Shades of blue ...

The colour in my garden goes through cyclical changes as it progresses through the seasons. Spring starts with the welcome splash of sunny yellow with the narcissi and daffodils. It then gives way to the riot of colour that is the tulips. These are followed by the swathe of purple of the alliums, drawing my eye to the bottom border away from the by now rather messy tulip foliage. My acorn-shaped alliums are in full bud still and yet to flower, as are my few remaining allium cristophii, ready to explode firework-like at any minute.

At the moment it is a calming blue, with these autumn-sown cornflowers flowering like mad and I can barely keep up with cutting them and bringing them indoors.

They are wild, straggly and I love them!

I also sowed nigella in the autumn and although not quite as tall as their neighbour, they are flowering prolifically too. They are also providing me with endless photo opportunities as I find their flowers fascinating.

They are great for cutting and when they go over, the seed heads are almost too good for throwing away.

I'm a little over-excited that soon I'll be cutting delphiniums too. I've said before that it feels such a luxury to be able to cut from my own garden and these were top of my list to have on the cutting patch.

Soon, the colour palette will change again, with hot pinks and acid brights emerging. I have the first roses out which have already added some zing to the border. What's flowering in your garden?

Ten things ...

• I have been drooling over tiny bowls in a heavenly shop. Alas, they didn't come home with me.

• I had the most amazing massage.

• No2 and I went to the zoo. Seven years. To say I was thrilled that Molly the giraffe approached the new bridge feature is an understatement. But, yes, that is a carrot on the right of the picture. Sadly not proffered by me though.

• No2 now wants a lizard. Possibly a bearded one ...

• My auriclas are jostling with my love of tulips as my favourite flower. The tulips need to be careful - I am fickle.

• I have been busy sewing a wonderful custom order for some kitchen accessories. Who knew double oven gloves and simple running stitches could give me (and hopefully my customer) so much pleasure.

• There are parts of my garden that are swathed in blue - some that I have planted intentionally ...

• ... and some that I have not.

• I have been enjoying other people's gardens. It looked very different from my last visit in September.
• My own garden and new allotment are keeping me busy and this gorgeous sunshine is renewing my energy in leaps and bounds. Have a great weekend - you'll find me outside!

Signs of spring ...

I had a much anticipated walk around Kew Gardens today with the lovely Kristina - I even remembered my 'big' camera! I'd forgotten how much it dislikes the chilly wind that was blowing all the delicate winter flowers around though and so, sadly, many of my {blurry} photos have disappeared into the recycling bin *sigh*.

Wrapped up in untold layers, and with coffee and cake in our tummies, we braved the cold, cold wind and grey skies.

I find it so cheering to see the emergence of the first signs of spring. My own garden is beginning to tease me with its new growth too. My last remaining patch of snowdrops is very thin on the ground as it seems to have established itself bang slap in the middle of a well-used doggy pathway beneath the big conifers.

Winter aconites are one of the first things to meet the challenge of the low temperatures of winter and early spring and I feared I had lost the few I had in my front garden, but today I spotted a solitary yellow bud and so I am hoping that mine are just extending their hibernation and getting up late. At Kew, however, there were lots of cheerful little clumps dotted around.

Swaying bravely in the wind, Kew's hellebores were the main casualty in the photography department today and this lovely lime green one was the best of a {very bad} lot. How I love them - a complete work of botanic art.

A new-to-me plant that is fast becoming a necessity somewhere in my garden, is witch hazel. I've absolutely no idea why they have been off my radar all these years of gardening. I adore the slightly scruffy flowers. This gorgeous yellow one caught my eye immediately so I can imagine what a focal point one will create if I planted one in the border at the back of my garden.

I love all the spring bulbs and cannot wait for my own garden to burst into colour over the coming months. I know for certain it is the anticipation of my tulips, narcissi, anemones and alliums that will get me through February now. There are signs of spring all around.

Promises...

Phew! I've been trying to post for ages (read: weeks) but kept getting annoying messages about having reached my photo storage limit. It seems to have resolved itself now as this post seems to be out there...

Anyway, I've been taking note of a few promising things that have been getting me through these grey days. Although, today is not one of them - I woke up to the most amazing hoar frost, as did many others judging by the excitement and wonderful photos popping up all over the place.

So, to the point in hand: 

• the promise of spring, in spite of winter having only just set in - my paperwhites, adorned with red cornus stems from the front garden.

• basil seedlings, slowly germinating on the kitchen windowsill, to liven up our pasta and paninis.

