Frogs and Spawn

Here's our frogspawn and here's our resident frog!!  Can anyone actually tell the difference between frog and toad spawn?

Dead Frog and Frogspawn?

A fine warm day and time to finish tidying the pond.  Last week, Chris donned on waders, scooped out the rubbish from the bottom and we left it on the side for any newts etc to creep back into the water.  This week, it was cleaning out the filtration system and the pump as well as remove silt from the lights.  Rather than wading in (which would have stirred everything up again) Chris decided to do the ladder and plank trick and keep his feet dry!  In the meantime, I washed out all the bits inside the filter and then Chris washed out all the pipes to and from the filter, pond and culvert. I rescued as many pebbles as I could and dragged them back up the beach.  The trouble is; they all slide into the water when anyone walks on them! Having put everything back together again, we left things to settle before switching on the pump and went off to plant the remaining plants which had been laid in the veg patch and then Chris dug the whole lot and then raked it all level.  

It was when we returned to the pond to ensure the water was circulating reliably, that I spotted a real first. Frogspawn!!  Never before have we had frogspawn in the pond.  The strange coincidence was that Chris had found a dried frog corpse on lawn earlier - weird.  Let's hope we have loads of tadpoles and that the fish don't eat them all!!  Fingers crossed.

Easy & Effortless Elephants' Ears.

Bergenias

We have moved a couple of shrubs which we felt were just a little too close to our favourite Wedding Cake Tree (Cornus Controversa Variegata).  It's looking so pretty, it just has to have pride of place!  At only 4' tall, I can hardly wait for it to put on more height.  The base of it can just about be discerned in the background - it is still a baby after all!  Despite it looking a tad lopsided in the photo, in reality it's perfectly upright.  The Elephants' Ears (Bergenias) nearby are rather more prominent and are flowering quite prolifically.  These plants are both easy and effortless!  They flower reliably and increase without taking over and seem happy with just the odd tidy up.  What more could you ask from a plant?

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The Garden!

Well!  It's not very often that I have a rant!

Nature can be so cruel

Before...

...and after!

The Prunus blossom outside really suffered at the hands of a vicious hail storm which, although only 15 minutes or so in duration, it slashed down and, any flowers that the wind failed to blow off, the hailstones cut through like millions of tiny daggers!  Typical!  We wait all winter for spring blossom to appear and nature steps in and snatches it all away at the height of its glory!

Knee Cure

Meanwhile - with the Under Gardener convalescing and his knee elevated in the conservatory, he has been enjoying the intoxicating fragrance of a Jasmine (Jasminum Officinale)   As usual, this plant spent the entire winter in a frost free greenhouse with its compost left very dry.  It was pruned back hard after flowering last spring and this is the result.  The entire room is filled with perfume and it's better than all the plug-ins in the world and - enough to make anyone feel better!!

Male Humour!

Whilst gallivanting around California, my son (known more for his humour than any horticultural interest) sent me this!  Well..............

.............. it is officially spring!

Things on the move.....again!

Mr. Robin in full voice!

Having done the pond, we then moved to all the Michaelmas daisies (Asters) and Golden Rod (Solidago) which all needed dividing up and moving.  I had this idea that an avenue of Michaelmas daisies either side of the path to Kay's arbour might look rather nice. These are a good (but unknown) variety with a good strong colour which never flop or succumb to the dreaded rust. Chris thought so too but pointed out that an Acer Shirasawanum was in the wrong place.  He was, of course right.  

Moving the Shirasawanum

It was there when we put in the path and was just too close.  I had been sneakily pruning branches that encroached too far across the path or in front of the arbour in the belief that it couldn't be moved as its roots would have grown underneath the path itself and, in any case, was just too big.  Chris however had other ideas and started digging, and digging, and digging and...... digging!  Eventually he freed the root ball which was big and, with wet soil, weighed an absolute ton!  It now sits on the opposing side and a sensible distance from the path and the arbour.  When moving the Golden Rod, we found that it had been invaded by bindweed in a BIG way.  Rather than risk further contamination of such an invasive and pernicious weed, we ditched the lot for burning.  With all the digging and removals going on, the path got very muddy and will need a better clean up and additional gravel adding at some point.  Throughout all this activity, we were joined by a robin who sat just a few feet away in the Wild Service Tree (Sorbus Torminalis) singing at the top of his voice!  Maybe I should just add that all this work was planned for the autumn but the world's wettest weather postponed such plans!

(Muddy) Michaelmas Daisy Avenue!

