APRIL GARDEN 22 04 12

Lovely plants, Sheila. That dicentra is huge ! Does it die right back over winter ?

Beautiful fat bud on that Peony..Nice to see other peoples gardens, your Lilies are way behind mine yet your Hosta is well ahead. That Crab blossom is gorgeous.

lovely Sheilar - astilbe false goats beard is a classic - love the bluebells and pasque flower is one I been after!! the toadstools are so pretty !! really nice plants Sheilar :))))))

Lovely plants Sheilar, I see your Lily of the Valley is taking over in this flowerbed....:)))

Great blog Sheila, you have some lovely plants in your garden

Thanks everyone for your kind comments.
TT - the dicentra is absolutely huge, I keep digging chunks of it up for friends and it keeps growing back!! It disappears totally in the winter.
Pimp - my lillies are slow this year as I dug them up and overwintered them in the shed. This is the first year I've done this so they are a bit late. I totally adore my crab apple - it was a 'rescued' plant from a neighbour who was binning it!
Paul - the red pasque flower I just bought last week, reduced to 95p as it was finishing flowering (bargain or what??)
Michaella - I'm busy digging out masses of lilies of the valley and giving them away as they are taking over!! I've also got lots of them in my front garden too.
Cinders - thanks for your nice comment

Looking great!!!!!! Didnt know you got pink bluebells lol

your garden looks great:-) well done

The Crab Apple Malus 'Royalty' is worth £40.

Looking so good Sheilar!

Great photos Sheilar.
If you had'nt told us it was cold there today, you would never believe it from your pics.
Your garden is looking fab :-)

I enjoy seeing what other Goyers have growing in their gardens, Sheila ... those Dianthus are out early aren't they? ... Love the Bleeding Heart ... :o)

great bargain Sheilar

PIXI- yes you can get pink bluebells and white ones as well!! This one's been in the same place for donkeys years but has never spread (unlike the blue)
DIANE- I'm not surprised the malus is £40 - it's a really stunning tree. I just lightly prune it towards the end of the summer to keep it neat and tidy. My neighbour was getting rid as it was 'too big for the pot'. Why don't people check up on things before buying. If I hadn't taken this beautiful plant, it would have ended up on the compost heap.
WILLINILLI - yes it was quite warm in the sun, but very chilly out of it!!
SHIRLEY - the dianthus were only bought last week and were full of buds then. I think all the rain we've had has made the buds open. The dicentra is a bleeding heart, but it's the smaller version. The tall ones I find snap too easily in the wind but this smaller one does OK
Thanks JustDawn and Severnside for your nice comments

Isn't that Dicentra fabulous? I have one just like it but much, much smaller. Amazing to see how much they spread out! Great flowers in your garden Sheila! :)

Lovely to see your garden Sheila, I like to see how things compare in different areas.
Your Dicentra is huge, mine has been in the same spot for years but since we lost our big plum tree it doesn`t have any shade now so never does as well, I`m determined to move part of it to a shadier part of the garden to see what happens....

Some lovely plants Sheila..love the Dicentra too..nice to see everything waking up..they have really appreciated all this rain,haven't they?...but enough is enough now..bring on the sunshine and warmth :o)

KAREN - yes my dicentra is HUGE (you can't see the full size of it in the photo) - it spills over a wall!!! It's in direct sunlight early morning but then goes into shade on the afternoon as it's under apple trees. It's about 16 years old.
LINCS - it could have something to do with shade. Try digging half of it out and moving it to see what happens. They're very easily split - just spade 'em!! lol
BLOOMER - it is nice to see the garden come back to life. I'm fed up with this rain though, today must be the first dry day here for about a week!!

I am going to the gatden centre next Saturday , i would love a Dicentra like your's but i wasn't aware there were big ones and small ones! do you know the name of it please?

Teddy - I think the shorter version (about 10" high) is called 'spring morning' but cannot be certain - the taller one (about 18" high) is called 'bleeding heart'. I think you can also get both sizes in white.

All looking great Sheilar...your hostas are much further on than mine. You gave me the tip to grow them in pots last year as they were not doing very well. I moved the sad sorry ones into pots and they are all coming on a treat this year!

Gorgeous plants Sheilar....I love this time of year, when things are starting off....

Very nice Sheila. You've got a beautiful garden, and it's full of interesting plants. Isn't that Dicentra beautiful ! Nice to see everything coming back to life :o)

nice blog, really great collection of plants..love the dicentra..thanks for sharing

Enjoyed that look around the garden, its lovely and you've got lots of beautiful stuff and lots of colour already!

Thanks for your nice comments Scottish, Motinot, Hywel, Skips and Maezymare

I can't believe how much is in flower in your garden Sheilar. Mine is way behind. The only plant that is quite large at the moment is the lily in a pot. You have some really lovely plants.

Everything is looking really good in your garden and you have some very pretty plants and loads of colour...

superb sheilar ,awesome pics too

Thanks Rose, DD and Pete, for your nice comments

Hi Sheilar. We love your garden, so much colour. We only have the Montana and the Wisteria in flower at the moment. The only plants to survive our building work. we need all the tips going to rebuild the rest of the garden.

Thanks KB for you kind comments. I'm not a gardener either, but I've learned over the last 19 years in this house where we've a quite large south facing back garden. You'll find this site very helpful, what to put where, what is a weed and what is a plant etc. and also you'll make a lot of friends. So if you have any questions, don't be shy or think people will think you're stupid, just post them on here and someone will help.