End of Month View: the Rambler Returns

Not surprisingly, one of my first actions on returning back from our travels yesterday was to ramble round the garden. Our weather monitor suggested there had been some rain while we were away (but only on the last day or two) but giving less than an inch in total over the whole dry month. In addition our solar panels recorded that we had as much sunshine in April as we do in the sunniest summer months of most years. There was a general lushness in the garden as a whole with the rate of accelerated growth that comes in warm springs and buds and shoots galore to discover and coo over. The shaded seedlings and young plants resting in the cutting beds area had survived well watered and slug free, and now await potting on, planting out or general TLC. Aah, it’s good to be back…!

A belated End of Month View shows just how much things have grown during April, despite the minimal rainfall. Thanks go to Helen the Patient Gardener for hosting this meme and encouraging us to record our gardens’ progress in this way. In our garden, the first view from behind the house with the trees in the background is a good indicator of how the garden begins to enclose you in a big green hug as the year progresses:

It is good to see apple blossom and the start of the Clematis montana again, but we may have missed the best of tulips in the pots here. In the streamside area, the shrub border to the right of the picture is looking very green, much of it from weeds and lanky narcissi foliage, but there is promise there – and blossom on the Golden Hornet  and Profusion crab apples, both of which have been moved so that’s good news!

The woodland is lovely every month of the year and currently is a mass of wood anemones, bluebells, wild garlic, primroses and a few rhododendron flowers…. And trees…

From ‘Bill’s Chimney’ the herbaceous borders can be seen to be filling up, only wallflowers and species tulips making an impact so far but there are others things budding up nicely. The second picture, back on ground level, clearly shows how much the hostas have come on in the last couple of weeks.

The clematis colonnade is really beginning to prove its worth:

The woodland edge border (with views from both ends) fills out quickly once the hellebores have peaked and is an absolute star throughout the year. You can just see our favourite Persicaria ‘Red Dragon’ peeking out in the second picture…

The geums are just budding up nicely in the bold borders and there is much of interest biding its time here, particularly in the extension in the foreground of the first picture:

The blue & white borders are looking extraordinarily lush, with a fair sprinkling of blue already from a pretty Phlox subulata, brunnera and the surprise appearance of forget-me-nots. Several of my autumn planted seedlings are in these beds and I eagerly await their flowering which will not be far off:

The rose garden is definitely in waiting with no buds apparent, but it looks neat and tidy since I edged the beds and removed the lavender. The outer beds have been planted with sweet rocket and the two inner beds are sown with mixed pink annuals.

Since the special snowdrops in their new raised bed finished flowering I have made sure the bed has been kept watered and has had liquid fertiliser added to it to boost the bulbs and build them up for next year – I don’t want to lose any. Meanwhile, I have added green or white flowered annuals to the other bulbs and hellebores that share the bed to keep the interest going for other months. Raising the bed was definitely a good move and it looks as if it has never been anything different.

I have thoroughly enjoyed rambling round the garden after 10 days away from it so thank you for joining me today and sharing my pleasure.