Easter-ish round up

I didn't manage to post these photos before Easter, so though I would do an Easter-ish post. Above are the butterfly cakes with additional chocolate mini eggs which disappeared very quickly!

These were some of the cards I sent out this year and thoroughly enjoyed making them.

This card was for a friend's birthday and she really likes the slow drawing patterns.  

This morning, on my meander round the garden, I saw my old friend the unnamed fringed tulip.

A small Choisya 'White Dazzler' which I bought a year ago is flowering happily...

...as is Magnolia 'Fairy Blush'. I really should give this a bit of love and care - it has been somewhat ignored recently.

Finally, this morning the blueberries were a-buzz with bees, so hopefully we should get another good crop of berries later in the year.  We are due some hot (for the UK at this time of year - up to 27 degrees centigrade, which is ten degrees higher than usual for the time of year) weather this coming week, so I will be planning the watering regime for the pots carefully so that I make best use of this precious resource.

A frosty morning

The cold snap continues and I ventured into the garden armed with my camera this morning. I know this isn't really that cold, compared with other countries, but as our autumn had been so mild recently, this has taken me a bit by surprise. Above are buddleia leaves.

This is Rose Dannahue, which was still flowering in my previous post. 

Blueberry Blue Pearl.  The frost patterns are beautiful to look at. I had just finished insulating some of my pots before the cold weather arrived, so I was very grateful for that,

Rose Charles de Mills. 

Hydrangea Annabelle, who usually features on this blog with her gorgeous white flowers in summer.  However, I think her faded flowers tipped with frost are just as lovely, albeit in a different way. Apparently Storm Bert is on his way this weekend, but temperatures are due to rise.  No wonder we talk about the weather so much here in the UK - it is always so changeable...

First frost of the winter

It had to happen, didn't it?  We had the first frost of the winter this week.  I went out with my camera to capture these images before the sun melted it.  I was reminded that I haven't finished insulating my pots yet, so I do need to get on with that job.  Above is Hydrangea Annabelle, who often features throughout the year.

 Rose Gertrude Jekyll looking as though someone has sprinkled the leaves with icing sugar.

 The blueberries also looked lovely.

 Here's Annabelle again.

 This is Aster Little Carlow looking really quite graceful with frost on every dead flower.

 With the colder weather, I have been rewarded by this amazing colour display by Lysimachia Clethroides.  I bought it after watching Carol Klein extolling its virtues on the Chelsea coverage (I think, but it may have been Tatton Park or Hampton Court as I watched all of the Show coverage this year).  It has been in its pot since I bought it, putting on a bit of growth, with lovely green leaves and then this happened.

It is amazing and the colour zings out, particularly on a dull November day.

I am really impressed with it and am looking forward to seeing it grow next year and possibly flower.  It has long white flower heads which droop over, so it sounds interesting.  Apparently, it can be invasive but I am hoping it will be happy in a pot. (I have just been comparing this plant with photos on websites and the leaves of this one look a bit different from the ones on the websites although the descriptions of autumn colour sounds right.  We shall see...) 
I have also possibly done completely the wrong thing and pruned my hibiscus syriacus oiseau bleu pretty viciously.  It was getting too big and leaning madly over the border in a drunken fashion.  I love this plant so am hoping that I haven't killed it, but I will just have to wait and see on that as well.  My pruning book said they can be pruned during their dormant period and it is dormant, but I think I may have got a bit lopper-happy!  If the worst happens and I have killed it, I will be buying a replacement and will try to keep that one more under control.)  It's all part of the joys of gardening!

Green, white and a hint of pink

 The snowdrops have been growing away recently and I took this shot a few days ago.  They aren't quite as upright now.

 I noticed my camassia bulbs coming through too, again, this was a few days ago.

 This is what the blueberries looked like this morning.  We had a frost and the coldest night of the winter so far.  Now I know that -5 degrees centigrade is not really cold, particularly when America is suffering -30 degrees centigrade, but -5 is cold enough for me. 

 Hydrangea Annabelle always looks elegant, even with dead flowerheads.  They look really sculptural with a layer of frost.

My palm won;t really be liking the cold, but its frosty leaves made a nice pattern.

Rhododendron Tinkerbird edged with white.

 Even the stainless steel spheres looked a bit more magical and mysterious than usual.

 So, there is the green and white.  Where's the pink?  Well, my camellias are trying to flower despite the temperatures and the fact that it is only January (February tomorrow).

 I really hope the bud survives the weather as it looks as though it will be a pretty flower.  I should really have fleeced it - I hope it's not too late!

Another sort of green - peridot and sterling silver earrings.  The pair on the right went to a colleague at work and the pair on the left went to my mum in law.  They both have August birthdays.  I think they liked them.

A Frosty (but magical) Start

It has been quite frosty recently and some of the plants in the garden looked quite photogenic with a sprinkling of sparkle.  Above is a rose.

 The flower heads of an aster looked as though they had been dusted with icing sugar.

The two Blueberries, Blue Pearl, are hanging on to their leaves.

 A miscanthus looked ethereal with its flowers highlighted.

I have mislaid the label for this one, so am not sure which it is (Ferner Osten? Kleine Fontane?), but it stands beautifully upright.

 Hydrangea arborescens Annabelle looks lovely most of the time...

...in winter, the flower heads show lovely variations in tones of sepia...

...and look almost magical with the frost on them.

A new shed (and the last views of the tulips)

My rather wonderful (and kind and lovely and thoughtful!) husband, Chris, has made me (well, us) a new shed, using mainly recycled materials.  It is the poshest shed I have owned!  The old shed needed to be replaced as it had rotted and was leaning at a rather drunk angle.  This new version is built to last and will be a practical working space, right at the end of the garden, opposite the lilac tree. Thanks, Chris, I love it!

 It has metal shelves on one side, opposite the window and lino on the floor...

 and a stainless steel potting bench on the other side, under the window.

 I have the exciting job of deciding what is going where now. All the things stored in the old shed have been on the patio under a plastic sheet while construction was going on, and I am going to enjoy sorting it all out (I think!).  I thought I had better take some photos of it before I fill it up again, as it will never be quite this tidy again...

Here are the last photos of this year's tulips.  I have been looking to see what I may like to have next year.  Ballerina will definitely feature again!

 These are the tulips in tubs at the front - a single early and single late mix.  Orange and white have featured here.

This is one which appeared in my last post but the colour has moved into the petals more now.

 The lilac in the back garden is looking and smelling lovely.

 Blueberry Blue Pearl is also flowering and I have seen lots of bees around it.  I hope this means a good harvest in the autumn.

I couldn't resist a last look at Ballerina and Red Shine, enjoying the sun this morning.  Beautiful!

Spring is just round the corner

 It is tantalisingly close, the Spring.  I can almost feel it, but then the temperature drops and I am reminded it is actually still winter.  The plants are reacting to the extra light and occasional warmth too.  Hydrangea leaves are growing, still tightly furled, but waiting.

Magnolia Stellata has its fluffy flower cases - I just can't help but give them a little stroke as I go past.

 Cheerful crocus and snowdrops remind me that the colour in the garden is there.

Magnolia Fairy Blush has flower buds which are getting bigger ever day.

 The Blueberry 'Blue Pearl' also has flower buds just waiting.

 This hydrangea is putting out new shoots too.

 Hellebores are flowering now too and this one obligingly lifted its head for me.

More crocuses - little delicate species ones called Tricolor, which they are.  Even the closed flowers display the three colours.  Hmm, that colour combination reminds me of something...what could it be?  Ah yes!

The inside of a Cadbury's creme egg! (Picture from wikipedia)