Hello, and welcome to my blog! Today is the last day of April and the first good rain we’ve had in more than two weeks. The rain started this morning and has continued all day. While it isn’t a heavy rain, I think it is good enough for the garden (and farmers) to be quite thankful. I did very little in the garden this week (energy levels are still quite low following Covid), but it isn’t looking too shabby. We (read: my husband) painted the playhouse, and I’m absolutely delighted with it. Don’t be surprised, though, if the two front ‘windows’ get a facelift at some stage. 🙂

The mid-season tulips are now blooming, while the late-season daffodils are finishing up. I planted late-season tulips right in front of the playhouse this year, which will extend the tulip season. There are two different varieties and I can’t wait to see how they look.

The aubrieta is looking stunning, still. I have a bright pink color, that I’d describe as fuchsia. It is in two neighboring beds, and is supposed to be trailing down the wall. Mine like to grow inwards, though! Hopefully, it will eventually work its way down the wall.

The apple trees are in bloom and look beautiful. I’m pretty sure that there aren’t as many flowers as there usually are. We’ll see what the crop looks like. There are normally too many apples on the branches, anyway. Maybe this way there will be the perfect amount and no need to drop any due to weight. Fingers crossed! The pear tree’s blossoms have already withered!

The strawberry plants have been weeded (again), and fed and should be all set for a really good season. Plenty of little flowers already forming. I really do hope we get loads of strawberries this year – because I’m about ready to convert the bed into a flower bed if we don’t get loads of strawberries! It’s a lot of work tending strawberries. I don’t mind if we actually get the fruit, but I’m not doing it just for fun… They’ve been warned!

It’s Saturday, so I’m going to join The Propagator’s meme Six on Saturday. Feel free to join in, or visit the other gardeners!

I hope you are well. Here’s to getting my energy back so I can get back to gardening! 🙂

In Peace,
Dana

1 – Bleeding Heart – Lamprocapnos spectabilis (old name Dicentra spectabilis). Mine is a delicate plant and usually gets knocked over by our strong winds. This year has been relativity mild (so far) so it is still looking good. You can see the late-season tulips at the front of the playhouse, patiently waiting to bloom.

2 – Strawberry bed. I had to have this picture since they look so neat and tidy. Long may it last.

3 – Apple tree – Arthur Turner cooking apple tree. I love the deep pink of these flowers (the eating apple tree has light pink flowers). The daffodils underneath are finishing up, but still look nice.

4 – Cherry trees. While it seems that most of the world have pink flowering cherry trees, I have three white flowering cherry trees. I would have preferred to have pink, but there you have it. The white flowers are still very pretty. The top right picture also has the eating apple tree, where the light pink flowers look to be white. It is just so nice to have everything in bloom!

5 – Kalanchoe Blossfeldiana – at least I think that is the name of it. Here’s something new for me: a house plant! I’m usually very good at killing house plants. But I have been working on not over watering my plants, and it really does help in making them happy. This plant is completely covered in beautiful pink flowers, I had to take a picture. Honestly, though, I didn’t have a place inside that was worthy of a picture so I just brought it outside. I’m going to use the Covid excuse again. 🙂

6 – Tulips: Queen of the night and Pretty Princess. I added more Pretty Princess tulips this year, as they faded more than the Queen of the night tulips had. But I think I can use even more, to balance them out. I’ll have to mark out now the area to plant in as the bed it getting quite full!

This is my favorite photo of this season. It captures the tulips, aubrieta, anemone, the roses and peony to come, the apple and cherry tree, the birch trees, the pink parrot tulips way down by the gate, and the top right corner is a field of rapeseed – all taken on a lovely sunny day!

I do hope you’ve enjoyed the tour. Thanks ever so much for stopping by! 🙂