A riot of tulips

No - I can't remember what they all are. But that makes it more exciting in a way....

The out of focus blue in the background comes from English bluebells which seem to thrive and self-seed in my garden, even though it's not in the least chalky. More tulip pictures to follow....

Jimmy and Ronaldo tulips in the sunshine

In all their glory....
Another lovely batch of bulbs from J Parkers!

How the new grass is doing

All looking remarkable neat for me - and a bit bare without some of my Diana Roles ceramics - but here is the progress of the new grass after its first trim on Saturday (just over 2 weeks from laying). I am pleased with the way the new trellis is screening the greenhouse too!

Dicentra formosa Aurora

I gave a healthy root-division of this plant to a friend the other day and then completely forgot what it is called - muddling it up with a corydalis. It is (of course) dicentra formosa Aurora - and seems to be doing particularly well in part shade, hence why I wanted to split it up! It seems a much tougher little plant than its larger showier Bleeding Heart relatives.

The lathryus vernus is doing really well this year and it is exciting to see the first Zurel tulip, here highlighted against the bought combination of Jimmy and Renaldo (the closest I will ever get to welcoming football into my garden!)

Spring is yellow

My new grass has been thriving in the well-timed rain and sun and the garden looks extraordinarily tidy - for now.... This week the first tulips are opening bringing to a close the almost-exclusive reign of spring yellows.

Of all flower colours my least favourite is yellow - the most repugnant combination I think I've ever seen is yellow and pink in the form of laburnam and clematis montana (unhappily a perennial combination I therefore drive past every year!) but since the yellows seem to dominate in early spring I can forgive them - the heady scent of mahonia, the delicate and unexpectedly shade-loving epimedium and the tough little hardy primrose which just keeps on multiplying in my garden are all special in their own right and I just have to forgive the forsythia for its cheerfulness.

But I also love Primula vulgaris subsp. sibthorpii the magenta/purple version of the wild primrose with which it seems to cross well producing some unexpectedly pretty seedlings.

Things will be speeding up from now on - including the number of balls arriving in the garden threatening my lovely Diana Roles ceramics without which - during the recent upheavals - the garden has been looking decidedly ordinary. I wonder if I am legally permitted to adopt a no-returns policy!

A clean sweep and a new lawn

Having made the difficult decision of having the hazel and Judas trees removed (which all took much longer than anticipated due to the problem of not being able to get a stump-grinder down the narrow side passage by the house!) it seemed like a good time to look seriously at the grass. Doing so brought the recognition that something a bit more than scarifying and reseeding was needed so I acknowledged defeat and called in some professional help. Here is the result laid yesterday - wow!

For once I am pleased to see rain on Good Friday!
In spite of its smart appearance my new bird box doesn't seem to be of interest to any of the blue tits but there is a lot of frantic black bird activity near the house. It looks like they are building a nest in the dense forsythia, bay and entwined clematis and Kiftsgate rose branches very near the French windows. Thrilling but a recipe for a lot of ducking out of the way by me and anxious blackbirds! I also really must now succeed in deterring all these wretched cats!

Tree-felling and fighting blue tits

After making the tough decision that my hazel and Judas trees had to go, I have been struggling to find reliable people to carry out the task. Then 3 came along at once! Suffice it to say that just before Christmas the deed was done. Unfortunately, the hazel stump still needs to be removed as the stump-grinder was too big to go along the passageway by the side of the house, so it is still taking up a lot of space which I was hoping to use to plant my potted-up tulip bulbs. Hoping we can resolve that one asap....

At the same time I had the totally dilapidated trellis removed and replaced with a more substantial structure. It's actually - visually - a bit more substantial that I would have liked, but it was a necessary job well done and well-timed as the ground is now rock-hard after the recent frosts! Inevitably, the narrow access for all these activities necessitated lots of tramping across my tiny patch of grass, so it will need some major attention. But with the frosts it will have to wait a bit. It is rather exciting having to plan what I will do with the new space and light!
One of the things concerning me about the tree-removal is how the birds will respond. I've become used to seeing flocks of long-tailed tits, blue tits, blackbirds, robins, chaffinches and the odd sparrow making use of them. But I came across a really shocking sight on Christmas Eve. What seemed like a tiny bundle of yellow feathers flopping about on the brick terrace revealed itself to be two blue tits locked in combat. I shot out and disturbed them but only to see them fly into the hedge before landing again on the ground and grappling with one another most aggressively. After repeatedly disturbing them and seeing the same thing recur - watched from a nearby branch by another blue tit - they eventually went into next-door's garden, carrying on the battle. One of those cases where we have to realize that nature is nature, red in tooth and claw, whatever we'd like to do change things. But I would like to know what it was all about!