Spring is well underway here with sunny spells followed by heavy showers.
As our days warm up the garden is bursting into life with blossom and bulbs.
Looking Good 8th April
Looking Good 1st April
It’s raining and grey here in our garden today and there’s not much looking really good in these conditions. Besides I’d rather stay warm and dry inside than take photos outdoors in this downpour! So for a change I thought that you might like to see some of the pictures I took at Petersham Nurseries last week. Now that was Looking Good!
Sowing Hardy Annual Seeds
It’s an exciting time in the garden. Spring flowers are blooming, bulbs are finally poking their noses through the earth and some early flowering shrubs are decorated with jewel like blossom too. It’s quite exciting indoors too this month! I’ve been sowing seeds indoors for a few weeks now. For Looking Good in the Garden on Friday I think my seedlings are the stars this week. Hardy Annual seeds can be started off outdoors in early autumn and from mid spring onwards. Here’s how…
Looking Good 18th March
Some of the smaller plants in our Spring Garden are looking good this week. A circle of the primroses Primula vulgaris around the Oak tree are in full flower now. I planted just six when we moved here and now there are many more. They seed themselves around and I also divide any large clumps after they’ve finished flowering and move the divisions around too. They grow and flower at the same time as Anemone blanda which is a lovely soft blue.
Looking Good 26th February
The sun is shining and the birds are singing this morning here in North West England. It’s a glorious day! I’m potting up some spring bulbs which are just beginning to flower. In my box there are Hyacinths, Crocus and Anemones.
Galanthus nivalis
It’s Friday so it’s Looking Good in the Garden. We are right in the middle of a storm. It’s been blowing a gale overnight and now even thought the sun is shining there’s a roaring above my garden studio as the wind whips through the bare branches of the oak trees. But Snowdrops are out in full force in our Bluebell Wood nodding their tiny heads in the high speed gusts.
Looking Good in the Garden 23rd Jan
It’s mid winter here in the UK and this month I’m making the most of some lovely variegated foliage plants. Seasonal changes are some of the main factors I love about our garden but there are some plants here that don’t change much at all throughout the year. From spring to autumn most of these plants play a supporting role. Usually the stars in the garden are pastel spring blossom and bulbs, bright summer blooms and mellow autumn leaves. It is easy to take foliage plants for granted… they are in the background most of the time really.
Looking Good 20th November
There are still some leaves left on our trees despite Storm Barney. The sun has managed to break through occasionally and those shafts of sunlight created some magical moments. This is Hornbeam Carpinus betulus. I can’t tell you how happy I am that these leaves are still clinging to the trees… at least for now. They are ragged and quite past their best but under the circumstances they are looking good to me today!
Ginkgo biloba Looking Good
We have had the most unusual November week here in the UK. High temperatures ( up to 22C in mid Wales last Sunday ) and foggy mornings followed by sunny afternoons, lots of warm rain through the night and very little wind. November around here in North West England is often very cold with gale force winds. People need to wear warm coats, scarves and daft hats with waterproof boots. This year the atmosphere is calm and the cold snap that usually arrives in October still hasn’t materialised. It’s cardigan weather.
Looking Good 30th October
The wall on the north west side of our house is clothed with a vigorous climber Parthenocissus quinquefolia. It is probably better known as Virginia Creeper. It’s an attractive foliage plant year round with striking leaves – five arranged in each cluster – hence the quin part of the Latin name. Right now this plant is Looking Good! In autumn the leaves change from green to brilliant red.