Time flies

May has all but vanished in a cloud of frantic gardening catch-up sessions with no time to ‘stand and stare’ and formally document the changes taking place in Pablo’s garden. The care of the two new arrivals also takes time but it is time well rewarded as Portia and Estella are delightful and help to fill the gap left by Pablo.

I acquired a goodly number and selection of perennials from the Botanic Garden plant sale and, unusually for me, have actually planted them all out in the borders as I already had ear-marked areas where there were gaps. Also a neighbour has had a tree removed near the perimeter fence, opening up more possibilities for additional planting. I’m currently checking out RHS books for likely, colourful shrubs to fill the shady gap.

I want something which will give good colour all year round and am leaning towards a particular acer which grows in neighbouring gardens and is currently a fantastic mix of yellow, orange and green. I can’t find it listed in my books and am gearing up to knocking on doors to find the answer! I also would like more dogwoods especially the lime green variety which will look wonderful against the euphorbia.

The glories of the bluebell wood

I did manage a walk in the bluebell woods adjacent to Durham’s Botanic Gardens a couple of days ago – hence the one solitary image shown – kindly sent by friend Elaine. It had rained heavily beforehand, making the walk difficult in places, but it was so worthwhile – hosts of bluebells with their sweetly smelling perfume – such an uplifting and glorious sight. The bluebells in Pablo’s garden are something of a misnomer as they range from blue to pink and even to white. I picked a few, together with garlic flowers and leaves, earlier today but need to place the jug somewhere safe from inquisitive claws …