The phone woke me up with a start at one o'clock in the morning on Saturday. My first thought was, "This must be bad news." As I picked up I imagined my younger sister telling me my 94 year old mother had passed. We are preparing a birthday party for her 95th this weekend but she hasn't been well recently. I steeled myself for the news. My youngst son was on the other end ... a moment of relief then the panic of 'Why is he phoning so late then? What has happened?'
"Are you alright?" I ask.
"Oh, " he says, "I've got the wrong number. Sorry mum did I wake you?"
 |
| First daffodil |
.... six free plants for the cost of postage. I received Helleborus purpurascens; Helleborus niger and Helleborous Double Ellen. They were all tiny and needed time to bulk up before planting out but they are all showing off today.
The good thing about a blog is the ability to look back to previous years. Looking at an area of primroses I was struck by how few there appeared to be compared with my memory of 2015. Sure enough photographic proof shows a full line under a large laurel. That line now has gaps in it. We had the laurel chopped back last year so that area was badly disturbed and it maybe the plants were killed. Easy to put right though ... plenty of primroses elsewhere that can be divided to fill the gaps. I have a seed tray full of seedlings I could use anyway but I really want to plant those at the top of the lane in the road verge. I know that is not my land but it could look so good with a little effort!
 |
| Crocus in the lawn |
I am filling the bird feeders up there every two days now and the bird numbers seem to have increased ... but I have no idea what it was like in previous years as the place was too overgrown to see any birds! I do know a couple of magpies have started to build a large nest there using my wood pile for supplies. They are pretty close to one of my nest boxes! Not good news! The sparrows and chaffinches are not impressed either!
I was right about the frog a couple of days ago ... it found its way to the pond where a mate was waiting and the two are now making lots of froggy noises.The clear out has continued. The seed trays are washed and ready for planting; storage boxes in the greenhouses have been emptied ... that was so hard to do! ... I am a terrible hoarder and look to find a use for all sorts of old rubbish knowing full well I will never do anything with it in reality ... this time I closed my eyes as the bin filled up! Years worth of saved plastic pots gone ... not all of them mind!
 |
| Now |
I love this time of year ... everything waking up and the knowledge that this will soon be this ....
 |
| Last April |
That film corral must have been really frightening. I hate it when someone gets a wrong number late at night. I have a collection of about five hellboresthat were from the Ellen group of plants. To be honest they were a replacement for a group of single flowering plants that I had ordered so I was a bit disappointed but I have now come to appreciate the beauty.
ReplyDelete