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Gardening

Joys of Spring

(541 Posts)
bagitha Mon 09-Jan-12 16:52:36

Tramping up the hill
In the deep dusk
To shut the henhouse for the night,
I saw, even in the dim light,
Light buds on the apple tree
And, with the light of my torch,
A budding fresh greenness
At the ends of the flowering currant.
The bird cherry tree buds
Are swelling with new life
And the gorse looks sturdily leaved,
Ready to flower before too long.
If the bees have survived the winter in the chimney,
(the honey has stopped dripping),
They might come out for that.
smile

bagitha Thu 29-Mar-12 16:41:47

Are the ones in your garden 'English' or 'Spanish' bluebells, annobel?

First few flowers of wild plum blossom opening here but the bluebells (Endymion non-scriptus) have a bit to go yet before they flower.

Annobel Thu 29-Mar-12 16:46:54

That's the problem, bags, I am fairly certain that they are the Spanish invaders. sad

bagitha Thu 29-Mar-12 16:48:05

oo-er!

bagitha Thu 29-Mar-12 16:50:53

Could you dig them up bit by bit, dry out the bulbs and trash them?

The woods at Dalguise were carpeted with Real bluebell leaves last weekend. Next month the whole area will be blue and beautiful. Argyll is well-endowed with real bluebells as well — whole hillsides of them. Gorgeous! We are very lucky. smile

Annobel Thu 29-Mar-12 17:13:20

They go very deep and I have tried to get rid of them, but arthritic shoulders make it difficult. However, I have acquired a gardener and he may be able to do the job.

JessM Thu 29-Mar-12 17:49:33

Oh, I'm going to miss the bluebells. Depending on what the weather does in the next couple of weeks.
A bit of a wrench heading off south of the equator at this time of year. Shall try to organise things better in future. Anyone know what Butternut is up to? gone all quiet. I pm-ed her too... Is she off visiting/being visited?

bagitha Thu 29-Mar-12 20:12:35

Yes, butty is off on her travels – in Britain I think. Not sure when she's duw back.

bagitha Thu 29-Mar-12 20:12:51

duw? That's a good one!

Annobel Fri 30-Mar-12 09:57:43

Just noticed that the old damson tree at the end of the garden is blossoming. It is usually in full bloom on my son's birthday which is a fortnight today. Around here the magnolias are at their wonderful best, though I don't have one.

supernana Fri 30-Mar-12 11:52:06

The wild rose that twines between the branches of the ancient woodland tree, just beyond our fence, has burst into bright green leaf. In time, the roses will resemble an exceedingly long necklace. The bluebell leaves are up and ready to go. These, together with wild yellow iris, will carpet long stretches of land along the peninsula. smile

supernana Fri 30-Mar-12 17:13:07

Had long soak in very hot bath. Emerged all rosy-glowed. Putting hair in rollers [for trip to you know where] and, lo and behold, I spied the above mentioned wild rose. The hurricane made major modifications to some parts of the wild wood...the garland is in bloom and has been relocated a short distance from it's original location. It was a sight to gladden the heart.

I'm signing off for a few days. You'll not be too far from my thoughts. Thanks for all your support. Take good care of yourselves and each other. smile

Annobel Fri 30-Mar-12 17:21:07

You will look lovely in theatre super! And you can look forward to seeing your wild rose in bloom, maybe in about six weeks. I hope all goes well tomorrow. ((((hug))))

bagitha Fri 30-Mar-12 17:29:49

Wishing you all the best for tomorrow, super. I'll think of you while I'm slogging up Ben Cleuch! x

Carol Fri 30-Mar-12 17:52:03

I'm sure everything will go swimmingly super and you'll be back on form in no time at all. We'll be thinking about you flowers

Oxon70 Sat 31-Mar-12 20:10:02

Thinkng of you tromorrow supernana. All the best for recovery. flowers

bagitha Sat 31-Mar-12 20:17:53

Tramping about in the Ochils
On a day sunny enough for my face
To "catch it"!
Lovely old mill town pub,
The Woolsack in Tillicoultry
For a half pint of lager shandy after.
Then a drive back to sunny (yes, really!) Argyll.
I never realised till I looked down
At the wide Forth Valley
East of Stirling today,
That there is so much flat land in Scotland!!
Scotland doesn't do flat, much.

yogagran Mon 02-Apr-12 21:54:59

The bluebells are just beginning to flower in the woods around us - lovely!

bagitha Mon 02-Apr-12 21:58:24

Loved the spring green of the newly opening larch and hawthorn leaves that I drove past today. More primroses, lesser celandines, dandelions and daisies in my garden every day smile.

yogagran Mon 02-Apr-12 22:03:07

It's lovely to see the trees beginning to get their new leaves. They seem to go all fuzzy round the edges with bright green growth. I love this time of year - it's the best I think, complete with the promise of the whole spring and summer ahead

Carol Mon 02-Apr-12 22:14:19

These early days as the trees start to show their leaves are my favourite time of the year. Each morning when I wake up, the first thing I see outside my bedroom window is the wood and the view is getting gradually greener by the day. Magical!

Annobel Mon 02-Apr-12 22:41:10

My malus trees are covered in little red leaves and one of the rowans is also bursting forth.

Butternut Tue 03-Apr-12 20:36:33

When I arrived back from being away
I gathered my shears and entered the fray
Of a wild and woolly garden
Grown long with sunshine rays
And there at the back of my rhubarb cloche
Grew some forgotten stunted tulips
With hues of parchment white, dusty purple
Mixed with strikingly bright yellow-orange heads
Striped and tatty.
So along with some small lime-green-yellow euphorbia
I gathered a handful of Spring
Forgetting all about shearing, preening and pruning
And was happily home again.

bagitha Tue 03-Apr-12 20:45:57

I can just imafine a jugful on your kitchen table, butty smile.

bagitha Tue 03-Apr-12 20:46:40

ThAt would be imagine if I could make this iPad behave!

jeni Tue 03-Apr-12 20:51:33

Mine's playing up with yahoo! I think I'm going to have to take it to a&e ie apple genius bar! Just hope I don't get seduced by the new one!