Easter in the garden 2025 - part one

From now until mid June is my favourite time of year here in the UK.  Everything is so fresh and green and there is so much to enjoy.  A walk round my little garden brings me a lot of colour, starting with Lathyrus vernus above and Lathyrus vernus alboroseus below.

Lathyrus vernus is a member of the pea family, which is obvious looking at the flowers.

Clematis alpina Blue Dancer and...

...Clematis Frankie in flower on the arch.  When I pruned the summer flowering clematis which also grows up the arch in the summer, I unintentionally pruned some of these too,  which I was really cross with myself about, but they are still flowering, so I am really pleased to see them.

I never tire of these simple primroses, which seed themselves about and are always a delight.  They were one of my granny's favourites.

The more exotic looking Erythronium Pagoda...

...with the similar colours of Epimedium versicolor sulphureum.

These do look like lilies.

Apple blossom is also a joy - my little patio apple, James Grieve is having a good blossoming time.  

I'm not the only one enjoying these flowers as I saw lots of bees and other insects on them yesterday.  

Finally for now, there is the delicate baby blue of Muscari Manon.  I do like these paler blues but have a lot of 'ordinary' grape hyacinths as well as named varieties such as Valerie Finnis and Latifolium as well as some mixes.  These are also enjoyed by the bees and other insects.

There will be a tulip focus in my next post.

Easter

To all those celebrating Easter, may I wish you a Happy Easter.  It was a beautiful day yesterday, with sunshine and blue sky but today it has turned misty and cloudy.  I am sure that Easter egg hunts and other festivities will still be enjoyed by those taking part.  Above are some of the Easter cards I sent out this year.  The cat with bunny ears was inspired by Tim Holtz, who was busy putting bunny ears on some of his photos here. 

I have also made some Easter butterfly cakes which we will be enjoying over the next day or two, assuming they last that long!

In the garden, things are starting to look more Spring-like.  Muscari (grape hyacinth) are flowering...

...and the scillas are bringing their beautiful shade of blue.

Cardamine Quinquefolia has been really pretty but is starting to die down again now.

The tulips at the front door are supposed to be Orange Emperor, but they look decidedly red to me.  however, they are very welcome, whatever they are.

The hellebores in the border are still flowering.

Here are some of the Valerie Finnis muscari I bought late in the season and planted in December, I think it was.  Their shade of pale blue is so pretty...

...and works well against the other muscari shades too.  I keep finding them popping up in the borders where I had forgotten I had planted them, so it's a nice surprise!

It's also the start of tulips in the border, which have flowered once in a pot and then get transplanted.  So far, most keep coming back, which is a bonus.  I planted them deeply and I think they like that.  The ones in pots from last Autumn are in bud, but not near to flowering just yet.

Magnolia Susan is also starting to flower and scent the garden with the lovely lemony, fresh scent. 

There is so much to enjoy and this is my favourite time of year, from now until mid-June.

Gardening

I have finally managed to get out in the garden and do some sorting out! Hooray! I've pruned roses, clematis and miscanthus grasses, I've potted on a couple of hydrangeas and moved a rose bush that was in the wrong place. I have tidied and sorted the pots at the front door and cut down stems from perennials in the back garden. I have divided astrantia major and spread it around the borders. There are a few bare patches in the borders, but things will soon start to grow. These scillas were planted last autumn in a container and are providing a lovely splash of lapis lazuli blue at the moment, and I noticed lots of muscari (grape hyacinth) bulbs coming up which will continue the blue theme.

Terracotta pot (part 2)

Last Saturday, I finally managed to plant my bulbs and plant some bare root oriental poppies (ordered back in July and which arrived yesterday) in the garden. I decided to plant only the muscari latifolium bulbs in this lovely terracotta pot, as the depth of soil wouldn't have been enough for the narcissus. Still, it should look lovely in the Spring with a mass of blue flowers spilling out of it. I did put three viola plants in the top which look very pretty, but which had been attacked by slugs and snails who are enjoying all the wet weather we've been having lately. There is a real change in the garden now - autumn is definitely here.

Terracotta Pot

We visited Mum and Dad last Sunday and Mum gave me this rather gorgeous terracotta pot. It has a very satisfying shape and lends itself well to small bulbs for Spring, I think. My bulb order arrived yesterday and I think the little daffodil 'Tete a Tete' and Muscari latifolium, which are like the usual grape hyacinth but with broader leaves and flowers that are shaded from dark blue up to light, will go in this pot very nicely. I bought some violas which would look lovely on the top and give me something cheerful to look at while waiting for the bulbs to grow.

I also ordered some narcissus 'Pheasant eye' ( the above photo is from http://www.theplantexpert.com/ ), as they remind me of my Granny, who loved that variety, and also received some free tulip bulbs which I won't plant until October at the earliest as they are more vulnerable to diseases if planted too early. Once I have planted the pot, I'll post a photo of it.
I planted up a small trough yesterday with two cyclamen coum, two scillas and some muscari, so I hope that will look good from January onwards. The cyclamen are already putting out their gorgeous marbled leaves.
I always enjoy bulb planting time as it is a time to look forward to next Spring and enjoy the thought of yellow daffodils dancing in the breeze.