Good Times

On Your Marks ... Get Set ...  Go ...

 It has been the most glorious day of the year so far ...  with temperatures soaring and the sun shining, it's been a right cracker. My winter fleece was cast aside and out came the ol' flip-flops ... time to tidy up the garden.

After 4 hours and one huge full re-cycling bin later, here is the result.

Lawn lightly mown ...

Bird department tidied ...

Paths cleared ...

7 foot tall dead Cordyline trunk chopped down revealing new growth ...

 Time to relax and soak up some rays...

Droopy in the Garden

Behold ... A Crocus (singular).

At last ... a vision of Spring, a taste of things to come, albeit a droopy one (the flower, not the season). Think the weight of last weeks snow has taken its toll on this poor chap and I guess once the birds feast their eyes on it, it'll soon be a nibbled 'goner. Such a shame after all the effort to get here.

Meanwhile, the Hellebores are flowering their droopy heads off. This is a stunning pinky / white variety (sorry no idea which) but it has that delicious ice-cream feel about it.

At last my seed compost bags have finally thawed out, time to get planting, there's lots of life appearing in the garden ...so exciting.

Monster Hellebore

What's that coming over the hill?

Is it a Monster?

 Is it a Monster?

No ... it's just my beautiful alien-looking Green Hellebore with it's serrated leaves waiting to saw off any passing Play-Doh legs. Withstands (in our garden) wind, rain, heat, freezing temperatures, footballs and the odd bash with the lawnmower. Has glossy, rich green leaves all year round and doesn't seem to mind the occasional lop when it dares to venture too far on to the grass. It's flower buds protrude like something from a Sigourney Weaver movie but without all the slobber. Hideous ... but I love it.

Nooks n' Crannies

Mind-Your-Own-Business / Baby's Tears

When I first saw this ground hugging plant growing naturally at a garden centre, I marvelled at how beautifully it hugged the paths and crept over rocks surrounding a pond. Little did I know that if you stand still long enough you too will be completely covered in the stuff. Ok .... Ok .... it does cover stubborn areas of garden but it will also smother everything in its path including other plants to almost suffocation point if it's not restrained from time to time. (Didn't mention that did you nursery staff as I handed over my cash ... GRRR) 

Moss

I'm quite a moss fan for filling nooks n' crannies. Having 'googled' moss to find out what its official name is and found there are trillions of varieties (give or take) I'm not able to tell you what one this one is. In fact on closer inspection, there are several species here .... like a minature forest.

Campanula

I'm so pleased this little fella has decided to take root here. It's a small, neat,clump-forming variety with purple trumpet flowers later in the year. Can't get enough of this plant which is why you'll find all over our garden.

Snow Kidding ...

Yes ... winter finally arrived last night ...

There must have been a good 4 inches of beautiful snowman / woman making material ...

The bird-bath may be out of action, but the ski-slope is open for business ...

Our Acer looks more liked frost coral ...

Think I'll sit indoors today ...

Brrrrrrr ..............

Brrrrr ... it sure is cold outside.

So to warm your cockles here are some icy images from our garden.

There ...that's warmed you up nicely.

Wussies

It's the 1st of Feb' already can you believe.

The sun's shining, there's birdsong in the air and a bit of 'malarky' going on with Mr & Mrs Blackbird.

Thought I'd dust down the ol' gardening tools, take them for a stroll round the garden, remind them of their purpose in life and tickle their fancies.

But NO ... they were having none of it I tell yer ... didn't even stir from their winter hibernation. So I gave 'em a poke, shook their wooden handles, unsprung their coiled spring closures and squeezed their oily blades ...

NOTHING ... except a wimper ...

"Too cold" they cried pitifully ... "you go n' play ...we'll join you when the temperature rises to something well above freezing"

Wussies ...