Days Off Amongst the Tulips

I love time off work at Easter, it always feels like a proper break.  This year I was able to spend most of my days outdoors.  I weeded all the paths (there are a lot!), and all the beds, and generally had a lovely time, mainly amongst the tulips.

These ones are at the very end of my garden, past the greenhouse and are mainly ones that have appeared by themselves.

These however, are ones that I've planted over the years:

Doll's Minuet

Charming Lady

Various Parrot types

Can't remember what this one is

Black Parrot

The greenhouse is full to bursting, but everything will need to stay in there for a while longer as we have some frosty nights forecast.

And the paths are mainly weed free, so I can sit and have a cuppa whenever I want to.

 I'm hoping for many more sunny days to sit and enjoy the garden :-)

The Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, or Two

We're very excited as we're getting our own Mrs Tiggle-Winkles - two to be precise.

Hedgehogs are in serious decline and our gardens here don't have any access to them for hedgehogs to find us so my neighbours had a bright idea. They contacted a hedgehog rescue centre and asked if we could be considered to re-home some injured ones that aren't ever going to be able to be released into the wild.  The lady (rather tall and formidable) came and assessed us and said that we could have two.  They will either be one eyed or 3 legged - many hedgehogs are injured in road accidents or by strimmers etc, but as we have safe gardens with no lawns to need strimming or any chemicals used by any of us, we are ideal candidates!

One neighbour has been very busy digging tunnels under our fences

and cutting hedgehog sized holes in them (the size of a CD apparently), so that they can roam freely between the three gardens.

I didn't know that they can roam up to a mile each night, but the lady was happy that between our three gardens we'd have plenty of space for them.  Mine is the middle garden and I'm really hoping they linger and eat all the slugs and snails.

They arrive next week sometime I think - we're all very excited!

In other news this tulip is currently my favourite.

It's tulip Menton from Peter Nyssen and has done really well.

Also, these irises have opened today - don't they look gorgeous with the rain drops on them.

I've no idea what variety they are as they were here when I moved here, they're quite short.

Sadly several of my other irises are suffering from slug damage - but that will all change when the Mrs Tiggy-Winkles arrive :-)

Tulips

I do so love tulips and this week they are looking their best.  There are reds and yellows,

 top L - unknown double, top R Golden Artist, bottom L - Bright Parrot, bottom R - unknown/forgotten

and pinks and whites

All unknown except bottom right - Huis Ten Bocsh

Doll's Minuet

Unknown

Also flowering today is this pasque flower, I love the hairiness of it,

and this delightful little plant, which I think is a wood anemone, but I have no recollection of planting it, although I must have done.

It's very pretty!

Everything's Coming Up Tulips

Over the last few weeks the tulips in the garden have been beautiful. Some I planted and know what they are like these:

Doll's Minuet

Black Parrot

Spring Green

I love how the rain makes them bend over and then they ping back upright in the sunshine

Others were here when I moved in so I have no idea what they are but I always love this purple one as it contrasts so beautifully with the exochorda above it.

When the sun shines these red ones in the front garden open right up to reveal their yellow centres.

Other just appear from nowhere.

Apart from taking photos of tulips and planting seeds not much has been done in the garden this week due to a certain black cat deciding to swallow some thread and the attached needle on Tuesday evening.  Cue emergency dash to vets where the needle (and thread) was removed from his throat under sedation.  He's recovered fine, it's taken me longer!

Whatever you're doing this Easter weekend I hope you have a lovely time (well mainly be avoiding needles!).

The Garden Is Zinging!

The sunshine and blue skies of this weekend have really made the garden zing.

The Chaenomeles Japonica is superb this year, it's smothered in flowers!

There are clematis flowering too

Clematis Constance

Clematis Foxy

Clematis Maidwell Hall

A tulip has opened (I can't remember the name or find the label!) as has the self sown lime green spurge (euphorbia)

Under the maple the epimedium is flowering as are the self sown wild violets

The exochorda has got one flower open and the snake's head fritillaries are doing well (although there are no white ones this year for some reason).

There's just about blossom on the amelanchier

and most of the garden seems to be smiling, apart from the actinidia that is.  It looks as though the sharp frost last week has destroyed most of its leaf and flower buds - maybe it'll recover?

Poor thing!

Bank Holiday Doings

How was your bank holiday weekend?  The rain actually stopped here at times so I was able to get out and do a little in the garden between the showers.

I love the contrast of this 'Queen of the Night' tulip against the self sown euphorbia.

I managed to do some much needed weeding in the veg garden and was pleased to see that, with the exception of the carrots, all the other seeds I'd sowed just before the monsoons started have germinated.

I was also very surprised at how many flowers there are on the strawberry plants.  I now have to make sure that the birds and slugs don't get them. There is such expectation at this time of year, imaginings of tastes to come!

But I didn't just garden, this afternoon I went over to Lavenham to the Art Festival - it was lovely.  The chance to see artists in their studios, with real range of work and also an amazing range of studios and settings; some old and medieval, some new in beautiful gardens and then this one, the last one we visited:

Not only was it a stunningly beautiful garden (and this is only a part of it!) it was home to beautiful bronze sculptures by Kate Denton (if you enlarge it by clicking on it you might just see a stag and a hare sculptures).  Did I have garden envy?  Just a little!

And to finish, it's Florence and Dylan's 7th birthday today.  They've had fish for tea and are now sleeping it off on the throw I made for the sofa  (I'm so pleased they use it after all the hassle they gave me when I was making it!)

P.S. Thank you for all your good wishes about my back on the last post, it's fine again now :-)

Strange Goings On With Tulips.

Something strange is happening with my tulips.  Mostly they have multiplied nicely since last year -

Doll's Minuet now has 16 blooms compared to the 8 it had last year:

 

These dark purple ones (unknown variety as I inherited them), have also multiplied:

As have these (also unknown varieties):

But this one has just appeared - it's never been there in previous years:

  

And my lovely Apricot Beauties which flowered so well last year have totally disappeared.  Very strange.