Signs Of Life..

[GNB]

A damp morning, with the mist rolling in with a cool Easterly breeze. The cool weather allows the blossom to hang on longer to give you stunning effects in the early morning light. The plants look very attractive in the early damp conditions.

How's the time to get out and start planting .

 

[GNB]

Dull skies and a cold wind inhibit outdoor activities,

A mass of wild primroses brighten up this corner of the garden and the miniature tulips, aptly are staying firmly closed, and more attractive, in the absence of sunlight. The absence of late frost (so far!) has allowed the apple trees to put on a magnificent show, looks like it could be a bumper crop.

Spring just keeps rolling along - despite the thick gloves, warm hat and padded jacket .

 

[dunnyrail]

I was away in Somerset for 2 just over weeks, returning on Monday and the Garden had gone potty in my absence.

Above the Wild Garlic appears to be doing well in my Herb Spiral, this is one of the shady parts. Almost past its best now, but still edible. I was surprised to get a Flower and Stalk on a meal in Watchet over my break. Ate it and was surprised how good it tasted. Will not be eating mine as I want the seeds to take in the small plot.

The above nonedescript rising appears to the super bloom below after a few days.

Not sure what has happened to this image below? Ok on the preview.

Below the Bog Garden Plants in fool bloom with some of the Pond Plants doing their thing as well.

Below the Rockery plants looking good as well.

Below the Large Lilly of the Valley in full bloom.

Below Aquilegias also at it. The leaves grow over the continuous run, but as it is rarely used I just let em get on with it.

Below some lovely Yellow Poppies that delight every Year. I am going to do some more Brickwork near here, but must remember to leave this small corner out of the work.

Below my climber in a pot gets in on the act as well, this one apparently is much treasure by Mice!

Finally a little weed in full bloom. I first encountered thie little beuty in the Gents at Goathland Station on the North Yorks Moors Railway back in the 70's. The small cutting I took failed to do anything and I had similar failures over the years. However in the late 90's when dropping off my then Dog Sheeba to my x wife to look after for me I spotted some in a pot. She moaned (she used to do that a lot) about it being a pesky weed so I bagged the pot on my return. Now it thrives, I just left the pot near some brickwork and it took and still does to his day. Been spread to 3 Gardens now. But it thrives better by being pruned quite hard as it can get a little leggy if left unatended for too long. Flowers are around 10mm leaves vary from 5-20mm so a rather nice weed to have if you can get it.

JonD

 

[penylanpip]

I do so enjoy my tour around your lovely plants.

My garden consists of a narrow border containing a small Jasmine - and a rotary line...

 

[GNB]

I was away in Somerset for 2 just over weeks, returning on Monday and the Garden had gone potty in my absence......
JonD

Dunnyrail, your Spring is much farther on. Our aliums are well up but not yet out, our early Cambrian poppies are only just starting whereas yours are forming seedheads. The Northern aquilegias are nearly there - we too let them seed around and just take out the one that stray too far forward.The Solomon's seal (hiding behind your floriferous Lily of the Valley) is very well on and the white Clematus is fair blossoming!

Your attractive, and delicate "little weed" is Cymbalaria muralis, (aka ivy-leaved toadflax) and grows well on South facing walls here in the coastal fishing villages in the NE, a little grows in the chippings on the South facing edge of our drive but is a little vulnerable to heavy foot traffic. I think they are a related to snapdragons, look closely at the flowers. Lineria are the related brash colourful cultivars.

 

[GNB]

I do so enjoy my tour around your lovely plants.

My garden consists of a narrow border containing a small Jasmine - and a rotary line...

Penyanpip, you're right Dunnyrail's garden is looking particularly fine at this time of the year. I sometimes wish we could live in the sunny South where everything grows much better.

 

[GNB]

Hope you are delighted by this visiting young rabbit....



.....who appears to be trying to get a better view of its supper!


Enjoy!

 

[dunnyrail]

Dunnyrail, your Spring is much farther on. Our aliums are well up but not yet out, our early Cambrian poppies are only just starting whereas yours are forming seedheads. The Northern aquilegias are nearly there - we too let them seed around and just take out the one that stray too far forward.The Solomon's seal (hiding behind your floriferous Lily of the Valley) is very well on and the white Clematus is fair blossoming!

Your attractive, and delicate "little weed" is Cymbalaria muralis, (aka ivy-leaved toadflax) and grows well on South facing walls here in the coastal fishing villages in the NE, a little grows in the chippings on the South facing edge of our drive but is a little vulnerable to heavy foot traffic. I think they are a related to snapdragons, look closely at the flowers. Lineria are the related brash colourful cultivars.

Many thanks for the Botanical ID's. So nice that your head Gardener keeps your line so good with superb displays and can find the time to review others plants and ID them for us. All I need to do now is record those aiD's on a apic of my plants. Perhaps get a small book with them in, the former owner of my house left me a planting plan withh all the names on, but so much has been changed and mived around that it will be well out on locations now. Except perhaps around the pond where the Big Plants are.

When ai was in Somerset last week I noticed how far forward some of the plants were compared to me in Cambs. Just shows what a few 10's of miles North can change things.
JonD

 

[GNB]

Happy to oblige, I usually do the reviews and the Head Gardener,who has a much better eye for taxonomy, can identify most things at a glance. Fifty years as acting temporary under-gardener has only revealed how much I don't know .

 

[Madman]

They are some amazing photos, GN. By the way, I count 11 frogs.

 

[dunnyrail]

Today as I was walking Barney down the riverside I heard a Cuckoo doing its well ..... Cuckoo sounds. Another sign of life, I think that they are getting a bit on the rare side so was good to hear it. But not soo good for the small bird whos nest it chooses to lay in. Sadly no sign of it so no picture.
JonD

 

[GNB]

They are some amazing photos, GN. By the way, I count 11 frogs.

