As I sit here, on yet another dismal, wet and grey weekend, chomping away at some toast and marmalade Mrs PR has kindly done for me, along with a nice cuppa, and sorting through the few photos I've managed to grab so far this year, I think I recalled a thread some time back of plants or flowers people have seen, but couldn't find anything in the searches.
So, without further ado, I thought why not set a thread up for , where all can share their photos, not just in the wild, but the garden, local municipal parks, anywhere, because without these plants, there wouldn't be nature.
It's not unusual to see flowers virtually all year through, not because of global warming, climate change or whatever scenario you prefer to use, but because some plants are hardy and prefer to be winter borne. But for many, the first flowers they really see properly, are snowdrops in February, followed by crocuses (late February- Mach) and then the delightful daffodils (March/April)., bluebells (April time), and much more.
So lets put some colour back into the grey world, spring is coming, so here's a few to set things going.
February; snowdrops
February: Sweet Violet
March: the first daffs in bloom
March: always a sign that spring is on the way, the primrose
March; crocuses (from a local municipal park)
March; mini daffs in our garden
and some proper daffs in the garden, starting to bloom
BTW, I've seen my second bee of the year, having a nosey around the daffs above, the first was late Feb, the second was earlier today, but on both occasions, the weather wasn't right to get the camera out...
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
Michael B said:love the way the light captures the grass seed against a dark background.
You could argue that it's taken a while to sink in but I'm gradually remembering to spend more time taking the background into account on these types of shots! Now I have to get away from my addiction to low key shots and work on some high key ones for a change!
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Nige Flickr
I decided it was time, while the roses looked good, even though the cloud was heavy, to grab a couple of piccies.
A wild rose, that was there long before we moved in and as with the previous owners, kept it trimmed
And a proper rose, not that I've any idea other than it's a rose, again from the previous occupants who knew no more than that.
and the back garden, the juvenile lavender looking good, and with a tortoiseshell butterfly
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Regards, Hazel
Unknown said:Very nice to see the flowers Mike, there seems to be an abundance of Small Tortoiseshell butterflies around at the moment after scarce numbers in previous years.
Thank you.
A couple of years ago, we were inundated with red admirals, and this year, not many, though here; it's probably a little early.
We have years/seasons where some species seem more prolific than others, and likewise the total opposite, which makes me feel sometimes, things go around in cycles based on the breeding ability.
I'm purely guessing, but it does make me wonder sometimes.
The pond lily is flowing well, especially considering they only really flower in the sun, and yesterday was a bit dull really.....
Oh, and a fish had to photobomb!
An update on the food production in the garden.
Before and after shots, with a space of around ten weeks between shots. :-)
Potatoes.
Not doing too bad considering a late an unexpected sharp frost got to them about five weeks ago.!!
Chives and Wild Garlic.
The Garlic has long since flowered and the Chives are almost past their best on the flowers.
I'll give it another few days then cut the Chives right back to around a few inches in length, I'll then get another flowering out of them before the end of the season.
I've been constantly picking at the Chives and Wild Garlic leaves to add to salads. Yum.!! :-)
Onions and Spring Onions.
The Onions have a fair bit to go yet before they're ready.
As for the Spring Onions, I've been staggering the planting every few weeks. I planted them in small pots in the greenhouse with around 10 seeds per pot (3 pots every couple of weeks) then transferred then to the Onion bed when they had germinated and sprouted up a bit..
When they're ready I can pull a full bunch of around 7 - 10, snip the tops off to slow them from drying out, and with the staggered planting I think I'll get around 24 bunches as the season goes on. Yum.!! :-)
You can also see Lettuce in the new wee bed to the left of the Onion bed. Yum.!!
Cabbages.
A real gardener would cringe at the amount of Cabbages stuffed into this bed.!!
They're not for us though, they're being left for the Butterflies to lay their eggs on. No sign of any eggs yet so we have been using the odd leaf here and there to add to salads. Yum.!! :-)
Tomatoes.
They're coming along nicely in the Greenhouse with some flowers now beginning to appear on the plants. They still have a bit of growing upwards to do first though before I snip them at the top.
A quick look at the pond area.
Plenty of growth going on, and the water quality is better than it's been for a few years. Two years ago I put a few feeding pellets into the Lilies and the pond didn't like it one little bit.
Last year was a disaster with a blanket of slimy weed all over everything. The moral of the story, .. No more interventions for nutrients. Leave it alone to come to a natural balance.
I still clear out any dead stuff and leaves that fall in, but other than that, I just let it get on with it.
It's also stuffed full of Tadpoles at the moment. There's a female Blackbird who's ate so much of them that's she's actually starting to look like a Tadpole herself.!!
The only thing that hasn't really changed is that the Apprentice Gardener is still actually a wee bit of an idiot.!! :-)
My bird photos HERE
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Tony
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wherryman/
As usual taken around the garden over the past few weeks.
This is the first time we have ever seen this Iris and rose flower at the same time. No idea of varieties.
View across the pond with Flag Iris, Foxgloves, Sisyrinchium and Aliums
An unknown rose.
Now. this one I know, "Lark Ascending", its blooms have been huge this year. The pot on the bottom left was for trailing geraniums ordered in April but Suttons emailed last week to cancel the order. Needless to say still no refund.
What we call a Smoke Bush...
Sage being a Bee magnet.
A raised bed between the house and garage full of white roses and lavender not yet flowering.
Peony with Giant Poppy not yet flowering
The Peony has what I call a "blousie" flower
We have quite a lot of "Johnsons Blue" geranium around the garden, if its blue and a geranium its Johnsons Blue.
We have a few different Sedums in pots and the first time this one has flowered.
A miniture Sisyirinchium with Sempervirens in a pot.
The Giant Poppy now in flower