Come on Spring!

As we face a week of Siberian weather, I thought I'd take a few quick pictures of the pretty crocuses in my garden before they get covered with snow again!

These brave, delicate little flowers are some of the first to appear. I don't know how they do it! It was -3 degrees C in the garden this morning, yet with the first few rays of sunshine, they are blooming and lighting up the garden like mini torches. Just brilliant.

The tulips and daffodils are only half way up. They should be ok in the bitter weather we are expecting. I hope the Sweet Williams will survive too.

I put the Sweet Williams in the box to overwinter, ready for planting out when the weather warms up.

Millie popped her head outdoors this morning, for a little while.  She is an old lady now and doesn't like to be cold!

The magnificent peony

I bought this peony three years ago and this year is its first flowering. I take a long look at these pictures because with all the rain we've been having, they didn't last long. The flowers are magnificent, but the plant only flowers once in June, adding its beauty to that of the roses.

Once established they will come back year after year and blend beautifully with other cottage garden flowers.  This one is in a pot. They don't like being moved, but in order to get the best out of it, I wanted it close to the house. It graces the patio.

If you haven't tried growing peonies, I recommend you try. They require little maintenance, stand up to our bad winters and are relatively trouble free plants.

Happy Gardening

Runner Beans are climbing the poles

After a slow start and a fight to keep the slugs at bay, the beans are finally going up the poles. It won't be long before we get to eat these delicious vegetables.

Runner beans give a good return for the small space occupied and can be grown in any type of soil so long as they receive an adequate amount of water.

The beans should be sown at the end of May in drills 6 inches wide, each to take two staggered rows of seed, 6 inches apart.

You won't need to apply any heavy manure before sowing, but the soil would benefit from some sulphate of potash. Apply as shown on the container.

The beans need to be staked with poles, usually of bamboo, 6 ft. tall with a gap of 18 inches between them.

When the beans are cropped, you can look forward to many nutritious meals.

A creamy white rose

This beautiful white rose grows in a shady part of my garden. I've had it so long I've forgotten the name of it. If anyone recognises it, please advise. It has a yellowy tinge on opening, but later on it gains a blush as you will see from the last picture. The flowers are large and beautifully shaped.

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday.

It's rhubarb growing time.

We picked some lovely rhubarb today. All the rain we've been having has helped the stalks to thicken up. Remember the leaves are poisonous!

The plant looks a bit dessimated now but it will soon recover.

We like our rhubarb in a crumble with hot custard but there are other nice recipes too.  My mother-in-law gave me a tip years ago. To sweeten the rhubarb, add some honey or golden syrup. The syrupy texture makes it even more delicious. I like to cook mine with a sliced or chopped cooking apple. Rhubarb on its own can be a bit hard to digest!

Rhubarb is root propagated. The crowns can be bought for Spring planting. When you plant them, keep the crown just above the surface of the soil.  Plant the crowns in March, 2 1/2 ft. apart.

Ground that is to receive rhubarb roots should be very deeply dug and well manured, as after this preparatory work the roots will not be disturbed for several years. During wintertime you can add a top dressing of rotted vegetable matter. Remove any flower heads that appear.  In the first year don't pull; pull sparingly in the second season. In future years, rhubarb can be pulled until August.

Later on rhubarb roots will need to be divided. You can lift them in the Spring or in the Autumn. Cut them into small pieces with a sharp knife and replant. You must have a crown attached to each portion for the planting to be effective.

Happy Gardening!

A visit from Mr. Toad

We have a very large toad in the garden.  I think he lives under the shed because we don't see him/her all that often.  When we do see him, it is such a treat. He compliments our little pond and sits there quite happily all day, catching flies. Then he disappears into the shrubbery until another day.

Still no news on my new grandchild. My daughter-in-law was in hospital all day yesterday and she is still there this morning. I have my phone handy waiting for the call!

Happy Gardening

My English Garden in June 2016

Hello! This is a new blog and I welcome you to it. In here I will be blogging about my English Garden and related issues.  I am looking forward to seeing what other people are doing in their gardening blogs.

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The strawberries are ripe. I did have these in a strawberry pot, but during the bad weather in the winter, the pot fell to bits. I rescued what was left and popped the plant into this old terracotta pot.

We ate the strawberries for tea yesterday and they were very delicious.

This old pink rose bush has been flowering each year since 1985. It is so old I've forgotten what it is called.

A couple of years ago I planted a climbing red rose. This is the third year and there are lots of blooms to see.

The yellow climber is always full of blooms. I have sprayed it with Rose Clear to make sure it doesn't get infested with aphids and so far I have no problems.

A couple of years ago I had lots of blue Nigella (Love in a Mist). Then I noticed that one of the flowers was white instead of blue. I kept the seeds and planted them in the Autumn. This gives the plants time to mature and the result is more flowers. This year I have more white ones than blue ones and they look so pretty.

In amongst the Nigella is a pink rose bush. You can just see it peeking out.

Happy Gardening!