I’m beginning to think that the garden will never dry out, we have had so much rain this last week, parts of the garden have been under water again and there is only so much work that I can do from the paths, I have never known it to so wet in previous years. Flowers still come and go, blossom has started to make a difference to the garden, so I grabbed the camera yesterday when it was actually dry for quite some time and found six to show you…….
no 1
The Berberis down by the garage is in full flower, keeping the bees very happy.
No 2
Exochorda macrantha The Bride up at the top of the garden is looking rather lovely. She needs some attention once flowering is over, she has been rather neglected in years gone by.
No 3
Euphorbia melliferra is another shrub that is trying to take over. All of a sudden , one day there was the most overwhelming perfume of honey wafting round the garden and straight away I knew what was in flower. The perfume is quite amazing.
I think I forgot to cut it back last year and it is now so huge!
N0 4
It’s apple blossom time! This tree has small eating apples and was here when we moved in over 30 yrs ago so I don’t know what variety it is.
No 5
This though I’m sure is a Bramley apple tree, which gives loads of lovely huge cooking apples every year.
No 6
Last week I showed you my little pink prunus, this week it is the turn of its white cousin, Prunus glandulosa alba plena which I have up at the top of the garden. I think I might consider moving it to be nearer to its pink relative when it has finished flowering.
There we have my six for this week. I woke up this morning to thick fog, but already the sun is trying to break through, I think we might have a fine day, so I should be able to get some much needed gardening done. Thanks to Jim at Garden Ruminations for getting us organised, do pop over to see what is going on in gardens around the world.
Apple blossom is lovely at this time of year. I often wish I’d found space for a dwarf apple tree. Maybe one day!
I wish I had planted a couple of crab apples years ago when I was first here, would they be a better size for you?
These recent bands of rain have largely missed the Midlands out, Pauline – do you know yet how much rain you have had in April so far? I am pleased that you have some blossom to enjoy, even if you can’t get out to inspect the smaller plants
We will probably be told in a couple of days how much rain we have had, but even after all the downpours, the main reservoirs are still only 68% full- unbelievable! I can walk about half the garden without doing damage, hopefully it will dry out soon.
Apple blossom is lovely. I’m trying to save as much rain water as possible in case we get a dry spell.
My water butts are full to overflowing Rosie. I have a huge 200 gallon one off the house roof and 2 x 50 gallon ones off the garage roof, even that wasn’t enough last summer!
I hope you did get your fine day today. That euphorbia must smell divine. I’ve only seen one in the flesh once at flowering time and the scent was very heady.
I did get my fine day, thank you Catharine, I spent it winkling the weeds from the cracks between the paving! The euphorbia does smell divine, strangely though, I’ve never seen any bees on it, only flies, so they must be the pollinators.
That euphorbia sounds very interesting, I think I’ll be putting that on my ever-growing wish list!
Hard to believe that the reservoirs still aren’t full, one can only assume that a lot of water is being lost to leaks.
The euphorbia is a lovely plant Helen, just remember to cut it back after flowering otherwise it grows so big! I’m sure that some of the water is being lost due to leaks but also you must remember that here in Devon and Cornwall we have millions of visitors each year, that is an awful lot of showers and toilet flushing, there were over a million this Easter!
You’re lucky to still have your euphorbia mellifera so beautiful and in bloom. I lost 90% of the stems of mine with a few cold winter nights and only have a few stems left but still alive. I love the scent, don’t you?!
I think our lowest temperature last winter was -5C, so not too bad for the Euphorbia Fred. The scent is quite amazing, the way it catches you unawares as it wafts round the garden is wonderful. Hope yours manages to survive.
E macrantha The Bride is one of my favourites Pauline, those pure white flowers in abundance. There seems to be no happy medium where the weather is concerned but I hope your garden dries out (not too much lol) soon.
The Exachorda is a lovely shrub Denise, I feel bad that I have neglected mine, but hopefully with a bit of sensible pruning I will manage to get it back to what it should be. The weather is in extremes these days, too much rain or too much heat, we will all have to alter how we garden I think.
Glad to hear you’re on a break from the rain, it must be too busy over here to keep up on both fronts!
The berberis is always cool to see, I love those orange flowers.
The break didn’t last very long Frank, unfortunately! Hopefully this week will be better. Now that the spring bulbs are nearly over, the flowering shrubs are having their moment of glory, its all change in the garden at the moment!
The euphorbia variety is new to me, but with a honey perfume, it must be glorious. Your apple blossom is beautiful – and I’m a teeny-weeny bit envious of anyone with a Bramley. Over the past few years, they’ve been very difficult to get hold of in supermarkets and I’m not so keen on the alternatives. The white prunus blossom is also pretty. I hope your weather conditions improve for you.
The perfume from the Euphorbia is quite amazing Catherine, it travels a long way round the garden if the wind is in the right direction! The Bramley was already in the garden when we moved here over 30 yrs ago and we always get a bumper crop from it, a lot get passed along to the neighbours. We had a lovely day today, I was able to get out and do some much needed weeding!