Major Pond Tidying

The weather had turned freezing cold and vicious squalls kept sweeping in followed by bouts of chilly sunshine - not an usual Saturday for us.  It seemed like that to Chris too as we read through the jobs list..........that was, until I presented him with a pair of rather fetching waders - in his size!  After some discussion, finding a pair of extra large blue marigolds and much fiddling with the straps, Chris advanced towards the pond with net in hand.  Now our pond is quite small but at 6'4" Chris makes it look like more like a small puddle!  In reality and if I was brave enough to test its waters, the deepest area would be chest height.  That said, he set to work in the icy water scooping out 5 years accumulation of dead leaves from the bottom of the pond.  I had assumed that there would be huge mountains of stagnant, stinky debris ponging quietly away on the the waters' edge but, in truth, there was not very much at all.  We do have some rud and another type of 'bottom' feeding fish (golden perch, I think) so, maybe they are responsible for such little accumulation.  In the meantime, I tip toed around the edges dragging out excess watercress which we didn't want invading the King cups just as they are about to flower and gave it to the chickens to eat.  The sludgy debris was left on the side so that any creatures (we know we have newts and dragon fly larvae) could creep back to their watery homes.  This will be cleared away next week when, hopefully we shall tidy the pond edges and border.

More Blossom - More Perfume

Daphne Mezereum

At last!  The Daphne is coming into flower and the scent is amazingly intoxicating!  I can't wait for the rest of the shrub to bloom.  Strange to know that a plant that produces such beauty and perfume is so poisonous.  I have a smaller Daphne which is actually a self set - how lucky is that?  Adding to this heady melange of perfumes wafting around the garden at present are the numerous hyacinths now in in flower and the 3 Lonicera Fragrantissima's which started to open their flower buds in early February continue to wow the olfactories with their contributions! Anosmia must be a terrible affliction for a gardener especially at this time of year! 

The ornamental cherries are coming into flower and whilst not particularly scented, they are full of even more very busy bees!  Can anyone out there put a name to this particular Japanese white ornamental cherry?  It's actually a miniature variety of Prunus and it would be interesting to know its name.

Unknown Japanese ornamental cherry

Hyacinth

Suspicious numbers of Tete-a-tetes!

There's practically nothing that Chris won't tackle head on!  No project is too big and nothing ever daunts him.  BUT if there's one job in the world that Chris really hates doing, it's planting bulbs! His second most hated job?  Planting lots of bulbs!!  With one single exception, he doesn't even like bulbs!  Why?  Because they look pretty for 5 minutes and then the dead flowers and dying leaves look awful for weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks!  If the bulb is to survive, the dying leaves must be left to feed the bulb for next year's flowers.  Well, he's got a point.  His one exception is the Tete-a-tete variety and, the funny thing is, there are more of this variety evident at Pear Tree Cottage than ever before!  They've appeared in pots and tubs and urns - there are some in the Woodland Border and even some around the Acer along the Fernery Path.  Am I suspicious?

Spring Curves

With our Under Gardener out of action and yet another warm spring day, it was out with the mower to enjoy the first real cut of the year.  With my little Honda, it did take rather longer to mow the lower lawn (which is usually done by Himself!) and the orchard!  Maybe next time I should use the Under Gardener's mower which, although heavier, has a wider cut. Anyway, after a quick rush round with the edging shears, suddenly everything looked much tidier.  There's something about the scent of newly mown grass at this time of year!  Maybe it's special because it combines with the scent of blossom and spring flowers.  I gave the girls a box of grass clipping to scratch around in and 2 minutes later they had spread it to the furthest corners of their Bamboo garden!  Incidentally, Marigold has been spotted perched on the roof of their shelter in order to reach the bamboo leaves.  Hens do enjoy a bit of greenery!  Anyway....back to mowing!

There is a HUGE amount of moss after the world's wettest winter and although it's very bad for grass, it is delightfully springy to walk on so, instead of mowing in a circular pattern around the well, as has been the habit of Himself, I decided to go for springy curves!  So far no complaints!  Whilst it's looking neat and tidy and very springlike; I'm trying not to worry about the back log of all the other jobs!

More spring weather

With our Under Gardener having been on the other end of a scalpel and a sore knee to prove it, Senior Head Gardener and Chief Gardener have been on overtime in this recent spell of warm and sunny weather.  So many autumn/winter jobs couldn't be completed as it was just too wet and now we have a backlog!  We had hoped that most of the moving of perennials and shrubs would have been done ages ago and now it's a rush to do everything.  A good start was made yesterday and the geraniums which spent a year as underplanting for the roses have all been moved to either side of the Lion Steps.  They were nothing but a nuisance and either flopped on to the lawn or competed with the roses.  It was a mistake to put them there and, in their new home, they can do their own thing without being a pain! Chris cut the Beech hedge behind the roses and, after forking the border we underplanted with Golden Marjoram as Chris did in the rose border by the trellis.  A new border was also prepared and a shrub rose moved into it.  The top lawn was mowed and edged and is looking pretty tidy - and a lot less soggy than of late!  Other bits and pieces were replanted in new places including a couple of shrubs which were too close to the Wedding Cake tree (Cornus Contraversa variegata) which has really put on some growth and has to take priority!

Bees in the trees!

Considering it's still pretty early in the year, I'm really surprised by all the insect activity. Butterflies and bumble bees have all been out in the sunshine. Most surprisingly and, despite all one hears about the falling numbers in bees, was to look up and see almost swarm proportions in this Prunus.  Their sound could be heard yards away and working underneath has been quite amazing.  I'm pretty sure they are all wild bees as it's too early for hives in the apple orchards.  I only wish I could have photographed some of them - alas they didn't oblige as they were far too busy!  

