The Gardening bug, indeed!

                               ‘Wild Flowers of Spring and Early Summer’

Artist: Maurice de Sausmarez 

It’s ‘NO MOW MAY’…hurrah! And there’s no better time than to plant some wild flowers in the grass…which is what we’ve been doing!

I recently discovered a lovely seller on eBay, who was selling wild flower plug plants. They were ‘going like hot cakes’ as they say, so I ‘struck while the iron was hot’ and bought a selection. They arrived very quickly too. Well rooted and well packed and labelled, I was so impressed!

In my family, we have always had the gardening bug! My grandma had green fingers and I recall that when I was very young, I had my own watering can to use when I went to visit her. Both my mum and my dad always enjoyed gardening.

When my son was living at home, he took over a patch of garden outside his room and ‘plied his trade’ so to speak. He soon discovered a love of gardening! I was delighted! And ever since he’s had his own house, he’s worked to transform what was a run down and neglected garden, into a wildlife friendly haven, where all sorts of creatures visit and even stay a while to feast! 

It’s essentially a woodland garden and it’s especially interesting to me because the whole area was my childhood playground! I knew it like the back of my hand, my dad would do paper chases for us…and we were always outside, playing in the woods or on the common or heathland. With an iSpy book always tucked into my back pocket, I learned so much about the natural world. It was indeed an idyllic childhood..an outside childhood…the best!

We now live in the same area and I would’ve scampered many a time over the land where our house is now built!

As well as my son, my son in law also has the gardening bug. Since moving house and acquiring a new and bigger garden, he has started to re- wild their garden and so it’s good to see that we are all of the same mindset! I was able to give him some wild flower plants this week and he was delighted! His next task is to put up a potting shed/ greenhouse and then really get stuck in to some proper gardening. One thing is for sure…

Gardening gladdens the heart and sweetens the soul! And also, it quite often runs in the family…. which makes me smile! 😁

Meanwhile, in my garden..this is the view from my back door…

And I’m quite pleased with how it’s come on since we moved here at the end of August. All that hard work in the autumn has paid off and has reaped fine rewards! 😁

 

We re- did the three, large stone, herb containers when we moved here and they look lovely right now.

I also planted Erysimum, (one of my favourite garden plants), Geum and Lavender…

Last week, I went to Plant World, which is actually a stone’s throw from where I live. The plants are always lush and healthy and although I didn’t buy very much, I did come home with a variety of Nemesia, which always pretties up a container.

We inherited these Osteospernum; a lovely, large patch it is too! The flowers close at night. And I planted a few Primula a few months ago, having brown them from small plug plants.

Finally, two lovely pieces of art, with a gardening theme, caught my eye today. The first is, ‘ By the Back Door’ by Marcella Cooper:

The second is, ‘Spring Allotment’ by Vanessa Bowman:

Happy Gardening, everyone!