I can always tell when it’s been a busy month in our garden just by the number of photos I’ve taken, and have to choose from when I start to write these monthly posts. And this year our garden came to life in April with tulips, dandelions and more bringing a very welcome burst of colour.
What with a short break in the New Forest quickly followed by a day at Grand Designs Live I am wallowing in photos and potential posts and seemingly more and more behind in the schedule I’ve set myself. But with the traditional April showers continuing into May then I’m using the latest down-pouring well at least.
The weather has been mixed, as you can see we’ve had sunny days too.
And the garden has burst into colour. The tulips and the berberis providing a burst of orange right on the patio.
The acer woke up, looking quite spindly and delicate at the start of the month - but bringing another shade of glorious colour visible from the house.
There’s been plenty of yellow too, with the small forsythia bush reaching its peak. Unfortunately the same can’t be said of the dandelions, of which we have plenty - I’ve a feeling that their peak is a way off yet. Our new task is to pick the dandelion clocks before the wind disperses the seeds, it’s a never ending job.
The amount of weeds in the garden seems more than before, and I stand by blaming them on the drought. The weeds are so much hardier and resilient, so when the grass was almost dust they thrived.
Thankfully though we have a lot more than just weeds, and the buds on the cherry tree are another sign of something more positive, and much more welcome.
In fact all of the trees we had cut as the hot spell started last summer, are all looking healthy and spurting into life - and much more so, than at the start of the month when these photos were taken. It’s reassuring, and while we always knew they’d be back, it’s still good to see them actually start growing again.
On one walk up the garden I saw that the tulips had just been getting on with growing, and doing that pretty well. So they were repositioned so that we could enjoy their colour from the house and when (hopefully) sitting on the patio.
What with them and the acer - see how it’s grown from the photo above - has been a blast of colour.
The tulips have been stalwarts in the wind we’ve had this month, but still managing to look great even when they’ve clearly been a bit battered. The wind has also brought a smattering of pink confetti from the camellia, which has flowered quite well this year, and not too much later than our neighbours - for a change.
One of our big achievements this month has been to rediscover the edges of our lawn, and free them from the weeds - including the forget-me-nots which grow and grow in this section of the garden. I never thought we’d have so many trugs of weeds, but I’m sure we filled a whole wheelie bin with them. Seriously.
The small apple tree, which is in a pot by the side of the shed, has put on plenty of new growth. I thought it might have been a casualty of a wet winter, but I was wrong. The bluebells too are finding ways through the paving and are filling the beds throughout the garden. They’re welcome to do as they will, though once the flowers have gone there’s a lot of greenery which can be quite wet and encourage slugs and snails, so I’ll be keeping my eye on them.
I was pleased to see that the two peonies which I potted up last year have thrived in their pots. They’ve also obliged me by growing through the circular supports, and there’s the promise of buds too. It’ll be a month or so before they flower, but these are definitely ones to watch.
You see what I mean about forget-me-nots in our garden, these ones are slightly more sneaky and have got themselves into this pot along with some lemon balm, which also seems to grow freely here. As these are trying to confine themselves, they’ll have a longer stay of execution, but I can’t promise how long they’ll last.
As well as bluebells we also have some pink and white bells - though I’m sure that’s not really their name - but they are just as beautiful as the blue ones, and they’re all very welcome.
And as ever, the tulips are having the last word - though it seems that it’s all been too much for this one, which I found flopped on top of the hellebore leaves. I guess, any port in a storm, hey?
