Here is this month’s “Bouquet” post. The first photo says it all!
There are in fact two flowers visible – both yellow. Our Cornus mas is still in bloom and the flower buds of daffodils are spearing their way through their white duvet.
Let’s hope our April Bouquet is a bit more impressive!
Enough of this cold, wet, miserable weather! Let’s transport ourselves back to warmer times and brighter days in the wonderful Vale of York.
Breezy Knees. What a great name for a nursery! We came across it in an article written by Roy Lancaster for the RHS members’ magazine, “The Garden” and he highly recommended it. So when travelling around the Vale of York and finding ourselves close to it we just had to go and have a peruse. It also has a garden to wander around attached to it, which highlighted many of the unusual herbaceous perennials it sold.
How about this for a bench?
The nursery is less than ten years old and created on open farmland, very open hence its quirky name. We arrived at the end of a period of rain and the day before had seen the nursery’s show gardens closed as much of it was flooded. From the nursery to the gardens entails a ten minute walk between fields and we soon discovered the relevance of its name.
The garden is a collection of small garden rooms displaying different types of garden styles and conditions, from an annual meadow to a rose garden and from raised beds to double borders. The most unusual is the “Rogues Gallery” where garden thugs live together and warn us of their behaviour.
We began our exploration of Breezy Knees with a wander along an enticing path cut through the Spring Meadow, and then moved on through the show gardens discovering some beautiful plants along the way.
If you are up that way, make sure you drop in to Breezy Knees. It will be worth it.
A sense of humour always adds an extra element to any garden. Breezy Knees certainly had plenty to offer. As well as their long bench we were delighted to come across this pair of wonder wellies! Jude the Undergardener looks as if she is checking to see if they are her size!
A speaker at one of Shropshire Hardy Plant Society meetings showed photographs of a feature in his own garden that was completely new to us. A crocus lawn. We were so impressed that we immediately ordered 500 bulbs.
It was a slow job planting each one individually. We wanted it to look natural so we scattered the bulbs from a height and planted them where they landed, resisting the temptation to move individuals that were clumped too closely or to fill gaps.
In mid-March things were beginning to get tense as the crocus flowers were patiently waiting for some sunshine to force the buds open. They just stood bolt upright among the grass of the lawn their colours hinting at what we hoped to be enjoying soon.
Close up we could see the beauty of the individual flowers. We just needed a day of sunshine and a bit of warmth for them to open their hearts to us. Fingers crossed firmly!
We didn’t have to wait too long! A day dawned with blue sky above and the sun glowing. In the earlier hours of the day the morning sun glowed but gave heat out that was too weak to reach us as warmth. As the afternoon arrived though, the temperatures rose to the giddy heights of 6 degrees Celsius for a few hours but it was enough to warm our backs and excite the crocus buds into opening. At last we got the opportunity to see if our crocus lawn project was worthwhile.
Ah sweet success! How satisfying!
We have a bag of crocus “in the green” waiting to be added too. We can use them to fill in obvious gaps – next year should then be even better!
I can’t resist putting together portraits of a couple of the crocus in bud and in flower.
Firstly the purple bloom with its orange peel centre …..
….. and then the striped purple and white barley twist blossom.
I wonder – should we call it our “Crocus Lawn” or our “Crocus Meadow”? Any thoughts?
On the morning when I was going to post this crocus lawn post, we woke to another few inches of snow, all very unexpected and not forecast. The white covering gave the crocus lawn a whole new look. The crocus flowers were given a new backdrop against which to perform.
Surprisingly once the snow melted and the sun put on a short show the flowers popped back up and glowed once more as if nothing happened. Amazing!
We have been getting signs that Spring may be on its way. Buds of Hawthorn and Elder have started to split open to allow the brightest of green leaves to squeeze their way out. Yesterday frogs left us a gift in the wildlife pond – a big pile of spawn. Seeing the first spawn this late in the year is unusual as we normally find some in mid-February.
Last night the temperature dropped to minus 6! The spawn was frozen into the icy surface of the pond and fluffy snow flakes littered the surface.
The Hellebores that we have been enjoying so much over the last few weeks drooped losing all their structure. Stems bent over and lowered the flowers to the frozen ground. We know they will burst back when temperatures again rise above freezing and perhaps assisted by a little sunshine.
Happily a few plants in the garden have responded more positively to the fall in temperature. The foliage of Hebe “Red Edge” is always colourful but in this spell of renewed cold it has taken on richer tints.
Liquidamber has to be one of the best trees for the small garden in autumn and winter.
It develops the usual colours associated with autumn but holds onto its leaves and the colours get more and more intense as the season progresses.
So for this post I shall regularly take pics of our Liquidamber to illustrate how they change.
The first three photos were taken in October, at which time greens were still bright and frequent amongst the yellows and oranges.
Early in December the colours are richer and not much evidence of green remains.
In mid-December a rim of frost decorated each leaf, emphasising their palmate shape and adding depth to the tints of fire.
By January the leaves are beginning to look dry with browns becoming the commonest colours.
Now in mid-March I would normally be able to enjoy the deepest of red leaves it is possible to imagine and they would be clinging onto their stems until new season leaves force them to release their grip and drop to the ground.
This year this eagerly anticipated redness has failed to appear and the remaining leaves are just crisp and dull brown. Half have already fallen and the others look as if they will soon give up their grip.
Once spring arrives and instigates budburst I shall start taking photos of our Liquidamber once again and follow the progress of its leaves throughout the year.
Earlier in the winter I posted a blog about the value of coloured stems in our garden. We have lots more up in the community gardens on our allotment site, Bowbrook Allotment Community. Now we have a little sunshine brightening our days I thought it would be interesting to see the colours in Cornus (Dogwoods) and Salix (Willows) that we have accumulated in our 4 year development.
