Happy Easter weekend

I hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend.  The sun is out today and it is lovely!  My magnolia Stellata is flowering and enjoying the sunshine.

 I made some chocolate butterfly cakes...

 ...and picked some primroses and primulas for the seasonal tree table.

 Lots of eggs were added to the display.  I also decided that when the glass vases weren't holding little posies, they looked a bit bare, so made some polymer flowers in pastel colours to sit on them.  I had seen some ceramic flowers made into rings and brooches at the vintage fairs and thought I could do something like that.

I was very pleased with how they turned out.  I used a blend of colours and my flower moulds, and then dusted some mica powder in the middles to add a little shine.

 Apologies for the photo - it just wasn't bright enough when I took it, so it is rather glaring, thanks to the flash.

Even the close up is a bit glaring - but gives you the idea! I have been in the garden today, rescuing some much loved astrantia plants from some rather too vigorous crocosmia/montbretia (which has needed doing for ages!) and hope that the sun continues to shine as there is always so much to do at this time of year.

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) 

A little Spring Garden Round up

 The title made me smile - an image of me dressed as a cowgirl in stetson and with a lasso sprang into mind!  Really, this post is an excuse to look at some of the plants flowering in my little garden at the moment.  First is Magnolia Stellata with its intricate centre and star like flowers.

 The outside of the flowers have the subtlest delicate pink shading.

 Cheerful pale yellows courtesy of primroses and primrose/cowslip cross.

 Beautiful pea-like flowers of lathyrus vernus ( I finally got round to planting these into larger pots and they have rewarded me by flowering really well).

 The stately flowers of Magnolia Susan.

 Last year's Ballerina tulips - a lot earlier than the new ones I planted last autumn and giving a burst of fiery orange.

 Here they all are (apologies for the less than beautiful bubble wrap around the pots - a necessary evil).

 Just because there's blue sky... a view up through the Magnolia...

...and a last look at the lovely flowers which have a delicate lemony scent in the sun.

Autumn colour

I must admit that there hasn't been as much Autumn colour in my garden this year as I would like.  Leaves seem to have just fallen, without changing colour.  There are a couple of exceptions - hydrangea above and Prunus incisa Kojo-no-Mai below.

 This photo was taken last week and since then, all the leaves have fallen off the Prunus...

 ...and the hydrangea is looking like this, with more yellow on its leaves.

 The little geranium 'Rozanne' plants, which have featured before, are still flowering away in a sheltered part of the garden.

 Magnolia Stellata has lovely yellow leaves.

 Still, there are a few surprises, like this Campanula 'Iridescent Bells' (I think) which has decided to flower, even though it is nearly the end of November and it is still a young plant!

There are also a few glimpses of colour from the Fuchsias - this one is 'Lady Thumb' I think.  It helps that they are sheltered but it is lovely to be greeted with some colour, even if it is not necessarily autumnal!

Spring in my garden

All of a sudden, my tulips have grown and are almost in flower! Things are certainly changing quickly now and are 'going up a gear'. In fact, blink and you miss something!

Here is a lovely delicate erythronium (dog's tooth violet) called 'Pagoda' which is remarkably tenacious especially as every year I forget it is there, so it is constantly living with the threat of me inadvertantly digging it up or squashing it. However, it regularly manages to surprise and delight me by returning with its deeply veined leaves and delicate pale yellow flowers. A real little beauty!

This is Magnolia 'Susan' which is in flower a month before it flowered in 2010. I love this for the brilliant pink elongated petals and for the gorgeous fragrance which is just at nose height as I planted it in a tub. It is also remarkably hardy and survived this last winter very well, as you can see. I did wrap the tub in bubble wrap for insulation, but even so, I wasn't sure it could cope with the intense cold and consistent freezing temperatures we had last November and December. I am so pleased it did.

And finally, another Magnolia, this time 'Stellata' which has lovely white star shaped flowers. I bought this last year from a well known cut price supermarket and it has put on lots of growth and given me about ten flowers, so I think it was a bargain. Again, it is in a bubble wrap insulated pot and survived the winter well. Both the magnolias prefer acid soil, which the garden doesn't have, so they are in pots.

I love the Spring; it is a wonderful time of year for us gardeners!