Sorry but some folks don't seem to like the idea that my content doesn't seem to match their expectations of what they think should be on a garden rail thread, must admit I've be forced to agree with them and they will be pleased to see that I have removed most of the offending content. .

 

[GNB]

On dull and damp days you can always find something to cheer you up in the garden.

 

[GNB]

Today as I was walking Barney down the riverside I heard a Cuckoo doing its well ..... Cuckoo sounds. Another sign of life, I think that they are getting a bit on the rare side so was good to hear it. But not soo good for the small bird whos nest it chooses to lay in. Sadly no sign of it so no picture.
JonD

Miss our old dog, an old indefatigable, go anywhere, terrier. Cuckoos are certainly a sign of life and were always taken as harbingers of Spring. Remember the rival missives in the pen & ink newspaper letter columns, with reference to the earliest occurrence of the cuckoos call?

Certainly they seem be less common in the Northern hills. Ranks with the call of the curlew as one of those evocative sounds that can drag you back years in an instant. I suppose by their nature cuckoos tend to be very secretive birds and hence difficult to spot. Mobbing by other birds often call your attention to there exact location, since there echoing calls makes it difficult to pinpoint by using your ears.

A few years back we were lucky enough to be entertained by no less than four cuckoos whilst out walking in Glen Lethnot (Angus). It was a single female being courted by three males and up close it was interesting to hear the wide range of additional quieter mating calls other than that of their onomatopoeic name. A larger bird than you think and looks a little like a cross between a wood pigeon and a goshawk.

As you say difficult to photograph but sometimes it's just best to stand and stare and simply enjoy the moment.

The smaller birds are in full swing with fledglings of every description, queuing up to be fed by their exhausted parents. It's an exciting time of the year.

 

[trammayo]

We have two or three in the vicinity - but I know one regular is missing! He used to stutter his call - so distinctive and prolonged. Probably dropped off his perch - but he will be missed. Only a couple of swallows too in the hay shed (but I know that's down to our cat's hunting last year!).

 

[Madman]

Sometimes you catch an image that is just right, most of the time it's a bit frustrating. My camera, like me, is getting a bit old and past it. The good news is you can always get a new camera. Hope you keep enjoying the images.

You're a bit short on the frog front. Remember some are double stacked!

Hmm. Now I see twelve. I only see one couple doing the horizontal Mambo. Am I getting warm ?

 

[GNB]

Hmm. Now I see twelve. I only see one couple doing the horizontal Mambo. Am I getting warm ?

Not as warm as the frogs .

 

[GNB]

You can brighten up the areas around you're railway with alpines. You can always find something to hit the right spot.
Unfortunately this is not it.

Weather has degenerated and I've retreated indoors with hot drink and blanket .

 

[GNB]

A little sunshine from the far North.



This noisy white tailed bumble was really enjoying the pollen run on the flush of Welsh poppies.

Suns up and the coos are out, it's nearly Summer!

 

[dunnyrail]

I just love this little thread, all the little bits of nature that it encourages makes it feel good to be alive.

Last night I attended the AGM of our major Park in St.Neots and it pleases me to see that it will be bidding for Green Flag Status, barely a 5 minute walk from where I live. In fact the Park that Barney gets his 2 square walks a day in.

The first image is from that park and sets the start of a little theme of life making it through. This Oak has been in this state since I moved to St.Neots around 4.5 yeats ago now. The rest of it is so badly rotted that in the recent dry weather some youths set fire to it catching the attentions of the local Fire Brigade. But just look, leaves are starting to appear again and some Fungus can just be made out on the left.

The small conifers were planted in my most recent Rockery last Summer and these two have not fared too well. But as you see lots of dead conifers in the Harz Mountains I decided to let them stay. Now look green shoots on one of them. Amazing.

That ends my little theme and we now move onto my largest Bonzai.,this was one of the Shrubs in my old Garden at Hemel. However it was in the way of the proposed Railway so it was dug out and potted up. I have ever since Bonzaied it this way cutting all the new growth out of the trunk and concentrating the leaves on a selected few branch ends.

This year it has created Fruit from the insignificant small yellowish flowers, the remains of which can just be seen at the end of the fruit.

Many plants in the Garden just now are the type that come up wrapped in a packet and emerge Alien Like from John Hurts Stomach into new life. Though in these instances a beutiful flower rather than an angry Alien. The one below emerges into the multipled flower in the image after. I displayed this one last year and am gratified to see it return this year.


Chives in my Herb Spiral are now in full flower, I expect for long term harvesting of the chives I should have been using them to stop the flowering. But I rather think that they are a pretty little flower and the colour matches the bulb on the left shown previously rather well.

This little white one surprised me last year by appearing for the first time, sadly flattened somewhat by yeaterdays rain it still looks good with the purple of the other plant just starting to flower. The little white ones have been popping up in other places as well so I must be doing something right for them.

Another plant about to just explode into bloom. These yellow ones will flower for a month or two.

A couple of plants in the Rockery, close up the deep red is just starting to come out from buds on the right. Middle some white flower is taking over from the die back of last years flowers.

The residents of Glaseburg must be overjoyed to look at these Flowers in the long wait for the next train. A shrub that pops out both in front of, above and behind the baseboard. Life does indeed find a way in some of the most inhospitable places as here in the dry below a wooden baseboard.

Another one of my favourite ball type bulbs, only just now emerging next to the yellow poppies shown recently.

Last but not least my mini potted Azailia in fill bloom. This little beuty has been in this pot for around 16 years and never fails to please each year. Semi Bonzaid it gets a modest feed of liquid fertilizer a couple of times a year.

JonD