Lost Witches and Puzzling Paths

I am finding it hard to believe that February is nearly over. Now we move into one of the main seed sowing months. It was so warm yesterday I jumped the gun a bit and sowed some sweetpeas.

I did save some of my own sweetpea seeds as well. We`ll see how they do.

Andy brought us two huge truckfuls of chipped bark recently so we made a start on that today, with the new puppy, Buddy tumbling between shovelfuls. It`s cypress lleylandi but we are not fussy. It actually smells very pleasant.

I finished the second flowerbed. The next one along is going to be hard work.

1st bed

2nd bed

I think the grass will need cutting soon.

 

I have been debating what to do with this path. I am fed up weeding it at least four times a year. We want to let it grass over but there is membrane, underneath a thick layer of well rotted chipped bark. I am wondering whether to pull out the membrane and perhaps have a path of wild flowers instead.

The trouble is there are lots of self seeded plants already growing there. And I have plenty of packets to use up.

I brought home a clump of pulmonaria "Blue Ensign" and was astonished when it split up into 40 pieces. I love the piercing blue, so beloved by bees at a sparse time of the year.

Maybe there will be some of these plants for sale at our little nursery later in the year.

The palma violets are doing well this season.

And the bellis daisy continues to flower its socks off.

Whilst cutting back the ferns round the pond, I found the missing witch. She must have tumbled out of the old fairy palace.

We spent our teabreak with my nephew Toby who is working on the decking at the Owl Yurt. It was nice to catch up in the sunshine.

 

Our Farmer Gracey amaryllis.