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Today the temperature reached 22C - by far the warmest day of the year so far (I forgot to open the polytunnel properly and that reached a scary 36C). My replacement at work popped in for a pre-joining briefing, and as predicted by me several weeks ago, the weather improved
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The green leaves of Acer 'Osakazuki' emerging from their ruby leaf casings. Plants offer beauty in so many more ways than just flowers A steady cold drizzly mist meant no outdoor gardening, though I did a bit of pricking out in the almost equally cold polytunnel. However, it
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Just to prove I can do orange! It wasn't intentional, but I will admit I like both the Fritillary and the tulips. Another of the birthday tulips. I think it looks really good against the Spirea, but I didn't know that when I planted it... The
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This morning I counted 33 plants in flower. And I counted all the narcissi as one and all the tulips as one. Counting them helped cheer a damp morning. Here are some of them. I might write up the full list later. A clump of Erythroniums under the phormium. This
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It's not till I typed this list out that I realised how many I don't have the proper names for. With apologies in advance to those who dislike the use of synonyms... Front garden: Corsican hellebore Knautia macedonia Purple and purple/white striped tulips Centranthus rubra
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I spotted the first swallow of the year last night. Also we have a couple of goldfinches in the garden. I've seen them before but only as passers by. Seems like these could have taken up residence. And I am the proud owner of four young Trilliums, two
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For the first time this year it was warm enough to sit outside in shorts and a t-shirt - just about. I potted up loads of seedlings before a very pleasant hour sitting in a pub garden with a pint, both daughters, DB and Big T. A few new pics
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A chap I met last night asserted that gardening is 'boring and repetitive'. I asked him what he meant and he mentioned mowing, edging, weeding the patio. Well I agree to some extent - because those tasks aren't gardening, but simply outdoor housework. However, occasionally they
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For the past two nights I've come home, done a couple of indoor jobs, then strolled up to the polytunnel for a potter. To the accompaniment of evening birdsong I've slipped a happy half hour between work and dinner, potting up seedlings, watering, weeding pots and
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I read today about someone who buys all their plants from individual growers at farmers markets. One day maybe that might be me, a hopeful (but probably chilly) stallholder with my little collection of meconopsis and hardy perennials plus a few hardy shrubs clutching a mug of tea and desperately
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I'm a messy gardener. Or as I prefer to see it, a gardener who doesn't have enough time to be tidy. But eventually even I get sick of tripping over broken pots, tools and half empty bags of compost. So today's short spell outdoors
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After three days of gardening we set off with the bikes in the car in unpromising cool drizzle. It just about cleared up by the time we stopped and we managed a pleasant hour or so of country cycling in rural west Cheshire. We got back to warm sunshine and