Wild about the garden...

When my Mum and I first really caught the gardening bug, most of what we were about was making brilliant habitats for wildlife, and that's never changed. With a few exceptions, our planting choices are influenced by what they provide for the beasts in our little patch...nectar-rich blooms for pollinators, early flowers for bees, groundcover for fledglings to scurry in, berry-bearers for birds to gorge themselves on, and plants for insects to snuggle up in. Lambs ears are great for that, as this little Ladybird would agree I'm sure...

What I love most about the above picture, is - if you look really closely on the bottom-right - you can see a little spider enjoying the benefits of the Stachys as well! 

Ladybirds are certainly aplenty in our garden, thankfully. And seeing them, never fails to make me smile. And, aside from Ladybirds, there are some other exciting sights! Like this spider, on the prowl on an Epimedium leaf...

And then of course there are the bees! Endlessly fascinating, absolutely amazing!!

 

 

And from bees to wasps...check out how gorgeous this wasp is up close! (Pictured on a Peony bud).

Bring me sunshine...

Sunshine has been at a premium of late! So, needless to say, every time I see a few scant rays shining in the garden, I leap up to capture them! Here's a few of my favourites looking glorious in the sunshine...

 Euphorbia 'Perry's Tangerine' is a new acquisition of mine. Having a bit of a 'thing' for Eurphorbias, I simply couldn't resist buying it when I saw it at West Acre. Look at those wonderful little red eyes! Made all the more appealing when the sun's rays illuminate them?

 

Although not really my favourite Tulip, Akebono has been a reliable performer over the past couple of years. It always seems to come back as big and beautiful as ever, regardless of conditions. It got battered about a bit in all the wind and rain, but thankfully this neighbouring rose lent a little support!

Orange!! How I love orange!! And Tulip Prinses Irene does orange so well! With a bit of morning sunlight shining through the petals, it does it even better!

What was that I was saying about orange?! Calendula Indian Prince is such a vibrant colour and its petals have a wonderful independence. They all seem to make their own mind up about when's a good time to open! 

And it's just so lovely seeing the whole gardening with a bit of sunshine sprinkled over it!

Let's get it started...

It was about a month ago now that I decided to splash out on my camera. My little HTC phone has made a valiant effort at taking nice, close-up shots of all my flowers, but after a couple of years of making do with it's less than capable camera, I finally decided now was the time! Garden, let me introduce you to Canon 600D...

This was in the first batch of photos I took with my camera...one of my absolute favourite Narcissus, Hawera. Much to my delight a profusion of these fought against the dry winter and put on a brilliant Spring display, unlike lots of my other daffodils. Thoroughly charming!

As soon as I had my camera, one of the first things I was eager to capture was the amazing sight of raindrops on Alchemilla mollis leaves. I didn't realise quite how nicely set off they'd be by the wet gravel...bonus!

Many from my list of favourite plants in the garden are those I've bought from Richard Hobbs - plantsman extraordinaire and regular on the Garden Party panel. This little Anemone nemerosa viriscens is one of those. In spring it pops up with these gorgeous feathery bracts instead of flowers...divine!

Not always brilliant on the full names of the plants in my garden...I know this little tree is a Corylopsis, but I can't remember which one. I'm sure it's obvious! Anyway, its dainty, pendulous flowers and red tinged leaves look gorgeous against the blue of the shed door behind it!

One of the things that most fascinates me in the plant world is moss! It's amazing!! Every so often pictures of bits of moss will turn up, like this little bit by the pond.

Introductions...

Welcome to the garden chez Fridriksson! My Mum and I spend endless hours (and endless pounds and pennies) here pottering about, digging, planting, titivating, and doing a lot of looking on!

As the year goes on, I'll add photos of all my favourite plants and combinations, but to get started here's a little look at it from front to back...

This is a view out towards the road in the front garden...

The two little star plants on the bottom left are Tulip 'Peaches and Cream' and Euphorbia 'Fens Ruby'.

The next big bit of the garden is the middle part of the garden behind the house. This is a small 'patio' area, with a couple of steps leading to a gravelled area and a path that leads up the garden...

Beside the grassy bank on the left is our pond, recently relined and lovingly restored (actually this is a slightly out-of-date picture...planting in the pond has begun...pictures of that to come later...)

And after that we get to the fence that divides the back part of the garden into two. It must be around 14/15 years old now, so very green and wonky! This is a view back down the garden from the gateway...

And beyond the fence is the magic world of our 'woods'.

Oh, and I nearly forgot...when we ran out of planting space in the garden, we dug up the verge and planted that up as well! I've got plans for making it a bit more full of spring colour next year, but I'm thrilled to bits with how it's over-wintered, and how nearly everything I put in there is thriving!

And there you have it...a tour of the garden chez Fridriksson from the verge out the front to the 'woods' at the back! Much more to follow...