Sunday 21 April 2019

Happy Easter (and more tulips, clematis and the odd fence panel)

 Happy Easter to those who celebrate.  We have been enjoying wonderful sunny weather over this weekend and the tulips have been enjoying it too.  Above is Ronaldo in a pot with Ballerina.
 Here are Ballerina and Red Shine in the border.  Red Shine is from several years ago, but has decided to come back.  They do look lovely against the brick wall.
Ronaldo again, in another pot, showing the grey bloom on the petals.
A view inside Ronaldo with a black centre. 
 Tulip Danceline is also flowering and is really beautiful.  I saw Monty Don raving about this tulip last year on Gardeners' World, so decided to grow some myself. 
 They are blowsy, but in an elegant way (if such a thing is possible). 
Clematis Blue Dancer is also in flower.  I bought this last year and it is only a young plant.  I hope it will grow up the metal arch in time.
 Clematis Rosy Pagoda is still looking lovely.
 I am really enjoying the flowers.
 Tulip Danceline again (just because I can).  The buds start with a green tinge and then turn creamy with little pinky-red stripes.  The cream colour reminds me of Cornish Vanilla ice-cream...
I think I may need to purchase more of these for next year.  I am not sure whether they will come back again, but will plant them in the border anyway.
In other news, I have been spending time painting the fence panels which I hadn't painted last year , so that they tie in with the ones I had painted.  Even though the panels themselves aren't in the best condition, they look so much better now.  The black (which in real life is darker than in the photo) really makes the green leaves show up beautifully.  I have an aching shoulder today, but it was worth it!

8 comments:

  1. Loving your garden.
    And the fence panels do look better, but please don't over do it.

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    1. Thanks, EC. I am loving all the colour in the garden at the moment and being off work for the Easter weekend gives me more time to enjoy it. I have finished the fence painting now and my shoulder has recovered. I have learnt the hard way that I can't do what I used to and I need to adapt sometimes...
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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  2. Your tulips are fabulous and I am extremely impressed that you can keep track of the names (even though I often used to put the full names of new plantings on the blog I cannot always track down what plants are called!)

    In a previous house we painted all the fence panels black, you are right, it is a fabulous backdrop behind the greenery and really shows everything off very well.

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    1. Thanks, Jayne. My tulip collection is slowly growing and I try my best to keep a note of the plants I have. I have a garden diary which I update reasonably regularly. I do enjoy looking back to see what was happening last year, or five years ago, or even longer! We only have a couple of fences in the garden so it hasn't been too much of a job to paint them black and they look good with the brick walls too.
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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  3. Beautiful tulips, very unusual ones too. xcx

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    1. Thanks, Chrissie. I stick to my favourites - Ballerina, Ronaldo and Brown Sugar, but I do like to try others as well.
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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  4. Oh how I wish you lived nearby, my yard could sure your attention. Your flowers are all fabulous. The dancer tulips are very interesting, never saw any like that. Take care of your shoulder.
    Sandy's Space

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    1. Thanks, Sandy. I think that the UK weather (on the whole) helps gardeners out a lot. I do keep saying it, but this is my favourite time of year - everything is so fresh and green and stays like this until the end of June (usually). The Danceline tulips are really pretty but they have flopped over now so if I grow them again, they may need some extra support.
      (My shoulder is fine now - it was just aching as I used it so much with the painting, but I did try to pace myself).
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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