Water butts, conservatory blooms and patio pots

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The recent cold and damp weather has sent me back indoors (I’m not Monty Don). At least the garden has had a good soaking at last and my three water butts have gone from totally empty to overflowing.

One tip about ponds is to make sure they have some easy way to top them up – evaporation, transpiration, bird use, etc, can drop the water level (usually in the summer). I didn’t know this when we dug it out, but we have since laid a stretch of garden hose from the water butt overflow and under the lawn turf to the pond – not very ‘designer’, but it is out of sight and works well. This can also be hitched up to the outside tap if the butts are low, which I guess could count as a form of sneaky hose pipe usage!

There has been much to enjoy in the conservatory, which has just had a thorough spring clean. Our amaryllis has had another large flower, the geraniums/pelargoniums are going strong and my echeveria has a couple of long flower spikes which have been there for six months now. Geraniums are often seen as not all that trendy, but I love them because I can’t think of many plants that are so easy to grow and flower all-year-round.

On the patio we have several pots currently in flower, including dianthus, primula and ostiospermum, all to be later planted out in the garden. Just finished flowering is a trio of delicate Chionodoxa Violet Beauty, which we got from Felley Gardens. This garden, nursery and tea room is only half-a-mile from J27 on the M1 and is soooooo much better than any service station option. Here’s some pictures I’ve taken….
Felley 1
Felley 2
Felley 3
Felley 4
Felley 5

• 18 Apr, 2012
• 5 likes

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