 

Tedious!

Probably the world's most tedious job, but after all the rain and with the ground so compacted, Head Gardener has been aerating the lawn with a garden fork in the worst affected areas.  I know I should be brushing in some sharp sand next but at least I've made a start.  It takes so long to do a relatively small area, I was glad to have a break and cut back all the dead Scented Nemesia in the blue pots beneath the dining room windows.  It's not only very much alive but has a wealth of healthy green shoots.  This is a particularly highly fragrant variety and on a summer's day, the scent of lilac (it smells exactly the same!) wafts around the garden, into the house and across the terrace. 

The advantage of a mild winter is that so much has survived including some standard Fuchsias which I didn't bother to drag into the greenhouse.  I did get Chris to lift out a Strelitzia which has a couple of flower buds and also a tatty looking Jasmine but covered in flowers so both are now in the conservatory as opposed to being left in the greenhouse where they would have been too far away to enjoy.

STOP PRESS:  I got the sharp sand and finished the job...................now I definitely need a drink!

DSM Strikes Again!

This time he put his talents to work illuminating the kiosk and another brilliant job done!! He certainly picked a lovely spring day to do it!  Now we need to sort out the other bits and pieces!

Yew'll be surprised how useful..............

This Saturday, Chris appeared with presents of beautiful Yew and Cedar.  He is spoiling us lately!! So, rather than do any jobs on the garden list we decided to get to work - wood work!  He squared off and trimmed the Yew into lengths and stood them all on the terrace where they will be used for lanterns, candles, plant pots, drinks(!) or even seats!  1001 uses! Chris reckons it's well over 100 years old.  One thing is certain, it will never blow over as it's incredibly dense and heavy.

He also made what is probably; the only 2 legged table in the world!  It'll will be (and is already) so very useful as when we go down to the chickens, there's always so much to carry and no where to out anything down........that is, until now!!

Even the dragon posts were replaced with Cedar.  The old ones had rotted and were being held up by ivy.

New dragon posts

Kiosk Addition

Thanks to Tony at Unicorn Kiosks; look what we have in the kiosk now!! His original frame is far too nice for a collage of restoration photos so, I have another (less authentic) frame for that and, having found and printed out some old GWR railway travel posters, have put those in his AMAZING frame!! Due to the reflections, the photo doesn't do it justice but, very many thanks again Tony!

Stihl Life!

Chris called in with 2 mighty oak planks!  They are tremendously heavy and I couldn't lift one. Amazing! Now that is a present and a half!  He took this photos with his largest (Stihl!) chainsaw for scale - having just used it to plank them up.  

I'm sure we can use them somewhere in the garden - maybe in Rob's Retreat when we start building it. In the meantime, they have been stored in the barn until we come up with an idea.  before you think 'bench or seat', the one thing this garden is not short of is garden seating!  (Oh, and credit for the witty title of his shot has to go to Al!)

Dogwoods get their annual haircut

Before...

...& after.

Having missed out on the usual full on Saturday, I made up for it by being out before breakfast and pruning all the dogwoods (Cornus Sanguinea) this morning.  I was loudly serenaded by our resident thrush and closely accompanied by a robin!  Not only do the Dogwoods all look very tidy but I have now ensured plenty of stem colour for next season as only the young stems take on the bright colours.  The really big bonus is now I have plenty of stems with which to make plant supports for the borders.  The Midwinter Fire's are just too twiggy for weaving but the more common varieties are perfect and I must say that I really do prefer natural looking plant supports - even if some do look a bit rustic and wobbly. Less than perfect homemade supports look so much nicer than the dreaded plastic coated metal or even bamboo canes. All I need now is more time to make them all! 

Plant support material

Strange goings on..........

This Saturday, and unusually for me, I was a bit later than usual getting out and into the garden. Whilst I was otherwise engaged baking a batch of bread, making a vat of soup and also copying some vintage posters for the kiosk and rushing to finish; the men decided on the first priority before I could get out there.  A sunny day and I wasn't in the garden, Chris asked if I was feeling ill!  Their priority didn't look exactly horticultural.  There was much activity on the drive and various comings and goings.  Holes appeared and loads of hard core arrived. Spoil was taken away and then..................all evidence disappeared!! Was Chris burying something/somebody??  It all looked a tad suspicious until I discovered that the clay that had been oozing up from beneath & through the gravel had all disappeared!  The problem had been the site of some big Hawthorn roots and stumps and too much rain forcing up the soft clay to the surface.  Chris dug it all out, replaced it with hardcore levelling the area and raking back the gravel.  Oh well - no more muddy feet when getting out of the car!

There it was - gone!

Bovine Garden Invaders!

A small herd of cows has appeared in the Aspen Grove hiding amongst the Dogwoods!  All courtesy of Chris - needless to say!  We already had one: Clarissa, who lives in the Lower Border.  Now we have 5 more!  They have been re-homed having been dropped off with intentions of logging them up for firewood!  The very thought!!  I insisted they be rescued and repaired to live out the rest of their days peacefully under the shade of the Aspens!