Blossom of Spring
Plum Blossom with stamen and pistils waiting for bees to pollinate the flowers.
Apple blossom with a solitary bee doing the pollination business.
My Yorkshire Garden in April
Favorite shrubbery view.
Scent of spring
I went around the whole garden photographing areas where I could plant bulbs for next spring
Area for growing on rubbish and Auricula
Corkscrew for wine bottles (not).
Plum blossom sadly frosted over a week later.
Green and Red Compliment your Spring Garden
The two best complimentary colours are Red and Green. There are many ways this is demonstrated in the spring garden and they will be sure to draw compliments. The Peonies are just opening under a bit of shelter and shade.
The early Rhododendrons escaped frost damage and the red flower is set off by the texture and green of the healthy leaves.
This flowering Quince gave strong colour before many leaves had opened light green but the surrounding grass had been trimed with neat lines in the lawn and the effect was stunning.
See also Colourful Tips for other complementary colour combinations.
These lime green leaves are complementary to the Azaleas bright vermilion.
Some of the best art work by Georgia O’Keeffe is her paintings of Red Poppies. I recommend you try growing Oriental Red Poppies the for your Red – Green garden.
See also Colourful Tips for other complementary colour combinations.
A Splash of Floral Yellow sans-narcissus
You may see a splash of yellow if the Fawn decides to take a spring dip in the pond. The skunk cabbages are reputed to stink but these Lysichiton americanus are also named swamp lanterns so they flower well near the boggy pond.
The Erythronium bear long, strong stems producing canary yellow flowers that compete with late daffodils and the pink azalea.
Magnolia hybrids can have spectacular yellow flowers in the familiar magnolia cup shape. Aptly named variety ‘Yellow Bird’ looks like it says on the tin.
‘Hotei’ is a famous yellow Rhododendron that I aspire to grow successfully in my Yorkshire garden – space and chance would be a fine thing.
Some colour schemes should never be seen
How do you plan a colour scheme when gardening with a wide palette of colour. The answer is to use complimentary colours that are directly opposite on the colour wheel. This give a lie to the old phrase about red and green which is about dress sense rather than gardening nous.
Other colour combinations that work well include yellow and violet or deep purple and for the adventurous blue and orange.
Why are Everyone’s Weeds Better than Mine
What is the collective noun for a group of dandelions?  A drift or adrift in my garden!
With so many potential ‘clocks’ ticking away to dispersal I wonder at the number of flowers on this fine weed. (Dandelion makes a wine but I am not so sure that it is quite so ‘fine’.)
Bindweed can be deceptively attractive except when flowering in my garden. I would call their group noun a ‘knot’ or a pestilence of convolvulous. Heaven forbid that they should become a congregation!
Hellebore Done for Another Year
I was tempted to cut the leaves from my hellebore a bit early this year but have decided to wait a bit longer. Here is a selection of 2018 flowers from RHS and my garden.
Other Information
Photogenic & Aromatic Lavender
Some flowers look best in groups or large swathes. These fields of cultivated Lavender demonstrate the point clearly. Imagine the scent from all these individual stems of flowers a heady experience. For commercial purposes growing in rows makes Lavender easier to mechanically crop and maintain.
Uses of Lavender include: dried-flower production, fresh flower displays, fragrance, lotions, soap, oils and perfumes, edible flavoring, potpourris relaxation products and bath bags you can even make some pet products but for our purposes garden plants and small ornamental hedges are some of the prime uses.
Other pages with photographs worth viewing
British French and Spanish Lavender
Soil and Healthy Grass
Grass Land, Meadows & Lawns
- Getting to the grass root of the problem grass is the largest irrigated crop in the USA.
- Like other crops grass depends on the health of the soil in which it grows.
- Moisture and nutrient retention is crucial to keeping your soil in good shape.
- Clover is good news not bad news at least in moderation. I bit less attractive but a force for good with grass. Nodules on the clover store and deliver nitrogen more effectively than synthetic fertilisers.
- Home chemical applications tend to be significantly over done compared to agriculture. Less not more is far better.
- Water wisely in early morning. Evening watering can encourage some disease.
- Allow clippings to fall back on the grass and rot down to keep the soil in good heart.
- Higher cutting blades and grass helps prevent weeds and helps retain moisture.
Other Methods for Healthy Grass Lawns
- Scarifying – rake out the dead leaves and detritus
- Aerating – spike the soil to allow air in and de-compact the ground
- Feeding – nitrogen rich food is the grass’s choice
- Top Dressing – a bit of sand and soil brushed in helps new roots
- Moss Control – get rid of moss in spring
- Weed control – selective chemical weed killer
- Damage Repair – even the best lawns can get damaged – patches reseeding or just turning the edge of a turf around can help
Who Cuts the Grass
Woodbank Nursery in Harden W. Yorkshire has an interesting line in old garden equipment and mechanical ephemera. The various items are best seen over afternoon tea in the cafe where they complement the good healthy stock of plants. The exception is this lawnmower ‘recycled’ for the missus to use. The sign says ‘Does your wife cuts the lawn? If the answer is yes, why not spoil her rotten and buy her a ride on mower? You can even treat her again next year by adding some gears.’
Another feature of this nursery come retail destination is the stock of inanimate animals and the very animated ‘Elvis’ the shop parrot.
Every year Woodbank grows over 2 million plants on their 10 acres across an extensive range. Woodbank partners with the parent operation ACW in Bradford which has less space but quick through put sales of annuals, shrubs and trees.