(no subject)

[endlessrarities]

They say you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs, and I was reflecting on that saying as I hacked into the big herbaceous border this morning.  Keen gardeners amongst you will know that if you've got a mature garden that's doing what it's supposed to do, there's only a small window of weeding opportunity each year, and that's in the depth of winter when a) the weeds don't grow anyway, and b) it's usually so cold and unpleasant that weeding goes from being a chore to an ordeal.

My garden's so densely planted that some daffodils, narcissi and primula were inevitably damaged by the digging and hoeing as I wrestled with couch grass and some disgusting little tree suckers that are sprouting up all over the joint.  I don't know where these mini-trees come from - I suspect Mister Whippy (see below) may be to blame- but they're a bl***dy nuisance!

I didn't feature Mister Whippy last year because it had a Very Bad Year and didn't flower at all well.  It may have been predated by bullfinches (don't care about that - if it becomes a bullfinch snack bar, that's fine by me) or it may just have been ill through a fungal attack.  I suspect the latter.   In case you're wondering, Mister Whippy is a flowering cherry tree that, when we first purchased it, had the vital statistics of a supermodel.  Hence the name.

After a severe prune, Mister Whippy has bounced back, and is putting on a good display this year:-

 

And we still have daffodils.  Lots of daffodils.  The more the season progresses, the more interesting the range of daffodils becomes.  We start off with the early flowering varieties like Tete-a-Tete and Jetfire, and an unknown pale variety with a pale lemon trumpet.  Then come the weird and wonderful varieties that I've accumulated over the years.  We have a few with salmon pink trumpets, which I unfortunately neglected to photograph.  We also have these hefty gardenia-flowered daffodils which came from Thomson & Morgan, seen here amongst ornamental quince:-

 

Unfortunately, they're not very practical for the west of Scotland, because the slightest breeze tends to flatten them.

But amongst my favourites happens to be the wonderful Ring of Fire.  It was a bit of an extravagence for me: again, it was a Thomson & Morgan variety, and the prices were exorbitant at the time, with three bulbs for £10.  Unfortunately, it's a bit of a prima donna.  It doesn't seem to thrive, and some years it just won't flower.

This year I've been lucky.  A Ring of Fire has been sighted, and here it is:-

 

It's a beautiful flower, and I don't begrudge the money!

Lastly, a picturesque combination of double hellebore and the beautiful brunnera.  I featured a similar picture last year, but it's something that never fails to please.  I'm going to try and get hold of Brunnera Jack Frost again this year - the last plants were all slugged into oblivion, unfortunately, but like Robert the Bruce, I shall try, try again...
 

The garden chores are over for the day.  I have weeded.  I have potted on my daily quota and pinched out the baby petunias.  I have one begonia corm left to plant - it's still not showing enough length of growth for my liking.  I've been very pleased with the begonias this year.  I must have salvaged about fifteen in all - some had suffered significant vine weevil predation prior to lifting, others had a spongy texture to the corm which I was concerned about.  But only one has failed to grow after the winter, and while that was a vine weevil victim, it wasn't the worst by far. 

Happy gardening!  I'm off to do some writing...

Comments

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

very beautiful

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

Ooh, love that Ring of Fire! Our daffodils (except for my neighbors') have yet to bloom. I'll be out searching for flowers later today. :)

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

Oh LOVELY! I'm going to have to plant some things around here if I'm going to be here next Spring; I just can't DO spring without flowers.

I was able to pick some violets last week when I went to Springfield, MO - that really helped.

Lovely to see your daffodils and the flowering cherry; the name made me giggle.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I don't know how au fait you are with the niceties of UK culture, but Mr Whippy was a well-known brand of ice-cream a few decades back - the kind of thing you'd buy in a travelling ice-cream van.

How this translates to an elegant tree, I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I suppose in reality it's pretty undignified...

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

*hehehe* No, I didn't have the reference but still find it amusing.

We had a cherry tree that ended up dying, but of course, calling it "Stick" probably didn't encourage it any.

[technophobe1975.livejournal.com]

I would never have guessed the ones in picture 2 were daffodils!

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

They smell good, too...

[gghost.livejournal.com]

It's all so beautiful!

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I love your red ornamental quince! I have one but it's a disappointing pink and yours has a lot more blossom.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I thought they were all that colour!

I actually have two... I thought one had died, so I bought a replacement, planted it immediately adjacent, and... Hey presto!! I had two quinces. One of which blooms slightly before the other, so I get double the pleasure!!

[changeling72.livejournal.com]

'Mr Whippy' and 'Ring of Fire' are not PC terms anymore...

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Is anything PC these days???

Poor old Ring of Fire. It can't help its name...

[clairehawthorn.livejournal.com]

I always think that political correctness is in danger of making common sense a thing of the past.

It’s an apt name for a beautiful flower which is in a beautiful garden and very lovely Mr Whippy looks above that glorious sea of daffodils.

[roaming.livejournal.com]

Lovely garden. Made me smile to see it. We're still gray brown over here in New England, though many trees now have red buds, and some lawns in the neighborhood have tons of crocus and some kind of little purple star-shaped flower all over them.

[vasma-pr.livejournal.com]

Your garden is getting more and more beautiful. I especially liked the ring of fire. Are your garden in flowers till autumn? It will be a great pleasure to follow its progress.