Tuesday 27 March 2012

My World in Spring





On a walk in the woods, and on field edges, I looked for signs of Spring and, lo and behold, they are plentiful; although the trees are still without leaves, there's colour and life all around, if you look closely enough.


There's a whole bank of golden celandine smiling at the observer; tiny little plants which are a pest in the garden, as they tend to spread relentlessly, but in the wild they are a welcome sight.


Nobody could ever be churlish enough to begrudge space to the wild primrose. Every year at this time I go to seek it out on a steep and narrow bank between the castle mound and the river, a  secretive place, where the grey heron has sole fishing rights and
a rare curlew's mournful call can be heard.

Even here, in this almost unspoilt backwater, birds and flowers are disappearing.

I am glad that the few people who explore our paradise are walkers and nature lovers, who tread gently and quietly.



Nearer the village, garden escapees are colonising old walls. There are people who would like to see them 'tidied' away, but, luckily, there are enough fire breathing dragons like me to persuade them otherwise.

Once these delightful rock plants have taken hold, they are almost impossible to get rid of. A little judicious stuffing of crevices, when nobody is looking, helps them along nicely.

Who said hooligans are always destructive?



Back in the garden, things are progressing nicely,
miniature daffodils and tulips are shooting up everywhere under the watchful eye of a red-hatted pipe-smoking old  countryman, my one and only garden gnome, an expensive example of the genus, who was a present from a German friend.

He's made of china and has to be kept indoors until after the worst of the weather. He's likely to split his breeches otherwise.


He's already done so once and has been lovingly restored by another friend, who mended his broken body and then repainted him.



I would hate to part with him. Everybody is entitled to at least one piece of Kitsch in the garden; he is mine, a very much loved member of the household.






This is my contribution to the wonderful site Our World Tuesday where people from all over the world show off the beauties of their own regions.




53 comments:

  1. Lovely. The primrose are blooming in my yard and in the park where I walk. I love wildflowers but unfortunately, most people consider them weeds and poison them. How foolish can we be?

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  2. Prim(rose) and proper, with a nod to guerilla gardening.

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  3. We've both had a walk in the woods in the sunshine. Your walk had lots more colour than mine. Our woods are so thick and dark that little but moss, ferns and skunk cabbage grow there.
    I love thinking about gardeners beautifying their surroundings by stuffing little bunches of plants into crevices - your village has the best sort of hooligan.

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  4. Beautiful pictures. Especially that lovely purple ground cover, Friko. I am enchanted with that first photo, too. Thank you so much for these glimpses at spring in your part of the world. :-)

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  5. The little wildflowers that show early are wonderful to see. Nature has its ways, for those little blooms would be overlooked in the riot of summer color, wouldn't they? And absolutely right that everyone is entitled to one bit of Kitsch in the garden--yours is definitely a prime example of the species. I'm glad to know that, albeit with some help, he has survived.

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  6. This was marvelous!! What beauty surrounds you on your walk already this spring. A delight! Your gnome is a cutie. :)

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  7. Lovely pictures! The first looks like something out of a fairy tale.

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  8. Beautiful! I wish I had some of that purple wall cover for our stone retaining wall! And I'm so glad your friend was able to patch up your gnome!

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  9. I love the purple scrambling for a toe hold in the rocks! I have a penchant for rock gardens as it is!

    It's amusing to me, how sometimes we gladly get rid of flowering "weeds" in our yards, but think them quite lovely in the wild. We have plants like that around here that you can hardly kill, yet when I'm out hiking, the sight of their blooming makes me smile! (Just not in my backyard, I guess!)

    Gorgeous shots, striking color.

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  10. smiles...thanks for hte beautiful and peaceful walk today...i love a good walk...and the gnome adds character for sure....

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  11. Spring sure has taken hold there. Beautiful flowers and stunning first shot. Gnome, sweet gnome. ;)

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  12. Those purple rock beauties are absolutely enchanting. I am a big fan of wildflowers and your post just took it up a notch.

    P.S. The tulips are oh so beautiful!

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  13. I am still waiting on Spring where I live so I really enjoying seeing pictures of what is happening in other parts of the world. So lovely.

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  14. Bonza photos of spring time emerging in all its glory and being watched over by the Gnome :-).

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  15. Your world is so beautiful, Friko, and your gnome seems to be taking good care of your garden!
    We aren't home right now, but when we left, we still had snow left from last Monday's blizzard and Thursday's mini-blizzard.
    K

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  16. