of these,

and some of this,

and a smiley crocodile!

 

I think I’ll have to add a few more acres ... 

Free gifts!

Even when I am Rich I’ll still be pleased to occasionally get something for nothing.

 A few weeks ago, when I tidied my garden containers ready for what I hope will be a glorious display of summer flowers, I found a plant in one pot that I didn’t recognise. I assumed it was a ‘weed’ but decided to leave it there a little longer until I could identify it. And it turned out to be a forget-me-not!

(The photo doesn't do justice to the sky blue flowers)

I haven’t had any in the garden before, and there are none in my neighbour’s garden, so I’ve no idea where the seed came from. Perhaps it was a gift from a visiting bird. Anyway, it seems happy enough in its chosen home so it’s welcome to stay.

And I had another surprise when I won a book in a Goodreads giveaway. I’ve looked at the giveaways before but so many people enter them – especially for new books by popular authors – that I hadn’t bothered to put my name down for any. But something about this debut novel by Beth Thomas caught my eye, I applied for it, and now it’s sitting on my bookshelf.

I’m really looking forward to reading it.







 
Have you received any free gifts lately?

Quality v. quantity

This is my new favourite flower.

Actually, my favourite is always whatever happens to be in bloom at the time, but as I haven't tried growing Dutch Irises in a container before I'm very impressed at how strong and healthy they look.

When I am Rich and have my big garden I'll be able to plant great swathes of them (ooh, won't they look stunning!) but until then the advantage of only having a few is that I really notice and admire every little detail.

It's definitely a case of less is more ...

… and this one's going to be blue!

A Favourite Occupation

I suppose that when I am Rich I will have to employ a gardener – or several, or dozens – to help me plant and maintain my lovely, big garden. I imagine it will be quite easy to allow someone else to do the difficult or boring jobs, like lifting heavy bags of compost and mowing the lawns, but there’s one task I will always insist on doing myself – sowing seeds.

The excitement of choosing which plants and varieties to grow, making sure I help those tiny, dormant parcels of life get off to the best possible start, and the thrill of seeing the first green shoots never fades.

What’s your favourite gardening job?   

A Cold and Frosty Morning

 

Some wintry weather here – at last! I’m not looking forward to the snow that the forecasters say will arrive in this part of the world tonight, but I do enjoy frosty nights followed by sunny days. As I rushed out early to get some wintry landscape photos before the frost started to melt, I found myself singing the old nursery rhyme:

Here we go round the mulberry bush,

The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush.

Here we go round the mulberry bush,

On a cold and frosty morning.

So that’s something I need to add to the garden I’m going to have When I am Rich – a mulberry bush. Or why not make it a tree? I’m told that the black mulberry is the best variety to grow for its fruit and it should reach about 50 feet when it’s mature. I’ll need to reserve plenty of space for it.

A-tishoo!

When I am Rich I will still live in the countryside, but not in the part of our green and pleasant land where I am now. I love having trees, grass and wild plants of all kinds as my neighbours. I have no problem with fields of wheat, barley, potatoes, beans, cabbages, turnips or other vegetables. Orchards would be a delight! But I don’t want to be in a place where I can see this from my window:

                                             

                                                A-tishoo!

                                   Oh, what is that honeyed fragrance  

that wafts on the summer breeze?   

‘Tis surely the scent of ambrosia      

that gods sup while taking their ease.

Is it the breath of sweet roses,

or lilies both costly and rare?

Does it drift from the north or the south,

this perfume that fills all the air?

I must find the source of this wonder,

so I follow my nose down the lane.

And there, like a giant’s spilled treasure,

is a shimmering, bright yellow plain.

I gaze at the dazzle of flowers

till my eyes and my nose start to stream.

Oh, no! Dreaded oilseed rape!
                                   Where’s my anti-histamine?

Spring has sprung!

 … and I’m enjoying my miniature irises

 and miniature daffodils.

 

 Of course, when I am Rich and have my big garden there will be plenty of room for full-size flowers and even giant varieties. But I’ll still plant these little ones, they do have a certain charm all of their own.

Party time!

The buddleia (see last post) has invited all its friends round.






Bees, butterflies, moths ...














So many visitors coming and going.

They're keeping me busy trying to identify and photograph them all.

Yes, Friko, I did get your message - thank you. I am a bit worried about where the roots are going so when it's finished flowering I think it will have to be evicted. Perhaps I'll be able to sprinkle the seeds somewhere more suitable. (You've got a big garden haven't you?)

Welcome visitor

As I have limited space and grow most of my plants in containers I usually choose the smaller varieties – and gaze longingly at 50-foot trees. But luckily nature isn’t so easily restricted.

At the beginning of summer I noticed a small, green shoot growing out of what I thought was solid concrete outside my back door. I assumed it was some sort of weed but because I didn’t recognise the leaves I left it to see what it would become.

It grew

and grew

and grew …

I am now the proud owner of a beautiful purple buddleia!

The seed must have blown here from a magnificent specimen two gardens away. It only has two stems, and is half the height of its parent, but the scent is wonderful!

Unwelcome visitors

One of the joys of a garden is the wildlife it attracts. I’m constantly surprised at the number and variety of creatures that find their way to my tiny plot, and the majority of them are very welcome.

But …

When I am Rich I will offer a large reward to the scientist who can explain:

a) Why, when my house is surrounded by hundreds of acres of delicious crops and miles of roadside verges filled with wild plants of all kinds, do clouds of aphids decide to set up home on my ONE miniature rose bush?

b) How do I persuade them they’d be much better off elsewhere?


I don’t like killing anything, but that little rose is very precious to me. So, I’m giving them fair warning. If they’re not gone by the time I count to ten it will be war – and soapy water.

When I am Rich

I will plant a garden.

It will have:

- lawns with drifts of Spring bulbs
- old-fashioned cottage garden flowers
- a vegetable plot
- herbs
- apple trees (and pears, plums, damsons, cherries …)
- a wildflower meadow
- a beech wood
- an oak wood
- three silver birches at the end of a winding path
- a wooden seat built round the trunk of a cedar
- dandelions and daisies
- a maze
- wisteria
- a secret place
- a greenhouse, a potting shed
- a stream
- a pond (a lake would be better – with a waterfall!)
- statues
- a surprise around every corner
- aquilegias (because I love the name as much as the flowers)
- did I mention strawberries, a swing, and stinging nettles for the butterflies?

In the meantime …





… I’ve made a start.


Do you have a dream garden? I’d love to hear about it.