Albert’s Spring Garden

What an amazing few weeks, though not without their worries. Let me expand.

So much is happening in the garden at the moment I can barely keep up. We have bluebells, whitebells, poppies, ferns, sunflowers, hosta, corncockles, hollyhocks, geraniums, forget me nots, daisies, lady’s mantle and roses. Some of course are still emerging, some are in full bloom.

My netted seed bed has worked a charm, but the slugs have succeeded where evil face – aka Tad Wilder’s much less charming feline cousin, has failed. They have been eating the sunflowers and some of the corncockles, and they’ve demolished two or three of the hollyhocks. This has lead me to the unfortunate (depending on how you see it) use of slug pellets. One day after putting them down I was astonished to see how many slugs had been emerging for their diurnal feast. It wasn’t pretty.

What is pretty is the salvaged hosta, which I planted last year under the elder tree. It died back very quickly after I’d bought it so I’d given it up for dead. However after some serious weeding I discovered it, a little slug eaten, but the broad dark green leaves were otherwise fine. It has been relocated along with the mystery fern just under the conifer. Safe as houses. For now.

The gernaniums, which suffered a trampling from Friendly Fred, the chocolate coloured Labrador, have bloomed. Last year the daisy had one flower. This year there

are over thirty!

In the seed bed, the sunflowers are growing steadily. Another mystery plant/weed which I mistakenly took for a sunflower, is growing slowly. I will post a picture soon and see if anyone knows what it is.

Poppies too are sprouting up in abundance, and the corncockles, which, idiot that I am, I planted in rows, are doing just fine.

The viburnum cutting is growing nicely, the wild strawberry plants have flowered (I hope we get some this year) and sycamore junior has emerged again. In short, this garden is amazing and it is progressing towards plenary awesomeness.

Peace.