Spring!

It was very much greener over on the west than it is here, but at last the lime trees on Tweed Green are popping their buds open to reveal clusters of little tiny leaves.  The pear blossom in my garden is looking wonderful – oh for a good crop of fruit in the autumn –

d 

and the apple blossom is well in bud but not quite open yet.

I’ve had a couple of spending sprees for garden plants  in the last week.  On Saturday I bought a potentilla, a ceanothus and a lavatera from Scott Brothers’ small garden centre, across the road, then a rhododendron, a quince and some lily of the valley from Milestones, down near St Boswells!  The cafe there is great for lunch or even a cup of tea and a cake, so of course you have to go and inspect the wide range of plants afterwards!  I was quite pleased with myself that I stopped at just those plants as it’s always so tempting.

Now the next thing is to get them planted.  I had to dig out my last rhododendrons as they weren’t doing well at all.  One had just died, but the other still had green leaves on it so badly eaten it wasn’t getting anywhere at all.  It had looked such a beautiful healthy plant when I bought it, but I suspect the pot had the dreaded vine weevils lurking in it!   I may keep Percy Wiseman – that’s the new rhoddie – in a large pot this time. 

It’s deciding where to put them!   I may have to clear out another bit of flowerbed.  We’ll see. In the meantime I have to remember to keep them well watered and with my new windows in, I can’t get the hose through to the kitchen tap any more.  It seems it might be a good idea  to get an outside tap fixed up soon.

I took quite a few pictures out in the garden of the various plants that are already growing:  the drumstick primulas, the pieris with its red tips – I’m amazed it’s survived being overshadowed by the buddleia for a year or two but it’s looking good -  and the bluebells that are starting to bloom now….

 

I took a photo of one bluebell and started playing with it on the computer, adding different  filters to it to create different effects.  Here are a few of my favourites,  After a while it was hard to tell which was the original photo!!!

 

You’ll  probably have to enlarge them to see the changes!

 These are just a few of the umpteen that I tried out!

 

 

 

 

I love these primulas – pompom flowers we used to call them when we (my sister and I) were kids.

 

 

And I even noticed that the gooseberry plant  already has tiny gooseberries forming! Now… I need a plum tree next!  Where can I put one of those, I ask myself!

Oh well, no doubt I’ll think of an answer to that one in due course!

Talk again soon.