A Lunchtime View

I am very fortunate to work close to a beautiful parkland area and rockery garden.  It is actually part of a former psychiatric hospital which is now used in different ways since the introduction of care in the community.   I sat on a bench and ate my lunch in the sunshine looking at all the stunning trees and shrubs.  The garden is definitely at it's best in the spring and early summer.

There are many Rhoddedendron bushes in the gardens, this yellow flowering one was looking really good, some of them have started to deteriorate already.

One of my favourite things about this garden are the two Magnolia trees, particularly this one with the pink cup shaped flowers, they are so beautiful, they really bring a smile to my face.

Another favourite is the 'Handkerchief Tree' Davidia involucrata (dove tree, handkerchief tree, pocket handkerchief tree, ghost tree).  I don't think I've ever seen this tree in such excellent condition, the white bracts blow in the breeze like handkerchiefs.

I'm not sure what this tree is, but it also has lovely blossoms and was completely covered in them.
 I really enjoyed being out in the sunshine during my lunch break, it just makes you feel so much better.  I hope it will last till the weekend.

Wall - 365+1

I know this does not look like a wall, but there was an old wall there and it started to disintegrate and bits fell into our road.  So my husband and the chap who has the little garden behind the wall, have spent the last couple of weekends taking down the wall and putting up a ranch style fence in its place.  This was take one on the fence, as they decided in the end to take away more of the wall and rubbish that had accumulated.  Looking down the road, you can just see the end wall of our house.

Instant Garden - 365+1

Thalaris - The power of flowers for Digital Crea

Today's prompt was 'Cleanliness' - that really didn't inspire me on such a lovely outdoor sort of day.  I headed off to the garden centre this morning to get some bedding plants for my tubs and troughs.  When I opened the boot of my car 'Instant Garden' popped into my head and I knew I had my 365 photograph.

Planting up my tubs and troughs

We get a lot of late frosts where I live, so I don't put my bedding plants into the tubs and troughs until the end of May.  Last Saturday we went early to the garden centre, before the Bank Holiday crowds arrived, and bought compost and a pile of plants.  We also got a large ceramic planter for Brian to repot 'his plant', more of that later.

We got three bags of compost, but Brian had to go back later for another three and we used the lot!!!

Some of the trays of plants

Here are some of the stone troughs planted up with bizzie lizzies & petunias

Bizzie Lizzies (Impatiens)

Geraniums

More Bizzie Lizzies

Fuschia

Courgette

Over on the patio, there are more pots and wooden barrel type containers

 and a couple of old stone containers which started life as water containers 

for hens!

and this is Brian's 'Pinus Mugo' in it's new container.

RAK mint

Angelnorth kindly offered some mint as an RAK on Bubblyfunk Forum and, as I used to get mine growing semi-wild from outside a ruined house and now the mint seems to have disappeared, I accepted. I got it potted up on Friday, and thought I'd post it here to show it in it's new home.
I have offered Angelnorth some Ginger Mint in return, but she will have to wait a little while until it is ready to post, just peeping through the soil in this pot at the moment.

In my garden

It was a bright and sunny morning, so I went out to tackle some more hacking back of plants and bramble briars! In 10 minutes I had filled the wheelbarrow with dead leaves and overgrown branches. Because I live on a farm, there is no need to take all the cuttings to a dump, I just have to wheel my barrow up the road a bit to the 'burning heap'. Once there is enough rubbish and we get a dry day without too much wind we light the pile of wood and weeds and then we start all over again!

In rather more picturesque mood, spring is beginning to show itself in my 'garden'. I say 'garden' like that, because the snowdrops are half way up the road at the side of the hedge, the daffodils are pushing up under the hedge next to our dustbin and the miniature irises are in a tub which came out onto the patio today. The flowers were there but completely closed this morning, by afternoon they were open, they may not last very long but they are very pretty.

Templates by Carina for Digiscrapgirls, Digital papers and most elements from 'For Melissa' collaboration kit from Scrapbookgraphics, Feburary Wordart and February 'stamp' from Digitreats.

HS:MS - SOS

The blackbirds have feasted on the cottoneaster since August and now the leaves have turned the most gorgeous shade of red. This will probably be the last year I will see this from my dining room window as all the shubs have grown too big and are blocking the light at the back of the house so we plan to take them all out next year and just have some grass. I do have another cottoneaster in another part of the garden, indeed it tends to self-seed and bits pop up all over the place.