• tooth-like crocus bulbs pushing through the soil and gravel on the garden table

• a greenhouse full of autumn sown sweet peas and other seedlings, in anticipation of my exciting new cutting garden next year. (HG meaning from the seed man himself, Mr Higgledy Garden)

• hellebores in my pots and dotted through my front garden with big fat buds ready to open in the coldest season. Will I dare to cut them?

• a skein of sumptuously soft yarn that promises to warm my neck up sometime soon. Very soon, I hope.

Sowing Saturday in pictures...

Autumn sowing of my hardy annuals - DONE.

Just a few packets of seeds then...

...girlie gardening gear, always helpful...

...gently forking over the beds...

...taking care not to disturb self-seeded plants...

...being shamelessly ruthless in removing excess plants...

...to reveal patches of bare earth ready for sowing...

...around the last of the sunflowers...

...knowing that I've still got flowers to come...

...in abundance.

A Productive Day

Whichford Pottery...

One of my favourite jobs in September is planning what bulbs to buy for some eagerly awaited spring colour. It is no secret that tulips are my all time favourite flower although this year they have had a run for their money with some of the wonderful cut flowers that I have grown.

I have learnt so much about growing this year from the people I have 'met' on Twitter and so I couldn't wait to go to the bulb sale at Whichford Pottery that Harriet had given me the heads up on earlier in the summer.

In a serendipitous moment, I realised that the pottery was just a few miles away from my bestest friend and so I booked myself a room with her for the weekend and armed with my list, off we went.

Whichford is a slice of terracotta heaven. I think I have in excess of fifty or so pots/crate/containers in my garden but I came away thinking I could never have enough. The entrance to the pottery lures you in immediately with its archway of pots and I was instantly in love with Harriet's planting. Why on earth have I never thought of planting dahlias in pots?

The courtyard garden was fabulous. I particularly liked the display with succulents in tiny pots surrounded by gravel. The planting was so different from the usual suspects that I always feel uninspired with at the garden centres and nurseries that I visit. It was an absolute feast for the eyes.

 

Having ooh-ed and aah-ed in the courtyard, we made our way into the yard that housed the pots. I was literally like a kid in a sweet shop. The studios were open and we had a nosy around and a chat with one of the potters who talked to us at length about the process of making pots using moulds and then hand-finishing the designs. I said she must have the best job in the world and her face lit up as she agreed!

After having purchased our bulbs in the marquee we had time for tea and cake - always a Very Good Thing.  My thoughts on some things have done a complete u-turn: I would normally say that I couldn't stand begonias, but look at that beauty in the cake photo. Next year I will definitely have a couple of them somewhere on my deck.

 

I have pinned all the bulbs that I am planting for next spring to keep me going through the dark days of winter ahead. I will be looking forward to some other bulbs that I have not grown before too. For now they are all tucked away in the cool of my garage until I plant them in November.

It's not all about looking ahead though. My garden is still supplying me with just the right amount of cut flowers and I hope it will continue for quite a few more weeks until it is ready to be put to bed for the winter.

Right now...

• I'm wishing I could get on with some crafty-type things but my right hand is still feeling very odd and uncomfortable due to the pins and needles from that trapped nerve. I am starting physio next week. My right arm feels like my left one! Do you know what I mean? It can do things, but not properly. Awkward. Let's look at the evening sun shining on the cosmos instead.

• My new eagerly awaited magazine fell through my letter box yesterday. Have you heard? Do go buy it, it is an absolute delight. The production is fabulous and the styling, well too stylish for words! I took advantage of the brilliant subscription offer of the first three issues for a fiver. It's still available, I think.

• There was only one place to sit and read it at my leisure - the hammock. The simplest of pleasures. Made even more special by being surrounded by the birds coming down to the feeders, for their tea. The tits and finches are not put off by the thuggish behaviour of the parakeets. For the first time this year, I also saw a pair of Nuthatches coming to feed on the sunflower hearts - what a delight, one of my favourite birds.

Checking me out!

• My new hens are settling in nicely. Still a bit timid but they are getting used to me going in the run each day with lettuce or some other kitchen scraps treats. Last week, my skyline hen started laying and has presented me with the most gorgeous of blue eggs every day since.

Violet, my Bovans Nera hen

• I made a sour dough loaf and had a delicious lunch of poached eggs on toast. This has become a little tradition of mine - to poach the first eggs. 

• It is the simplest things in life that give me the most pleasure. What's yours?