So busy with gardening and not enough hours to blog...

There comes a point in the spring every year when my work just takes over and leaves me with v. little time to put into my blog and I can only apologise to everyone who's supported and followed my blog over the months and years now - you're all very patient!

Up until recently we've been having some wonderful weather which has spurred the garden on no end in terms of growth and development - it's been one of the best years for the Lilac that I can remember since we arrived here - most other years the blooms have been badly damaged by late frosts and the spring flowers have been fantastic... the daffodils now almost completely over leave the stage open for all the other wonderful plants to follow!

We've also been busy adding one or two changes to the garden - the latest project was adding some steps down from the garden into our woodland which make life a lot easier as well as giving me another opportunity to plant as well!  As you can see from this photos our hedging is already needing a trim but am hoping to hold back for a few weeks if I can as don't want to disturb the many nesting birds who currently have young families.

The garden is changing a great deal at the moment but here are a series of photos I've taken over the last few weeks...

The plants are also ever changing with so many almost there but here are some of my favorite shots over the last few weeks which I hope you'll enjoy too.  The Aquilegias have been amazing!

This is the Cornus Alba which I planted along with the Ribes and the two together a quite stunning!

Some of our woodland plants...

I'm not quite sure how we ended up with the pretty mix of both white and blue Forget Me Nots but they're lovely.

This is the first year we've had flowers on Magnolia "Susan"

I love the young ferns unfurling in the sunlight!

Prunus padus another woodland favorite with very fragrant blossom which sadly doesn't last very long :-(

Returning to the main garden these Pansies are always a cheery sight!

I couldn't do a posting at this time of year without the tulips...

Two other favorites are the Rubus which I purchased in Cornwall - "Olympic Double" which produces some beautiful double magenta/pink flowers and the other is Prunus Kanzan.

The final pictures I cannot help but leave you with a these really cute shots of the baby Dunnocks that I discovered in a client's garden - the nest had sadly been blown from the Leylandii trees and they'd found themselves in the big wide world slightly too early... do hope they survived okay...

This leaves me with one final view out from our woodland and with that would like to wish you a good rest of the week, happy gardening and hope that it's not too long again before I can post some more from our garden and beyond - I will try and get to look at some of my favorite blogs and there are many now so do be patient and please don't take it personally if it takes me a while...

Very Happy Easter....

Of all those flowers in the garden that are reminders of Easter time is the reliable Daffodil.... with so many varieties available I wouldn't know where to start other than to say what a wonderful bright and cheerful display they make and enough to bring a smile to most people's faces especially on a day with the rain pounding at the windows as it is today!

"When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils"
from William Wordsworth's "Daffodils"

Over this past week we've infact had some lovely weather in between numerous showers but even in the rain these beautiful spring flowers still looking gorgeous.

Earlier in the week I cut the grass in our woodland area and it was lovely to see the primroses all in bloom on the bank where I first planted a few going back about 3 years now and they're really starting to multiply which is exactly what I had in mind.  Along with these beautiful spring flowers come the little cowslips which you don't find in the wild so much here - my Mum had grown these from seed which I brought on and planted out a couple of years ago - as well as the primroses they are more than happy in their new home and provide essential pollen for bees and insects at this time of year.

A view through the Cherry trees below the main garden - the bank of primroses are to the left.

Another of my spring favorites is the trusty Autumn Flowering Cherry - Prunus x subhirtilla "Autumnalis Rosea" - a beautiful tree bearing masses of pale pink blossom - ideal for those with a smallish garden too (not that we have a small garden!)

This is a view across the main area of our back garden - behind me as I'm taking this picture is the woodland to give you an idea of the layout... the garden always starts off with relatively little height other than the shrubs and trees but as the year progresses height increases with the mass of perennials and roses that we have.... watch this space!

This is Hamish my lovely black and white cat that came all the way from the UK with us - as you can see he's more than at home enjoying the warmth of the sunshine on his tummy - he's a huge character and is really quite a monkey... known for his acts of thieving food - his best was his attempt at fishing out my lamb chops from under the grill with his bear paws... caught in the act at the last minute I saved my supper!!!!  Butter wouldn't melt in this picture though!

This little gem of a polyanthus originated from my parents' garden in Cornwall.

These beautiful double Polyanthus were in the garden when we arrived - the previous owners loved their garden and I discovered these under a thick cover of Brambles and Ivy!

I know many of you enjoyed the previous posting with the Pulmonaria - this is another variety - Pulmonaria Opal - with a much paler blue flower but quite beautiful!

The Japanese Quince - Chaenomeles speciosa is another spring favorite - pruned back well in the early part of winter seems to be the secret in creating a spectacular show of flowers at this time of year - looks quite stunning when in full bloom - these flowers are followed by pretty leaves and fruits if you're lucky!

More favorites - these flowering currants I grew from hardwood cuttings a few years back and they've come on a treat since... the cuttings took easily so one to try perhaps?

The first Anenome has just appeared cheekily pushing it's head through the grasses!  I love these flowers which had some vibrant colour to borders.

This is the area I planted up only last year under the Oak tree to the front of our house - you can see the edge of our neighbour's house in the background - all the plants are coming on well - more photos of these to come in future postings!

This is a photo to the side of our property - the area of grass was sown only a few years back at the same time as I planted the shrubs which form a loose boundary with our neighbour - a good mix of shrubs offering a mix of colour and structure for much of the year round as well as a mix of berries and blooms for wildlife.

And to round off..

