A few pretty pickies from the garden

The garden is getting everso very pretty now and even I find myself wandering around it with a smile on my face... :D

I'm not a huge fan of yellows and oranges, and I've been trying to slowly harmonize the colour scheme in the garden since we moved here almost four years ago. Looking at these pictures, it looks like I'm actually getting somewhere.

Beautiful Borage.

I didn't notice last year how the blue Borage flowers start off pink...

The newly-added white pebbles (thanks to my mother-in-law) made a huge aesthetic difference.

The fast-spreading Fairy rosebush is finally flowering. My first ever roses! :)

Lots of pinks and blues. Finally some order to the chaos.

There are still flowers on the Aquilegia and the Bleeding Heart! <3

I finally managed to get some very finickety Cape Marigolds to flower this year.

My Queen Elizabeth rose is surviving (actually this is my first ever rose, but the Fairy
beat her into flower), but has been attacked by all manner of nastiness. I'm really having to
pamper her every morning, squishing little munchers. I haven't the heart to rid her of all her
rusty leaves just yet, but I know I have to. I'm waiting for her to flower first...

Dark cerise Million Bells Calibrachoa Petunias in the tall urn under the birches. In contrast
to last year's regular Petunias, these ones are self-cleaning, saving me A LOT of time...

The wilderness corner by the expanse of rhododendron. I think that it
may actually have been a flowerbed at some point judging by the plants.

The tidy herbs and fruits bed still looking good despite the hare attacks.

Happy Midsummer everyone!

Flower arranging

Flowers have finally started sprouting up all over the place, which not only means the garden's looking a little prettier, but it also means I now have a huge (free) resource for designing little bouquets for every room in the house.

Being not too clever at this, I recently invested in a book on flower arranging.

Here are some of my first (feeble) attempts:

His bathroom.

My bathroom.

Very patriotic in the entrance hallway.

Dining table.

Living room. Okay, so I cheated - I didn't grow these. I usually have
lillies in this vase, but they always try to droop to the sides - brilliant tip
from my new book: use a grid of sticky tape! So simple!

Living room (I didn't grow these either). Same here with the tape.

My first attempt at flower arranging. With an oasis. The rhododendron is actually cerise,
which doesn't come across in the picture - very striking against the black granite patio table.

So elegant in its simplicity.

These little arrangements have really cheered the place up. So my advice to you is: pick a few flowers and bring them indoors. You really won't miss them from your flowerbeds and they do make such a difference to your home!

Happy flower arranging!
Laura

Tidy greenhouse for a change

It's all looking very pretty and tidy in the greenhouse this year. :) Wonder how long that'll last...?

Growth growth growth!!

Despite this recent cooler weather and the very chilly spell we experienced last week, everything still seems to be growing well.

The sweet peas (far left), De Grace mange tout (middle) and particularly
the Sugar Lord sugar snaps (right) are doing really well.

The row is gradually filling up with beautifully delicate (and so far only white) flowers,
the multicoloured sweet peas are still only green.

The broccoli has recovered well from its attack...

....which I think may have been by this baby orphan hare, who was in the kitchen garden
enclosure yesterday, and who I (unintentionally) scared the bejesus out of. He scrambled
about trying to get out, crashing into the plastic netting 3 times before finding the door.
:( Poor wee thing.

Looks like we'll be getting a better potato harvest this year.

I was much later with my courgettes this year, as the first batch didn't
germinate, but they seem to be doing well now.

While selecting photos for this blog entry I came across a picture of this
(carrot, yellow onion & marigold) raised bed from late April...

What a difference a month makes!!

Meanwhile in the greenhouse...

Plenty of flowers, and this year's first tomato on the Maskotka toms.

The Jalastar chillies are growing nicely.

I have decided to cheat with cucumbers in future, because I just find them too
much work, and they're fairly cheap to buy. This one has established itself well
and even has a few teeny tiny little cucumbers on it.

This grapevine was one of two already in the greenhouse when we moved here
(I managed to kill the other one), but has yet to produce any grapes worth eating.
Judging by the number of healthy-looking bunches, we might just see a decent
harvest this year :)

Phew, that was a long blog entry o.O Hope you all have a lovely June with lots and lots of fresh, home-grown yummies!

:o)