Thunderfairy's at the bottom of the garden

Sunday, 30 June 2013

Spring Sprang

Well, the year has flown by and - what with a million things to do and a dodgy internet connection - blogging has fallen by the wayside. I'm pleased to say the garden didn't meet with a similar fate! From spring bulbs to catkins, old seedheads to new buds, it's been as captivating a year as any. Here's a look back at Thunderfairy's plot as it began to spring to life!

My Native Sedum pot (plugs bought from British Wildflower Plants)

Love Euphorbia purpurea. Love that this is a rogue seedling even more!

Alchemilla conjuncta, with it's beautiful silver-edged leaves.

Looks like a forget-me-not, but actually Omphalodes, which is going rather rampant in my 'woods'.

A couple of Richard Hobbs purchases!

I've used a mix of Lamiums to compete with the Ground Elder in my 'woods' and it's doing a great job. Not everyone's cup of tea, but I love the carpet effect! Just have to curtail their invasion every so often!

Euphorbia 'Fen's Ruby' - another rampant beast! But I love it!

A momentous occasion in The Fridriksson Household - the first flower on the conker we've been growing for twenty years!

Monday, 12 November 2012

Great Grass

I think grasses are one of those things you grow into as a gardener. For me, it took a couple of years and then I suddenly realised their worth and beauty. They're a wonderful compliment to other plants, but you won't find many that aren't absolutely beautiful in their own right. Even carexes, which I know some people think are ugly and coarse, hold a certain charm. I counted how many different species of grass I had the other day...it was a worryingly high number...but here are some of my favourites, including Calamagrostis emodensis, Stipa tenuissima, Miscanthus malepartus and nepalensis and Calamagrostis brachytricha...

Saturday, 10 November 2012

Moments of Weakness

You'd think one day I'd decide I finally had enough plants in my garden, but so far that day hasn't arrived! This year I've made a number of naughty purchases in moments of weakness (or moments of great wisdom, as I really feel they are!) Crocosmia Marjorie and Aster Little Carlow (which has been on my wish list for ages) are both new additions. And why stop at plants, when you can add garden accessories, like the rather lovely metal stake at the bottom..?!

Little Helpers

They're all important in the garden and completely fascinating - bees, hoverflies, spiders etc are the little helpers that keep everything ticking over. Whenever I spot them at their business, I can't help but take a moment to observe, sometimes with camera to hand...

Potted

As all small garden owners will know, you don't always have the right space or conditions for everything you want to grow. But, when did any of us let that put a stop to our horticultural plans?!

Pots are my answer to this most troubling of life's little problems, though to be honest I now have too many of them as well! I've got everything in them from shrubs, to annuals, to perennials that just don't like my soil; some of them are themed, around wildflowers or prairie planting etc. I'm going to be turfing some of these out to put my tulips in any day now, so it's nice to look back and see what they looked like earlier in the year...

Sunday, 5 August 2012

Wild about Wildflowers...

Had a spree the other day and headed out to British Wildflower Plants in North Burlingham, which - as the name suggests - has the most fantastic selection of British wildflowers. I'm fast becoming a bit of a wildflower nut, though my knowledge is very thin on the ground. Still, I absolutely love them and it was breathtaking to see such a profusion, all in one place. I bought a great range of plugs and bigger plants while I was there. The plugs mostly ended up in a couple of wildflower pots I made. The plants are now dispersed here and there about the garden..