As we went left, I noticed through the rainy window that LIFE was to the right....



Oh dear.

We continued left, and found this,

and met an alien.

A new way to support sweet peas?
 
Liz gave me some branches of twisted willow, salix tortuosa, and I thought that instead of strings around the wigwam of painted canes - these would serve the purpose better and look much more interesting too. It was easy to push them into the ground and weave them in and around the canes to make a fairly strong structure.
 
Of course the risk is that they will all root!

Inspired by Monet's garden and by the parterre at Garsington Manor near Oxford both of which I've been lucky enough to see at tulip time....

I'm already planning for next year. (Gardeners are like that!)

The photo is a bit of a cheat as I picked the tulips from another part of the garden and stood them among the forget-me-nots to see the effect. A useful way to plan - and next year I will definitely plant them together. I might keep the blue and the pink forget-me-nots separate and put a dark plum tulip with the blue....or a pale lemon? Or peach?

As a landscape designer, I'm interested in the design of public urban spaces..

I think St Andrew's Square in Edinburgh is a really successful design.

The circular cafe,

seen here from the inside looking out, is simple, smart and functional (and serves good coffee).

The seating is perhaps not particularly comfortable, but for a quick perch with your lunchtime sandwich is fine, and on a dry day people sit on the grass. I like the integral lighting in the slits between the blocks, and the quality materials will stay looking good for a very long time.

They have kept lots of mature trees as well as planting many new ones. Blossom in spring, shade in summer and habitat for wildlife.

Differential mowing (grass at different heights) gives visual variety and texture, allows insect habitat and wild flowers and bulbs, and reduces maintenance costs..

St Andrew's Square is in the Georgian part of town and although it doesn't refer directly to the architecture (there are buildings from many periods around the square) I think it has a simplicity and elegance of proportion that is appropriate...

What do you think?

He likes it!

And you can tell I do, because I'm not finished yet...

There are some nice details..

They are having some trouble maintaining the grass edges, but look at the neat way the drain cover has been incorporated....

It's a pity the same designer wasn't commissioned to design litter bins

I'm sure he would have done better than this!

All in all, elegant, simple, functional and green! You can't ask much more than that.





Whew! Long post!

There is a moment every year in the garden when the bright yellow daffodils are over and the colour of the massed perennials is still to come, when all is calm. Many shades of green, and tiny flecks of blue forget-me-nots and blue and pink pulmonarias, pure white daffodils and creamy white tulips...It's like that little pause when the conductor raises his baton....before the symphony begins. An expectant hush.

A short quiet interlude on the blog too, till Tuesday...have a lovely week-end.

....of the floral kind.






My husband woke me early, because the sun was shining.

I made a pot of coffee, had a wander round the garden listening to the birdsong..

enjoying the warm sun on my back, and the remarkable colours of these little violas.

I don't know their name, but they must have a touch of Irish Molly in them.

I was glad of the early rise as after that first blissful hour or two, it rained for most of the rest of the day.

I love daffodils. Doesn't everyone?
 
The ones on the banner photographs are Thalia - so dainty fluttering under the pretty new leaves on the horizontal branches of Cornus controversa variegata, also known as the Wedding Cake Tree. I also grow Jenny and February Gold,  though the latter didn't flower till April this year.

I'm especially fond of the jonquils and tiny ones which follow on from the others. If I tell you that the 'vases' are actually little shot glasses you will have a better idea of their size! I grow Tete a Tete, Suzy, Triandus, Jack Snipe and Minnow among others.

Tete a Tete are not usually this tiny. These ones were bought already in flower, three bulbs squashed into a 7cm pot with very little soil. I shall put them into the garden for next year and they will be twice the size, though still miniature.

This little beauty is Segovia. I have used this photograph for one of my cards (see top right). The leaf is from Geranium Samobar which has lovely leaf markings.

Another little beauty in the garden today....

Yesterday:

First hot day
First swallows over the house
First cuckoo in the forest
First orange tip butterfly
First evening glass of wine sitting on the porch....



I expected to be truly colourful after recently falling on my face, but frequent cold compresses and applications of arnica cream and there is barely a bruise. Amazing. (Arnica is also a very effective painkiller for me.)