April 25 2012, Garden no 9

Garden 2012 no 9

My cactus is flowering AGAIN, this is the first time it has EVER flowered twice in one year.

I think there was torrential rain for the whole of the three weeks I was away. Wetlands are a precious natural environment but not one I  expected to find in my garden.
By the time I arrived home, the water barrel was actually overflowing,
 my early potatoes had black and damaged leaves,
some of the pots were more suitable for aquatic life than seedlings
and the geraniums, which I grow as a pest deterrent and had put out  the day before I left, looked dead.
But on the plus side, the pond is doing well. There are tadpoles a plenty
and mother frog can be seen sitting at the bottom of the pond keeping an eye on things.
The wild area behind the pond has thrived in the wet weather. This is the area I intend to cultivate and use for more veg plus raspberry canes. Raspberry is the only soft fruit I don’t have and I’m running out of space which is why I’m reclaiming this little bit of land. I’m going to wait until all the bulbs have finished and relocate them before I dig this small corner of the garden. I love the way it’s so wild and does its own thing, but I need the space.
Not every thing suffered in the rain, the radishes are great,
delicious in fact and all the vegetables seem to be doing well.
The rosemary is in bloom,
you can smell it as soon as you enter the garden,
and the strawberry plants already have lots of flowers.
This plant, which I think is a Heuchera, is bigger brighter and all together better than when I left.
I missed most of these little guys ( fritillaria)
but looks like I’m in time for these  bigger guys (Allium).
In fact most of the spring flowers seem to be doing well,
some of the bluebells are out already,
the first forgetmenots have appeared, and the
primroses are still flowering. The London Pride is looks better already than it did during the whole of last year.
When I took this the honey bee was happily gathering pollen, it wasn’t until I saw it on the computer that I realised she had taken off and was heading for the next available pollen when I clicked.
Now all I need is a couple of dry hours over the weekend to sort those waterlogged pots and put some more bark around my soft fruit canes.

Tags: garden, garden 2012, plants, pond

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delete reply aaranaardvark wrote on Apr 28 It looks great, things are developing nicely in your little ecosystem loretta, its a credit to your hard work.

delete reply rabbitfriendhere wrote on Apr 28 I really like the mid air shot of the bee! You're probably lucky that it wasn't too dry while you were gone. I have a wild spot in my backyard as well. I had put raspberries there, but they got choked out by weeds. I'm thinking of putting in some Concord grape vines and I will try to keep the weeds to a manageable minimum in future. Like you, I am sorry to say farewell to the wild bits, but I am running out of space as well. I will miss seeing the goldfinches eat the seeds of these weeds.

delete reply pestep55 wrote on Apr 28 Lovely garden, enjoyed seeing it /:-)

delete reply djdx wrote on Apr 26 Thanks for the visit of your garden. What you think is a heuchera looks like one to me too. The schlumbergera on the window sill here has made a couple extra flowers recently. It usually blooms in November. It feels like it's been raining for 3 weeks here and our garden is quite waterlogged also, with peas I put in small pots swimming in their tray. I have bailed them out twice already.

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Apr 26 All things considered, it appears that the rain did more good than damage. So many of your plants look great and are doing well. I plant marigolds and geraniums for pest control, insects, rabbits and deer. The marigolds, like geraniums, smell and taste awful, but marigolds seem to be near indestructible.

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Apr 26 a beautiful photographic essay as always, my dear. gardening can be quite a mixed bag, but it looks like most things fared well. looks like there was quite a substantial rainfall while you were on holiday.

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Apr 26 I love seeing your garden grow. Have you given your pond a name?

delete reply wendyj59 wrote on Apr 26 Your garden must keep you busy :) We certainly needed rain but we have had loads since they declared the hosepipe ban! Who needs to raindance lol

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Apr 25 that she is :)

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Apr 25 but your honey bee is a very special honey bee...............we don't all have honey bees like yours. :-)

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Apr 25 those honeybees have a way of ducking out of the shot my does lol :)

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Apr 25 yes I planted the columbines but ( and considering the weather I'm glad I thought to do this), I sowed the seeds in a seed tray indoors which is where they still are. lol the bee was an accident, I thought I'd taken him in the flower collecting pollen.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Apr 25 I love the picture with the bee in flight!! And the radishes. Did you ever plant those columbines?

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Apr 25 very very nice and the tadpoles are aplenty