mid-April 2023

Buds

fringecups

sage

calendula

water avens

Centaurea dealbata

parrot tulips on the left Little Princess tulips on the right

closer view of those Little Princess tulips

later in the day when the sun went around leaving the table in the shade

a couple days before

a claytonia has self-seeding with the Little Princess tulip below

claytonia with flower buds

this was one of my claytonia from 2 weeks ago but I noticed the photo this morning and what a great rosette it makes in the right conditions, this started a while ago and over-wintered

I beautiful yellow rose at the back of the garden which was there when I moved in (20 years ago) and flowers every year with no help or intervention from me.

bluebell buds, I had loads of bluebells in the flowerbeds forming huge clumps preventing other plants from growing, I thinned them out and now just have a few at the back of the garden

my first red campion flowers blooming

I'm a recent grower of red campion after sowing it with a mix of wildflower seeds a couple years ago. Last year I saw how much the bees love it and this year I see what a strong self-seeder it is, competing with green alkanet for the most prolific self-seeder in the garden. Below, red campion on the left, green alkanet behind on the right.

some muscari above starting to wilt but another pot below looking great

I bought this Centaurea dealbata a few years ago. The pot was invaded and overwhelmed by, I think a dandelion. I don't think I had any Centaurea dealbata flowers last year. Now I see a bud (lower right) and it's been invaded by a poppy. I love poppies as well as centaureas (of all kinds). Do I leave the poppy to bloom? or try to move it? I suspect it would not react well to moving so I will leave it to bloom and in future try to remove self-seeders before they get so big.

My "pond", hardly a pond any more as it leaks badly. Purple loosestrife in the centre, yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus) on the right which I hardly get any flowers from, Veronica beccabunga spread over the pond.

I noticed that my one comfrey plant has sprouted next to some of my green alkanet so useful for comparison. The comfrey (on the left) is more upright, has longer leaves and a different pattern on the leaves than the green alkanet (on the right).