Making the Best of It... (Was 'Blog from an Untidy Garden')

[Lesley Cox]

Very well done Amy, a great naturalist in the making. I love the orange tip  patterns on its folded wings. These are butterflies we don't see in NZ so always a treat on the Forum.

[angie]

Tony it looked as if you had a great day out. Amy looks so lovely, no wonder you are so proud. Nothing better than a bag of chips and a stroll along the waterfront.

Angie

[tonyg]

Away for 12 days ... look what I left behind
Gentiana acaulis - one of the classic alpines.  4 flowers out as I left.

[tonyg]

A few more pics taken before we travelled to Wales.

Silver saxifrages are advancing fast in the warn weather.  Saxifraga callosa and Saxifraga cotyledon were pictured on March 29th showing a hint of buds to come.  Just over two weeks later the evidence is clear for all to see.  As it promises to stay warm I will not be surprised to find Sax callosa flowers open on our return after Easter.

Bellevalia dubia is an acquired taste perhaps.  The long foliage is largely undamaged after a hard winter and the upper florets are a brilliant blue BUT the overall effect is muted by the open nature of the raceme of flowers and the dingy lower flowers.

I am gradually warming to Scilla persica.  Grown in a pot it is lanky, leafy and unexciting.  Here in the garden, in a sunny spot it takes on a much more pleasing appearance.  A bit big for the alpine purist, it associates well with other medium sized spring bulbs.  Easy to grow and easy from seed I like it.

Another silky pulsatilla, I just cannot resist them!

[tonyg]

And in Wales ... spring is in the air.

Those who know me well will not be surprised to see the train   Never lost the childhood fascination with steam which led to an early and lasting love affair with the Talyllyn Railway which celebrates 60 years of Preservation this year. 

Ruth and I encountered the woolly family when junior was less than one hour old ... Aaaaah!

The lineside wildflowers are looking great, the season here well advanced, just as back home.  Dog violets and primroses aplenty providing nectar for butterflies, much activity on the sunny days.  Amy will be in her element when she joins us next week.

[Lesley Cox]

Wonderful pictures Tony. Who wanted to go to the Conference anyway? I wish we had peacock buterflies.

[Ragged Robin]

Have just sat down to read and enjoy the winter and spring months in your garden diary, Tony, and it's wonderful to see so many glorious alpines multiplying and flourishing under your care after the sad losses of a very harsh winter.  Your slate bed is just amazing and I love the natural background it provides. It's interesting to know where some of your seed came from and to see so many seedlings emerging.  Happy holidays and I look forward to more news from your blog.

[tonyg]

Wales is home from home and we enjoy revisiting favourite places.  One is the converted farmyard pottery run by a very good friend.  We did not 'pot' this time but a walk up the track to this idyllic place is always special.  On the way back an obliging Holly Blue butterfly alighted for us, this species is distinctive in having really blue backs to it's wings.  By Six O'clock most of the myriad dandelion clocks had blown.  We had fabulous weather and enjoyed some super sunsets over Cardigan Bay.

[Ragged Robin]

Lovely images, especially the Holly Blue

[tonyg]

A few showers have broken the drought here but still longing for proper rain.
Plants are suffering the arid conditions.  Campanula cochlearifolia very nearly done to a crisp and Campanula barbata which grows in some very dry places in the mountains, also stressed.  Only one solution.  

[Tim Ingram]

Tony - my garden seems to be becoming more and more untidy as the years progress! But people still seem to enjoy it. It is exceptionally dry and I think Norfolk is little different to Kent. It suits my love of dryland plants and must be great for a lot of bulbs. Apart from visiting Aberconwy and a couple of other quite well known nurseries(!), at some protestation from the children, we had a wonderful holiday in North Wales a year or two ago, and took the Ffestiniog railway all the way up to Blaenau. We stopped part of the way down and walked through the oak woodland to the next station, absolutely beautiful and a huge contrast to the slate quarries.

I had a very enjoyable time when I last visited Norfolk, to talk to the Cottage Garden Group, and miss bringing plants up to the Wymondham Show. I look forward to hearing more about the conference you are holding next year - it may inspire us to do something similar down in the south-east.

[Brian Ellis]

Tim, your talk on umbellifers was an eye opener, much to my surprise I found I grew a dozen of those you mentioned.  Many of the group said how much they had enjoyed it.  Many thanks.

[tonyg]

A busy week but not much time for the garden ... and no rain here yet.  After a trip to Leeds for an AGS lecture a week ago, I spent a happy 36 hours near Shrewsbury with a Shropshire Lass and  her lad (another talk).  I returned with a tray full of plants a couple of builders sacks and a load of well rotted horse manure.  The sacks after providing initial amusement will serve a useful purpose here, more of that another time. 
This weekends gardening time has largely been hi-jacked by a significant birthday ..... mine!  Lots of family time, some of it spent putting the bits together, plus a BIG pressie or two.  The trough will be familiar in style to Norfolk AGS members as Norman who makes them has been offering them as raffle prizes at meetings (YES - good for group funds!)  Commissions like this one are paid for - someone must love me   Jacinta and I sat out under the stars with hot chocolate last night - as we came in there was a black shadow in the trough.  Timmy never misses the chance to explore a new box, we have 'lost' him when he has hidden in boxes indoors!

[Maggi Young]

Great presents, Tony!  

[angie]

Tony first of all belated happy birthday. I bet my garden is untidier than yours at the moment. I have pots everywhere, even blown into the pond. Branches leaves, fir cones in their hundreds all over the grass. Scared to look and see if my polytunnel is still there. What I was thinking is if you have the time to sit under the stars you are must be up to date with everything so do you fancy coming up here to help tidy my garden.

Angie