In the garden we have...........

Furry ones

Fluffy ones

Yellow ones with spiky centres

Dancing ones

Shasta Daisies

and the roses from this

to this in three days!

Our reclaimed Garden

From this at the beginning of January

To this!

Just got to keep the weeds down and hope the plants spread!  At least we are not plagued by the Welsh Leek in the back like we are in the front.  I have more plants in pots which are dotted about the garden to put in.....

Deforestation of the Garden!

Back in March we had our Sumach tree pollarded.

now it is growing leaves, and the trunk is  looking like giant lollipops, except the one which is smothered in Ivy.  It needed cutting because it was beginning to look like a giant canopy and not letting the sun into the garden, even cutting the grass late afternoon when the surrounding area was dry where the tree was the grass still had morning dew!  

the mini Sumach forest

But.......the tree got its own back, and sent up thousands of suckers,  This type of tree does send up suckers, but after having the tree cut it has got its own back and has sent up four times as many than normal.  

Our front grass all it has going for it, it is GREEN!

Because of the recent downpours, yesterday we thought we had better tackle the "mini forest"

We had a profound Buttercup patch, looked like a Buttercup field

A small Daisy patch as well

The Dandelions I keep for my friend who has them for her tortoise

The before........

Twenty minutes later!

Growing up side down..............

Growing upside down

Correct way up

London Pride

London Pride

Someone said to me once what do you want that for its a WEED!  

Weed or not I like London Pride.  It is of the Saxifraga family.

London Pride has been handed down to us,
London Pride is a flower that's free.
London Pride means our own dear town to us,
And our pride is forever will be.
Whoa, Liza,
See the coster barrows,
The vegetable marrows and the fruit piled high,
Oh, Liza,
Little London sparrows,
Covent Garden Market where the costers cry.

Cockney feet 
Mark the beat of history.
Every street pins a memory down.
Nothing ever can quite replace
The grace of London Town.

There's a little city flower,
Ever spring unveiling,
Growing in the crevices,
By some London railing.
Though it has a Latin name
In town and countryside,
We in England call it
London Pride.

London Pride has been handed down to us,
London Pride is a flower that's free.
London Pride means our own dear town to us,
And our pride it forever will be.
Hey, lady,
When the day is dawning,
See the policeman yawning
On his lonely beat.
Gay lady,
Mayfair in the morning,
Hear your footsteps echo 
In the empty street.

Early rain,
And the pavement's glistening,
All Park Lane 
In a shimmering gown.
Nothing ever could break or harm
The charm
Of London Town.

In our city, darkened now,
Street and square and crescent,
We can feel our living past
In our shadowed present.
Ghosts beside our starlit Thames
Who lived and loved and died
Keep throughout the ages
London Pride.

London Pride has been handed down to us,
London Pride is a flower that's free.
London Pride means our own dear town to us,
And our pride it forever will be.
Grey city,
Stubbornly implanted,
Taken so for granted
For a thousand years.
Stay, city,
Smokily enchanted,
Cradle of our memories,
Of our hopes and fears.

Every Blitz,
Your resistance toughening.
From the Ritz
To the Anchor and Crown,
Nothing ever could override
The pride
Of London Town.

                     Noel Coward                               

                              

Laburnum Tree 2015

For a couple weeks every year the Laburnum tree is in all its glory

The Laburnum Fairy 

Bees! bees! come to the trees

Where the Lime has hung her treasures;

Come, come, hover and hum;

Come and enjoy your pleasures!

The feast is ready, the guests are bidden;

Under the petals the honey is hidden;

Like pearls shine the drops of sweetness there,

And the scent of the Lime-flowers fills the air.

But soon the blossoms pretty and pale

Will all be gone; and the leaf-like sail

Will bear the little round fruits away;

So bees! bees! come while you may!

Cicely Mary Baker

Birthday and Spring Bouquet

It was my birthday yesterday.  Had lunch out with Alex, it was the only way he was going to get me to the new hardware shop that has just opened in town!  Boy I know how to live!  Out to lunch again today with my friend Janice and seeing "the fab beatles" on Friday, and Fish and Chips with David and Jane  on Saturday.  It was my our friend David's birthday last week.

Just the spring flowers in my garden

Amaryllis, chapter 5 - Week 12 - time to say goodbye..............

The blousey Amaryllis is no more, it has come to the end.  Time to say Goodbye.  The green leaves are growing tall.  Never had an Amaryllis that produced three stalks as this one did.

My mothers day lilies are fading

These few pink flowers are left from my mothers day Interflora hand tied bouquet.

The Sumac tree has been cut down.  The man who did this only came to clear the gutters..........  I asked him if he knew anyone who cut down trees and he said he did, and that was where he was going after he cleared our gutters.  He did stayed and did our tree too.

Amaryllis, chapter 2 - Week 9

Well as you see its still flowering.  

But this stalk only has three heads................ and the other stalk is doing well too.

More flowers, Morrison's white tulips 75p

two pots of mini daffodils 5p per pot!

Just lately I just cannot get motivated.  So many many ideas are spinning in my head, so I have been knitting!

I have quite a few balls of King Cole Splash yarn from when I used to work in a craft shop.  The yarn is lovely to work with and as you see I have taken some balls and separated the colours,

and knitted it up as fair isle.

The garden is coming on a treat

we've gone from this

this!

The plan is to perhaps plant roses and other flowering shrubs.  There was a lot of brambles and once we got to near the fence lots of dead wood.  Its a lane which once ran along the bottom of the garden, it was once probably a bier trail we think because beyond the oak tree always in the back-ground of the amaryllis is the graveyard.

Amaryllis - Week 7 - not had one doing that before..........

Sorry a day late!  Nothing odd in this photo you may think.  I had my suspicions for a few days, but hadn't mentioned it before.  Go to last post and click on the top picture and take a closer look can you see it?  I'll come back to the Amaryllis later.............  I like surprises don't you?

We had a mini-break with my dad at the end of last week.  We went to Tavistock on the wettest day of the week.  I couldn't resist photographing the beautiful weather-vane.

When we came back we restarted work in the garden on Saturday morning.  It was a lovely day on Saturday, even got washing dried on the line.  

We cleared the last bit

Most of it went into one bag.  We dodge the rain on Sunday to just clear up the last of dried twigs and brambles, now rain has stopped play again!

The first of the Primroses in bloom

and...............Sir Henry Robin keeping and eye on us.  He oftens sings while we work.

Back to the Amaryllis........... Can you see it...............?

YES!  We have a third flower!