First though a look into my sketchpad.
We put together a collection of stems of all the different Cornus and Salix that we grow in the communal gardens and photographed them on a rare sunny day.
First the Dogwoods ….
….and then the Willows.
A mid-February walk around our lottie site on a dull grey day was much improved by the colour of the earliest bulbs. Each autumn we invite donations of bulbs from members and now we are seeing and appreciating the results of our members’ efforts.
We grow lots of these early bulbs as they provide very early pollen for any bees that come out on mild days. We need to look after our bee friends as they help pollinate our fruit, peas and beans and many more crops.
The gold of crocuses (or should that be croci or perhaps simply just crocus?) brightens the orchard meadow.
Snowdrops and Winter Aconites go together like chalk and cheese. Together they light up the Winter Garden.
Even in the Summer Garden spring bulbs have a place. These beautiful blue iris cheer everyone up as they pass by.
The tiniest and most delicate flowers of February are those of the cyclamen which mingle with the bark and fallen leaves in the Sensory Garden. The leaves have fallen from the nearby old Oak tree.
Accidental juxtaposition of plants often give the best combinations. These crocus surprised us when they chose to flower above the bronze leaves of a Saxifraga.
We now eagerly await the masses of Daffodils planted around the site and on the grass verges outside our gates. They will be closely followed by the Tulips in their myriad colours.
In this post in my series featuring looking back at gardens visited in 2012, I will share photographs of an autumn visit to the wonderful Trentham, one of our favourite places to visit.
We took friends Jean and Tony with their granddaughter Lucy to share our enjoyment of this latest of our regular visits to these wonderful gardens designed by favourites, Piet Oudolf and Tom Stuart-Smith.
Perhaps this sign in the first photo is inviting us to get lost in wonder.
The garden is still full of colourful flowers in October. Each flower colour is enhanced by the gentle neutral shades of the grasses.
Lucy needs regular re-fuelling! She also needs time to play and enjoy an occasional sit down.
Through windows and doors. 
Trentham once again provided us a real treat. We’ll be back again soon.
Nothing seems to have changed much in the garden since my “Bouquet for January” post. The ever-changing weather, moving from cold to very cold and back again appears to have stagnated growth. The first daffies have just opened and crocus in various colours are appearing around the borders.
There is a much wider range of Hellebores to enjoy though. I love having to bend down and lift their heads to find the secrets of their hidden beauty. Enjoy my Hellebore gallery.
The Prunus subhirtela autumnalis flowers have been browned by the weather and we have cut down many of the grasses and perennial seed heads. Now the garden is looking empty but as a result of our tidying up we can appreciate the importance and impact that foliage plays in the February garden. Grasses and Phormium join with shrubs such as Pittosporum to give interesting colours and leaf patterns.
One of my favourite garden plants is the simple and much-maligned Bergenia. At this time of year the leaves take on deep shades of green, red and purple and the first of their flowers start showing colour before being lifted up on strong stems later on.
Let us finish February off by wishing for signs of spring. Some sunshine perhaps? Blue sky? Just a few degrees more?
This is the third in the series of posts looking back at garden visits we enjoyed last summer and autumn. Here we shall remember our autumn visit to the grounds of Croft Castle in South Shropshire.
Croft Castle is a favourite National Trust property. We often visit to enjoy a walk around the gardens and take tea in the teashop. On this autumn day we only had a short time but still managed to do both!
Croft is famous for its ancient avenue of Sweet Chestnut trees which are now sadly coming to the end of their lives. Their gnarled, pitted bark shows their great age and makes you imagine just what they would have seen going on under their boughs and all around them over the centuries. If only they could tell.
Autumn was descending on the walled gardens. 
A Vegetarian | Nature Lifestyle Blog
.....and nurturing my soul
Journeys In St. Louis Gardening and Beyond
Consult the genius of the place
A blog full of humorous and poignant observations.
Notes from a wildlife-friendly cottage garden
...an emerging social science
'The most important and informative publication on wildlife of our times' - The Independent. This blog is a member of The UK & Ireland Natural History Bloggers group: www.uknhb.blogspot.com
Inspire - Cultivate - Grow Native Plants - Restore Landscapes
To create and protect a semi-natural wild space for the people of Farnham to enjoy and experience an array of British wildlife in our town
The www.gardeningwithchildren.co.uk Blog
birding through the seasons, why birds matter and how to conserve them
with a camera in hand
Transform your outdoor space
My allotment, cooking and other interests
my gardening life through the year
Trying to live a creative life
trying to live as lightly as possible on our beautiful planet
Nature lovers from Leicester living the good life.
Finding the beautiful in the everyday
Michelle's Allotment
thoughts from and about my garden
Big plans for a small garden
A Walled Country Garden in South East Scotland
Life at the fruity chicken
Off grid living. Self sufficient. "PERMAGANICS RULE".
Nottingham's Grade 2* Listed Allotments and Community Orchard
a journey in suburban vegetable gardening
The madness of growing your own
A novel approach to vegetable gardening
Sustainable living in the Irish countryside.
Master Gardener, amateur photographer, quilter, NH native, and sometimes SC snowbird
Recent work and work in progress and anything else that interests me
a chaotic cottage gardener
a weekly blog that creates a personal philosophy through photographs and words
Stories from a sassy and classy Southern farmbelle.
Simple Organic Gardening & Seasonal Living
turning dirt into dinner
today the world is created anew
Notes from a Devon garden
Life Through The Lens
A photography blog showcasing the best photography pictures and videos on the internet
Just another WordPress.com site
personal observations from the natural world as the search continues for a new approach to conservation.
The Wonders of Life through my Eyes, my Heart, my Soul
greenbenchramblings 