aubrietia | Mom in the Garden

Hello, and welcome to my blog! I’m sitting at my desk at the end of a weekend where I spent more time being in the garden than I did in the house – and what a great experience that is! While the weather is still not exceptionally warm (it was around 13°C / 55°F), the sun was shinning for most of the weekend. There is no doubt that sunny days lift my mood, and when I’m able to get into the garden, it is euphoric!

What’s going on in the garden in April? Well, I’m mainly taking care of my new trees, the plants which we moved in March, as well as the new plantings. We haven’t had a lot of rain, so it was a big enough job making sure everyone had enough water this weekend. The first year of planting trees is pretty important, after that their roots will hopefully be deep enough so that it isn’t as big a deal if we miss some rain. I also added more compost around the birch trees to help keep the moisture in and to feed the soil. We will need to move our compost ‘heap’ this season and I want to use up as much of the ‘good stuff’ as possible before we set up the new spot. The new spot has not yet been determined, unfortunately. All in good time (says she, hopefully). 🙂

The strawberry plants have settled in perfectly. They are hardy, to say the least. The blueberry shrubs also seems to be happy enough in their new homes. The raspberries, on the other hand, are giving me trouble. Some of them are wilting. Perhaps it was from the frost we had after they were planted? But then why aren’t they all wilting? We’ll see. Again, I’m still hopeful!

The vegetable plants that I started from seed are now growing a little too fast. I’ve started to acclimatize some of them, setting them outside during the day. If all goes well weather wise, I’m hoping to get some of them planted the beginning half of May. My little flower seedlings aren’t growing at as fast a pace. I’ve moved them to the south facing part of the house and I can already see an improvement. I have no choice but to be hopeful!

The tulips are in full bloom. The early varieties have already started to fade. This has me planning on what I can add to which bed for next year. But for now, there are so many signs of what’s still to come, I don’t think we’ll be stuck for color any time soon!

We’ve observed so many birds resting in the new trees now. There is a noticeable increase in avian visitors, which is delightful to see. It is just a joy to see and hear them. If you follow me on Instagram, you can often hear them in the background of my stories.

I hope you are enjoying your weather, wherever you are in the world! I also hope that you, too, have much to be hopeful for.

In Peace,
Dana

There isn’t too much progress on the new beds. The raspberries in front are challenging me, while the blueberries and strawberries seem to be doing fine. The pear tree is flowering, too, with pretty white blossoms.

The blooms on the Arthur Turner (cooking) apple tree are a very pretty deep pink before they open to a lighter pink. The tree is covered in blooms.

This apple tree will have red apples that are classified as ‘eating’ apples (not cooking). The blossoms are a light pink when closed and a pale pink when opened. The tree is quite a sight as it is completely covered in flowers!

April was all about Tulips! We enjoyed a lovely display, mostly due to the fact that we hadn’t had any major storms, which would usually batter the tulips. So thankful for the calm! (Top right: Queen of the Night, bottom right: Pretty Princess)

This white tulip is a new variety this year, although I have had similar before. It is called Tulipa Honeymoon and is pure white with a fringed edging. It is very pretty. I thought Kitty looked sweet sunning herself in the evening sunlight between some of the tulips.

Our hallway is becoming quite full! I can’t wait until we can plant out everything in the garden! I did buy some fleece, just in case we get frost *after* I plant them out. The picture on the left shows the plants which are further along (outside).

I spent a lot of time with the birch trees this weekend!

I think the ‘Rose bed’ looks so pretty at the moment, with the aubrietia (in front), purple anemone, pink and deep purple tulips and the rose bushes starting to fill out with leaves. Oh, and that blue sky sure helps!

Thanks for stopping by! Take care! 🙂

Snowdrops in January

Hellebore Frilly Isabelle in February

Happy (almost) New Year! What a joy it has been looking through pictures of this past year while putting together this blog post! I love taking pictures and capturing what is happening in the garden, and it is nice to then go back and see what changes there were in the garden throughout the course of the year. The garden is always in a state of flux and growth. The biggest change to the garden this year, though, was the addition of chickens. I adore having them as pets. The Long Island Red (hybrid) chickens joined our family in March, at 23 weeks. They each started laying one egg a day a couple of weeks later and have continued ever since. Their house and run now take up a large part of our back garden, where I can watch them from our kitchen.

There have been other changes in the garden, too. In one of my lavender beds, I removed a large plant that I have never been a fan of (name unknown). What a great feeling it was to get rid of it! In its place, I added a fig tree. My love of evergreen trees continues, with the addition of a small one, Picea pungens ‘Super Blue’, to the garden this year.

Plants and shrubs were added to a few of the beds around the yard. I like making these small changes, which of course add up over time.

My two rose beds have also had more David Austin roses added to the collection. The boxwood (box) hedge in the newest rose bed is doing really well and slowly filling in. This is exciting to see because we grew all of these plants from cuttings. “Yay!” for successful ways to save money in the garden!

We had quite a fruitful crop of apples and pears this year! Lucky enough, we didn’t have any major storms to knock down the fruit prematurely from the trees, as has happened in the past. (And they tasted delicious!)

I’m thankful for our harvest of garlic, too. There is nothing nicer than homegrown garlic!

My crop of sweet pea smelled simply amazing this year. I was able to cut bouquet after bouquet of pretty, sweet smelling flowers for weeks.

Like Sweet pea, Sunflowers have been a staple in the garden for the past number of years, and I plan to continue with that tradition.

Not all was pretty in the garden this year though. My Incrediball Hydrangea started the season off well, but finished with a burnt look from, apparently, too much sun. I will move it to a shady spot this year.

Another section of the back garden has become quite overrun by weeds – in a very bad way! And therein lies my challenge for 2020!

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in the garden, photographing it and writing about it. I hope you have also enjoyed it.

I’m very excited to see what the garden brings in 2020!

Thank you so much for being a part of my gardening and blogging experience! I have had visitors to my blog from all over the world, and I’m so glad you’ve stopped by. Please do feel free to write a note, especially from where you are from. I’d love to e-meet you! 🙂

I wish you all best wishes for a wonderful and healthy New Year! May 2020 be everything you hope it to be!

In Peace,
Dana

Garlic in February

Cleared out lavender + hydrangea bed March 1

Lavender bed cleared of unwanted plants while Lavender, Hydrangea & Lilies remain – March 1

pink hyacinth in a jug with chicken house in the background

A bouquet of Hyacinth and the hen house

Hellebore Winter Sunshine in March

Freshly dug up bed - Lavender + hydrangea - fresh compost

Lavender bed cleared of unwanted plants while Lavender, Hydrangea & Lilies remain. Here it has been freshly turned with compost added.

Abies Koreana covered in pine cones March 31st

Surrounding fields in April

Aubrietia in April (can you see my boots?)

Front Garden View at the end of April

Japanese Maple garden view end of April

Dug-up bed mature Lavender + hydrangea + hosta + lilies

Lavender bed cleared of unwanted plants while Lavender, Hydrangea & Lilies remain.

Merlot tulips and aubrietia

Dana in compost with chickens and Kitty

Strawberry Plants at the beginning of May

Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’ (Nootka Cypress) in May

Lily of the Valley planted with our cypress Nootka

View of the garden around the playhouse in May

Hawthorn trees in May

Lilacs and Hawthorn in May

Here is a picture of the mystery plant (at the back of the bed) last year. The mature lavender plant at the front is the source of many of my lavender wands!