A quick look at photos taken in my garden in April
By scotsgran
15 comments
So much has flowered this month that I am having difficulty keeping my nose to the grind stone to do all the jobs I failed to do earlier.
The flowers on this rhodo which was this size when we bought the house forty two years ago seem to glow.
A closer look at the flowers
Here is how I tackled the thugs which I bought and then discovered their propensity to gallop through everything else in the border. I put them under the berberis shrubs outside the front wall. It is part of our garden. We built a foot high raised bed which I filled with suitable compost. I then got OH to concrete over the soil and between black plastic pots used by supermarkets to hold cut flowers. With the pots removed when the concrete dried I planted a tiny berberis in each hole along with begonia semperflorens. When I found out about the bad habits of Cerastium tomentosum (snow in summer) and Vinca major I planted them there too. It has been a very successful marriage. The snow in summer gets cut back hard after it finishes flowering. The vinca stems are cut back to base as I know there will be plenty of replacements.
Smelly ribes and pretty Amelanchier look good together
Ribes and Amelanchier canadensis
Viburnum x burkwoodii. We were forecast to have awful weather on Saturday but the blue sky tells it differently. We got the edge of the snow and hailstones which blanketed the north along with rain showers and lovely sunshine today, Sunday.
Viburnum x burkwoodii one of several viburnums in the garden and a personal favourite.
A good old necessity evergreen Viburnum tinus
Chaenomeles ‘Crimson and Gold’ adds a bright spark of colour near the front gate
On the opposite side of the drive these primroses are standing up to the weather beautifully
A garish shrub Berberis darwinii peeps over the wall. The bright orange flowers are nicely set off against the evergreen miniature holly shape leaves.
The Fritillaria Crown Imepialis is stunning to look at but the scent leaves a lot to be desired.
I thought you might like to see inside one of those bells. Anyone know what the white blobs are?
This pink rhodo with the massive leaves fades to almost white.
The flowers remain quite good condition but that rich pink has vanished to where?
Camellia Donation
One of the prettiest Pulsatillas has to be P. ’Barton’s Pink’
Hellebores and primulas still flowering their heads off.
I thought I’d finish with a Mossy Saxifrage. It could be S. ‘Peter Pan’.
30 Apr, 2015
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Comments
The Pulsatillas are so lovely. It seems to be quite a big garden Scotsgran. Like you I have Vinca growing where nothing else will grow.
30 Apr, 2015
Lots happening there , Scotsgran , and it's only April .
Plenty to come yet .
Looking good .
30 Apr, 2015
3dbit the garden was easy to keep when I stuck to flowering shrubs but once I retired I started digging up bits of lawn to allow for herbaceous borders etc. Bad move on my part really as I can only go downhill (slow up) lol but I think it keeps the old grey matter ticking along. I feel guilty when I neglect it but it is a pleasure to be able to introduce family and friends to my little triumphs. It may not be too late for your lilies if you spray them with an organic mix made up of a cupful of liquidised old garlic bulbs (a chemical is released in stronger amounts if the garlic is old) and fill up with water. Spray am and pm. It is apparently the larvae which do most damage although the beetles do eat the leaves too. I saw the remedy on the BBC's Great British Garden Revival. Should still be available on iplayer.
Linda235 I have quite a few different pulsatillas, in fact if something grows well for me I tend to collect other members of their families. Strangely the Vinca has not bothered the berberis shrubs at all and they do add colour before the berberis and cerastium are at their best. We have a 3rd of an acre of garden which is big for modern houses but quite modest for this size of house. We have given up on growing veg so that means more space for me to play with. I could do with an extra 24 hours in a day. Driad I do try to have something flowering in every month of the year but the big impact is around Springtime but I am adding plants for other months - the excuse is that the thicker the planting the less room for weeds.
30 Apr, 2015
Very colourful S'gran, very healthy looking shrubs and flowers, I can see why it keeps you on your toes, lol....
30 Apr, 2015
Wow, Scotsgran, everything looks amazing ! What colour you have ! I love the Spring and I really must put my pictures on before the spring has gone ! lol
A good tip about the lily beetle too !
30 Apr, 2015
Thank you Linclass. I know its worth all the skipped housekeeping when I can get out and see it looking good. Rose the cocktail for the lilies was also recommended to keep slugs and snails off the lilies. Squirt the plant from soil level to at least a foot up the stem.
30 Apr, 2015
Looking great
1 May, 2015
Thank you Pcw. Careful angles exclude a lot that still needs attention.
1 May, 2015
APOLOGIES for the wrong name on the pink Pulsatilla. I have corrected it to 'Eva Constance'
2 May, 2015
Never mind the bits that need attention Sg from what we can see here it all looks mature and wonderful. How you`ve contained the Berberis, snow in winter and vinca is a brilliant idea.
2 May, 2015
Stroller you know the old saying 'Necessity is the father of invention' well we had to get our thinking caps on after OH built the wall around the front garden. Lorries seem to take a delight in backing in to it and damaging it. As the area is on our title deeds I came up with this solution. We get the odd dog walkers whose owners are not always careful of where their dogs mess. There was a few cats around as well so covering the earth between the pots deterred the four legged pests. The berberis was fast growing and deterred the two legged ones from climbing up to look in to the garden. I don't need to weed it and just tidy it up as and when necessary. A handful of bonemeal and some mulch keeps it healthy.
2 May, 2015
SG-'Eva Constance' is a very nice red.You were probably right the first time.
2 May, 2015
I enjoyed reading your blog and was interested to read how you created planting holes for the more rampant plants, clever you :)
3 May, 2015
You are right Pcw. I have changed it back again. Gee our local Garden centre owner, a past president of the Royal Caledonian Society, our version of the RHS, was appalled when he saw what I had done but he has since changed his mind.
4 May, 2015
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Wonderful variety Scotsgran you have there, I can why your struggling to keep up with it all. Live the Rhododendrons and the Fritillia the red lilly beetle has had mine so I think mine wont flower this year.
30 Apr, 2015