This Week in the Garden in Photographs.

It has been a beautiful week, a week of marvellous weather and long days outdoors spent in the gardening. I was going to write “working” in the garden but it is more a pastime, a gentle time of light jobs, of bits and pieces, of this and that but no major projects and plenty of time to enjoy what the garden has to show this week. I did cut the grass midweek but sitting on a lawnmower hardly deserves to be described as work. It was a job I had put on the long finger to conserve petrol as I don’t wish to have to travel to stock up on supply so the grass had become a little longer than I would usually allow and the cut made a big difference, bringing the appearance of order and tidiness to the garden again. I like to have the grass well tended, regularly cut and the edges tidy.

Malus floribunda with rhododendrons beneath

Malus floribunda

Rhododendron ‘Elizabeth’

Rhododendron ‘Bow Bells’

Rhododendron ‘Bow Bells’

This spot in the garden is a favourite as is the featured tree, a crabapple, Malus floribunda.  It has a magnolia behind it, rhododendrons around it and wood anemones beneath.

Last autumn I bought a new battery-powered strimmer to cut the grass edges but it stopped working on its second outing this spring. It was under guarantee so the supplier took it back to check it out but the restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic prevented the supply of parts and the return of the strimmer so I am without one at present. This has left me using a hedge clippers, a manual shears, to cut the grass edges, a slow and uncomfortable job. However, time is on my hands so there is no rush and it will be done bit by bit.

Tulipa bakeri ‘Lilac Wonder’

Tulipa bakeri ‘Lilac Wonder’

Tulipa clusiana ‘Tubergen Gem’

Tulipa clusiana ‘Honka’

These are all forms of tulip species and are long lived in the garden. Their return each year is especially treasured as so many tulips are little more than annual flashes in the pan – a quick show and they are gone forever.

Otherwise, this week’s activity in the garden were those of routine maintenance: weeding and freshening the surface of the soil. This is the time of year when we have a rash of ash seedlings, a gift from the line of ash trees growing along one of the garden boundaries. Ash seedlings and willowherb are our two most pervasive weeds but we keep on top of them and keep them in check. Gardening without weeds, now that’s hardly to happen ever! Sure, what would we do with the spare time?

Trillium sessile

Trillium grandiflorum

Trillium erectum

New Trilliums continue to come into flower

Everyday allows time for a walk with the camera – actually, sometime twice, or more, in the day as something catches my eye. Seize the moment!

I looked back at last week’s subjects and see that some, though photographed anew, remain favourites again this week and I thought that it might be repetitious of me to show them again but then considered that repetition is part of gardening and included them.

Enjoy!  If you click on the grouped photographs you can view them in a larger format and as a blogger I read always says:  “Please don’t be shy about adding your comments.”

Paris incompleta

Paris quadrifolia

Paris quadrifolia

I especially enjoy Paris especially Paris quadrifolia. It is an uncommon plant and I have the good fortune that it grows extremely well in our garden. 

Narcissus ‘Pipit’

Narcissus ‘Limerick’

Two daffodils still looking good late in the season – I wrote of Narcissus ‘Limerick’ in my last blog. 

Paeonia ostii ‘Feng Dan Bai’

Paeonia ostii ‘Feng Dan Bai’

Paeonia ostii ‘Feng Dan Bai’

Finally, the highlight of the week: a tree paeonia with an exquisite flower.