The Easter Tree

In one of my Easter blog entries, I mentioned my Easter tree.

I usually pick a bunch of shooting twigs and then hang my little wooden items on .... bunnies, chicks, eggs etc. It looks very pretty. I am sorry it is against this background but there it is.

The Easter egg hunt in our own garden went very well and it was the only decent day out of three. We had a great walk in the woods nearby to see the anemones, bluebells and primroses.

Since then we have had some rain so the new turf and the new lavender hedge are settling in well. The newly planted cornflowers will perk up no end.

 

I would say the blossom is at its zenith ..... cherry, apple, pear, crabapple.

We have started to prepare the polytunnel for the tomato planting by lifting carpets, watering extensively and setting up the solar panel watering system.

I planted some well protected rocket.

We will soon get the tomatoes in.

My next dilemma is whether to pinch out the tops of my cosmos plants. Don`t know if I can bear to do it.

 

Lavender and Willow Whips

On Thursday we visited one of our favourite nurseries, Rapkyns near Heathfield. Morag who runs the nursery, is such a lovely lady with a wealth of knowledge about the plants. We purchased a dozen Munstead Lavender plants for Freshwinds and a few gems for our own garden. Morag gave us some hints about trimming before planting.

Outside we noticed the car park had been enlarged with a section cordoned off from the field. There we met a very interesting man called Dieter, who was putting in a new gatepost. We got chatting and after a discussion about wood in general, he showed us his phone pictures of the most incredible carvings he has done from wood .... witches, gnomes, toadstools. I now wish I had a contact number. We could have talked to him for much longer.

 The main aim for our garden visit today was to plant up the lavender hedge. And this we did. We had to dig over the area again, removing any traces of couch grass. We used old pea gravel to make the drainage a bit better.

I don`t think rabbits would like lavender but I wasn`t taking any chances. They are covered with a low tunnel of rabbit wire.

As I planted each one I gave it a haircut .... about 2 cm as advised.

I also had half a tray of yet more cornflowers, as well as a few odd statice plants. I just managed to get them in. 

In the big raised bed I have planted up lychnis, grasses, helianthus, golden rod and cornflowers. The latter protected from rabbits with recycled water bottles.

Nearby the new statice plants are also protected.

 

In the polytunnel the bumblebees were going wild with excitement over the broad bean flowers. The beans will soon be ready to eat.

I recently potted up the rooted willow whips. I had just stuck them in buckets of water and they rooted very quickly.

I think they could be used to fill some gaps in the willow circle near the Owl yurt.

I did wonder if we may have gone too far when we cut back the willow at the entrance but lo and behold, the new shoots are springing out. Amazing.

And the willow fairies are back .... they should survive for another year.
 

Just outside the garden are myriads of poppy seedlings. Last year I scattered literally 1000`s of poppy seeds and lots have germinated with the recent rain.

 This is going to create quite a spectacle later on.

 

 

 

 

Easter Greetings

 A very happy Easter to everyone reading this blog.

This chocolate is for our big Easter egg hunt on Friday.

Last night we had some very welcome rain and I am delighted with the difference it makes to the whole garden. This usually means there will be no frost so I have left a few trays of bedding uncovered to take advantage of the showers. |

Cosmos, sweetpeas, calendula, cornflowers, ageratum.

I have begun to plant out my bedding including sweetpeas. The latter are protected with fleece for a while yet.

Cornflowers, calendula, statice, gypsophila are in. All fairly hardy.

Two days ago I watered the tomatoes with a comfrey mix. They changed overnight,

Alongside them are the courgettes which are well away.

 

 

I repotted the aubergines and peppers because they had come to a standstill. At this point in the proceedings you have to ask yourself if all the goodness from the purchased multi-purpose compost has run out and that is why I think a bit of weak comfrey mix will give them all a boost.

Around our own garden the apple blossom has just opened.

 

Honesty flowers have seemingly appeared overnight.

The pansies are having a second coming after a bit of trimming and a feed.

 

On Saturday we looked after my nephews for part of the day and they did jobs for pocket money. One of the jobs was to collect camellia flowers. And there are plenty of those.

 

 

They also swept up magnolia petals, washed the greenhouses and sprayed with white shading. They both worked very hard.

 It gets pretty hot inside the greenhouses already.

This morning as well as catching up with housework, I managed to complete the latest batch of patchwork shoulder bags.

(I might be keeping this one)

I have also been experimenting with string patchwork. I am hoping to make a decent sized bag with four motifs on each side.

I also got the chance to change the coffee table display ready for the Easter weekend.

All I need now are a few budding spring twigs to make an Easter tree.

(More next time)

 

Scrappy Scarecrows and Brand-New Crafts

 The first visitors will be here on Friday.

The craft trolley is full. 

It was great to use the new design because the actual craft can more easily be displayed. It was also a good feeling to empty one or two boxes at home.

 

 

 

 Plenty of fairies, donkeys, kittens,

 owls and a few Eastery bits.

 

 

 

The scrappy scarecrows came out despite it being a bit chilly. I think they will survive one more year.

 

The Snug looks lovely. I woke up early this morning and sat making some bunting in the craft room. My brother gave me the hessian flags and the felt flowers. It looks very spring-like. I added it to the Snug. It is the lower set.

I set up the fairy cave ....
 

..... and the gnomes are at home in the fernery.

 

 I have seen the first newt.

The pond does need a bit of a tidy up.

Busy days and lots of sunshine.