"For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inwood eye,

Which is the bliss of solitude,

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

final verse from Daffodils - William Wordsworth

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter Weekend!

Spring has finally arrived...

Despite some pretty stormy weather the last couple of days the start of the week brought some milder weather and the first sightings of the beautiful Brimstone Yellow Butterflies to our garden - pictured here on the Pulmonaria - they look rather striking with the bright blue flowers - posing perhaps!?  During the week I've also caught sight of a couple of Comma Butterflies too but they were flying around so no photo I'm afraid.

A few nights ago I came across the first hedgehog of the season - presumably out for a stretch leg and a munch after the long winter hibernation!

The best sighting this week - just yesterday was my first swallow - a male swallow which greeted me on my return from a hard day's work and then today on my morning stroll with Lucy - loads all sitting on the telegraph wires and chattering away "swallow-style" and there were also quite a number flying really low over the fields searching around for insects I suspect - it was quite amusing to watch as they darted they way around the herd of cows - the cows seemed quite unperturbed!

The moment the swallows arrive is always a very heartening and special moment and I'm in awe of these small birds which travel all those thousands of miles against the odds and seem to arrive back here each year - incredible!  I always feel priviledged that they would choose our barns to nest in.  It was funny talking to my sister this morning as I was telling her that the swallows were early this year - last year they arrived on the 28th March to which she replied - "only you would notice these things as living in London when would you know they'd arrived?" and she's right - the coming and going of the seasons are so much more apparent when you live in the countryside and I think you have time to notice which is one of the things I love... isn't this what life is all about!?

Wishing you all a good weekend... and I hope to try and get to visit a few more blogs this week - I've not done very well of late - so please don't feel neglected...

To celebrate Mothering Sunday....

In honour of a very patient & encouraging Mum (& Dad!).... it was enlightening recently to recieve some "old" pictures from my parents of me when I was small and very amusing to see where my keen interest in the garden started!!  I think I owe a lot to my parents for my love and respect of plants and gardening and probably to my Mum's Mother too who loved her garden especially her prize roses which you always got shown when you went to stay... strange thing is that I now catch myself doing the same when we have visitors :-)

At the tender age of 3.5/4 showing an interest in grass cutting ...  mowers have changed a little since then!

At the same sort of age caring for the flowers ...

Apparently this was me sharing my ice cream with the daffodils... not sure if they appreciated the sacrifice!

Completely at home sat in the garden with my sandwiches... nothing has changed really even 40 odd years on...

It is interesting looking back and wondering what part parents play in the path you take in life, but some of life's passions and interests clearly start early on... perhaps it's an in-built thing but perhaps it's the patient hours parents spend showing you the pleasures of growing your own fruit and veg are actually very rewarding and a lot of fun... I can certainly remember the rewards of sneaking off behind the raspberry canes for a quick snack! Mind you, I can also remember the many afternoons in late summer going blackberry picking with my family and after the novelty quickly wore off finding it rather boring .... something I've picked up again now and love! 

My Mum especially spent many hours "splaining" things to me following my endless questions of "why this or how's that?", whilst the enjoyment in what I'm sure were painstaking hours that my Dad spent in the greenhouse and on his veg patch has certainly rubbed off - whatever it was, it makes life worth it as does being able to share it and encourage others with the same!

My apologies for a gap since my last posting... work is keeping me pretty occupied at the moment but will try and add some more before the week is out!  Hope you all have a great week...

Our Garden in Brittany - a fly-thru for ready meals!

After a fairly rubbish night's sleep last night with the strong winds and yet more very heavy rain here I pulled myself out of bed at 9.40am to go and get Lucy out and was stopped in my tracks on the stairs when I noticed we had a visitor poised quietly on the roof of the bird table - a large Sparrow Hawk - thinking this must be like the equivalent of a Macdonalds Drive-Thru for him or her - with free ready meals!!  There wasn't a Blue Tit in sight!  So I rushed back upstairs to try and get a shot of the bird and this was the only one I managed through an upstairs window before it took off!  It was a nice surprise on such a dismal morning!

Sorry I've not been around visiting blogs much this week but have been busy working on a garden design for some French clients which has certainly kept me busy.

However in odd moments during the week I did manage to get one or two pictures which I've been storing up for my weekend posting.  This young Great Spotted Woodpecker sat for ages after filling himself up on peanuts from the feeder - I wouldn't be surprised if he was one of last year's babies which I'd captured on the bird table last summer.

The weather has played a predominant part this week - I think we've had the wettest weather we've ever had in the last 7 years now in Brittany - at least Lucy was making the most it!

This is the field just below our house looking towards the road - the water right up to the arch on the stone bridge (hidden by the bushes!).

The stream which runs along the bottom of our woodland is now a complete torrent which has flooded almost as far as our French farming neighbours - this is only the second time that the little bridge over the stream has been completely immersed too.  We had very strong winds last night but from what I could see no real damage which was a relief.

A view from our woodland towards our neighbours!

The spring flowers have certainly benefitted from all the extra watering - the daffodils are almost out, Hellebores continue to bloom and finally the lovely red Camelia has fully opened! 

This morning I discovered one solitary flower on the Pulmonaria had braved the elements too.  With the rain the perfume from the Lonicera was amazing... it's not an easy shrub to photo with such delicate flowers but a real favorite.

During the week of horrible weather it's been nice to see a few snowdrops and bright yellow crocus without having to go out of the house!

Do hope you all have a good week - have been busy collecting up toilet rolls in readiness for planting seeds in a few weeks hopefully... more on that in due course...