Stormy Weather

[Lateralthinking1]

Salymap - Yes, crisp and full of morning sunshine here on the edge of Greater London and the North Downs. It is the kind of early daytime when it feels almost like being close to the sea. I have about eighty daffodils that each looks like the summer sun. They seem as if they have just appeared where they want to be rather standing in lines like soldiers. I prefer them that way. The hyacinths have done better this year than last. I like the deep mauve ones. Some are scented but I'm not sure which.

It has been an odd month in my small garden. The snowdrops kept going until late into March but the crocuses never convincingly took off. There are still some very wintry colours at the front - red berries and some crimson heathers - and yet I swear that some of the bushes look almost autumnal, particularly in the current light. As for the tulips, red too, but not many of them yet. They are saying that spring came early this year but here it seems to have been a bit all over the place. Still, it makes it all more interesting and it could always be that I'm just noticing things more than I once did - Lat.

[salymap]

Morning Lateralthinking1 My garden seemed to burst into leaf and colour a few days ago. Leaves on the Bramley, pink/red flowers on the Ribes big bush, and the dogwood, with lovely red stems and pale leaves. The borders aren't worth looking at as only the 'thugs' survive, tough plants that smother the others. Japanese anemone, spurges in various shapes, and a few irises. I could cry when I think of the plants that have been smothered but something usually gives some colour.

[marthe]

Sunny but cool here in southern NE. At the moment, I have my "blue lawn," a tiny-squill-like flowering bulb that covers the lawn and grows in to the woodsy part of the garden. They're not Scilla non-scripta and were here when we bought the house eight years ago. my English Bluebells are still poking their way above ground but no sign of flowers yet. Daffs are just beginning with the tiny Tete a Tete's showing color. Crocuses are still in bloom and snowdrops are almost finished. My garden task right now is to clean up the perennial beds and see what is coming up. I've also been waging war against a very unwelcome weed, onion grass. It looks like chives but is highly invasive, growing in large clumps throughout the lawn, woodland garden, and flower beds. Post-emergant, non-selective herbicide does not kill it (nor am a keen to use too much of that stuff) so the only thing is to dig it out with my perennial spade and fill in the divots with fresh compost, then reseed grass or plant something more welcome.

@saly, your "thugs" sound most interesting. Are the anemones spring- or autumn-flowering? So far, mine are well-behaved autumn-flowering Japanese types such as Robustissima (single pink), Pamina (double pink), and Andrea Atkinson (single white).

[Uncle Monty]

It's actually raining pretty hard here at the moment. What a nerve! Still, it'll save me watering the allotment again today

[salymap]

Hello marthe. My Japanese anemones are the Autumn flowering ones and goback years. I have white ones outside the back door and side of my bungalow. There were pink ones in what was a nice island bed. Iventured a littleway down the garden today but the grass is so bumpy I don't usually visit the bottom ofmy garden much.
They have been swamped [the pink JA] by an iris leaved plant called something like [approx] Sysirinchiam.
I've already given a lot of my gardening books away so can't look it up. It has spikes with yellow flowers.

From the house it doesn'tlook too bad but it's betternotto visit the flower beds. Trying to rain here now so must putrubbish bins out.let's have some more gardens to look at soon, if you agree. saly

[marthe]

saly: I know sisyrinchium (I cheated and looked up the spelling.) It's also known as Blue-eyed Grass and is a member of the iris family. Mine are sky blue, very pretty when in bloom in June-July, but potentially invasive...so will keep an eye on them. They grow in the wild here, along the margins of fields where it tends to be wet. I'm not sure if it's considered a native or alien wildflower. No sign of my anemones but will keep looking.

Yes, let's continue the garden tour! Here's the site for the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx www.nybg.org/ . They've been having an orchid extravaganza recently. I'll bet Euda is familiar with this! Professional gardening friends have been through their very rigorous training course. Closer to home is the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, Mass. http://arboretum.harvard.edu This site requires a flash plug-in to access some of the images. I hope it's not too much of nuisance for you.

[salymap]

marthe Wonderful pictures, thanks a lot, I've only looked at Harvard so far, I shall try and keep it, had no trouble with it.

I am new to trying to forward anything so have been practising on a email to a cousin. I was trying tosend you houses and gardens in Norfolk and Suffolk, Ickworth, Blickling, etc.All I can find is sites advertising holiday accomodation,

Holkham Hall is still owned by the Coke [pronounced 'Cook'....why?] family, the Earls of Leicester. I'll try and access some Kent, Sussex and Surrey houses and gardens, if I can get links to work,another day.

Thanks a lot for yours.anyway, regards, saly

[marthe]

marthe Wonderful pictures, thanks a lot, I've only looked at Harvard so far, I shall try and keep it, had no trouble with it.

I am new to trying to forward anything so have been practising on a email to a cousin. I was trying tosend you houses and gardens in Norfolk and Suffolk, Ickworth, Blickling, etc.All I can find is sites advertising holiday accomodation,

Holkham Hall is still owned by the Coke [pronounced 'Cook'....why?] family, the Earls of Leicester. I'll try and access some Kent, Sussex and Surrey houses and gardens, if I can get links to work,another day.

Thanks a lot for yours.anyway, regards, saly

Thanks, saly! I look forward to seeing more gardens.

[salymap]

Morning, Sunny but cold, to me anyway.

How do your gardens grow? Concerts sound? Funny stories entertain? Let's be having them!

[greenilex]

Morning, Sal. Just back from Camberwell and rels' lawn which is a sun-trap. Love Marthe's links especially the plants-from-China page from Harvard.

[salymap]

Thanks mercia, I hope to get better at this but always seem to end up with adverts for flats, etc

Morning greenilex, yes those links are worth keeping.

[salymap]

mercia, Don't be daft! All help welcomed by this muppet who didn't use this sort ofcomputer until I was77.

However I did work on an IBM System 34, as big as a house, back in the 1970s. Not so much fun though.

[salymap]

mercia, sadly your links didn't do much better than mine. No nice pix of the beautiful gardens that Icould see, anyway.

[mercia]

pix

sorry, didn't realise you were after pictures.
There are thousands of pictures on the www.flickr.com photography site of gardens including Blickling. They're amateur photos but many are very good.

[salymap]

They are not for me, I was trying to find something for marthe in Rhode Island. I stillhave my old brochures from when I visited these places years ago. Thanks anyway