Monday, April 25, 2005

Sunny Morning

The sun is shining, so I just flung on my purple seersucker pants and a T-shirt and headed for the back yard. Took a few photos, and then made coffee and took it out. I sat in the sun for a few minutes, but it was too hot! So moved into the shade and enjoyed my coffee while planning some gentle gardening.



These strawberries have really pretty pink flowers, but are very cramped in this pot. I've been hoping to split them and move them to bigger pots with fresh compost, maybe later on today if the rain holds off.



But my first job was to put the scilla into a large pot. This had a large wallflower in it last year, but it hasn't survived the winter. So it was only the job of a few minutes to dig the compost over, pop in the scillas and water them in. The tag that came with them said they "will thrive in moist but well-drained soil and partial shade if sited where bulbs will enjoy a minimum of disturbance." So I reckon they may do OK in the backyard.



The yard is thick with violets. When I originally begged them from my Mum she said they'd spread like weeds. And they do, but for a short time in the spring the yard is a riot of their flowers. And it's easy enough to pull up a few if you want to plant something else. The teeny tiny flowers are ivy leaved toadflax. I love it, it'll grow in the tiniest of nooks and crannies, and is getting established on top of the walls around our yard.



My miniature iris isn't looking very happy. For some reason its petals haven't unfurled very evenly. Maybe something chewed on them as they were growing. Or it's possible the pot dried out - with last week's form filling I haven't been keeping much of an eye on the yard. John is very good about watering the plants, but only if I remind him. He would never think to check if they need water or not.

Better get off for another coffee now, maybe I'll get to those strawberry plants later. And if it turns wet I'll start my germination trials.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oooh! ivy leaved toadflax ... I have TONS of it! And now I know what it is (rather than little violetty creepy thing as it is known here lol). What else are you planting?

Anonymous said...

Your garden photographs are luscious! If we weren't having snow flurries / freezing drizzle for three days here, I'd be outside. You inspire me to put my hands into the dirt again. We had a brief burst of warm weather, everything popped into bloom, and now the spring has backtracked into late winter again. Ah well, spring will come... and your photos give me an early taste of it. Thanks, Maggie.

Liz in Pittsburgh, PA, USA
www.elizabethperry.com/woolgathering

sonia a. mascaro said...

Wonderful flowers! Great photos!!