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Happy gardening!

Monday 30 April 2012

Our Brittany garden springs into life....

Despite all the rain and stormy days, we've had the odd moment of sunshine... I took this a few days ago in between showers and since then it's done nothing but rain! 

The Geranium phaeums are some of my favorite flowers at this time of year... I couldn't recommend them enough and are easy to grow.




 This is the view from our garden looking through the woodland... it's full of bird life at this time of year.  We're very fortunate to have such an amazing variety of birds but here - helped with lots of trees and the small river that runs at the bottom too... it's a lot of hard work to keep looking nice but well worth all the effort!  On my way out with the dog this week, I  was surprised by the sight of a little Tree Creeper - about 3 meters from where I was stood flitting up and down one of the Oak Trees - such a tiny but beautiful bird that you don't often see close up like that. 
There are so many beautiful colours in the garden at this time of year - it was hard to choose which photos to add to today's account of our garden... so I just added most of them to share with you as it's been a while since my last posting!

This is one of the many Oriental Poppies in the garden and not far off bursting into life... hopefully the stormy weather will be over before it's open!
 























  This is a fabulous tree, even for a small garden - Malus Everest is a crab apple with beautiful blossom at this time of year and then small brightly coloured fruits which last all the way through to January/February and the birds love them!

This is a plant that I bought recently - infact it's a third of it... when I got back I split it up as it was very pot bound and all three plants are doing well! I must admit I often look for plants that need dividing up - I bring them on in pots and then plant them out.

 Lily of the Valley has special significance in France - On May 1, 1561, King Charles IX of France received a lily of the valley as a lucky charm. He decided to offer a lily of the valley each year to the ladies of the court. At the beginning of the 20th century, it became custom to give a sprig of lily of the valley, a symbol of springtime, on May 1. The government permits individuals and workers' organisations to sell them tax-free. It is also traditional for the lady receiving the sprig of lily of the valley to give a kiss in return. Nowadays, people may present loved ones either with bunches of lily of the valley or dog rose flowers.


I had to share a picture of this - the latest site for a breeding pair of Blue Tits - they have their nest in the top part of the pump - luckily it's not in use!


















































Last but not least a picture of the Camelias and other spring flowering plants under our Walnut Tree.... do hope we get some more sunny spells this week!  This year the weather has gone from one extreme to another.  Our Swallows haven't even started nesting yet - this time last year we had swallow babies by now... all said and done though I did hear the Cuckoo for the 3rd day in a row so perhaps warmer weather really is on it's way!


5 comments:

Anna said...

Interesting to read that the rain has not been just this just this side of the Channel :) I like the geranium phaeums too - unassuming plants that just get on with it. Hope that the cuckoo has got it right.

Midmarsh John said...

What a beautiful variety of flowers you have to brighten up a dull Spring.

HELENE said...

Lovely photos!
Interesting to hear the story about Lily of the Valley, I adore them :-) I must have several hundred in my garden, as I have just let them spread. Mine are just starting to flower now.

The Wessex Reiver said...

France looks a few weeks ahead of Blighty, wonderful to see the geraniums, I think they're just fabulous. Off the RHS Malvern tomorrow, so looking forward to that.

Miranda Bell said...

Finally finally a few spare moments to reply to you all ... I can't believe quite how busy it's been of late - with all the rain we had now about 10 days ago which lasted the best part of 2 weeks and the recent warmer weather (although it's tipping it down with rain at the moment!) the grass cutting has been much harder than I can remember and keeping the weeds at bay an almost impossible task for all my gardening clients - currently looking after 13 gardens... so thus the reason for my absence!

Anna - thank you so much for your lovely comments - not sure the cuckoo got it right but they are v. much still around here :-)

MMJ - thank you so much for visiting - always appreciated - numbers for flowers out have been increasing daily - roses not so far away now!

Helene - thankyou - Lily of the Valley are quite beautiful and just a shame they don't last longer really - their smell is amazing!

Andrew - many thanks for dropping by - hope the Malvern Spring Show was good. Hope all good with you. Lots of Blue Tits about to fledge here and waiting for Mummy Woodie to appear with young at bird table as usual - they've been gobbling up all the fat balls to take away to the nest of late!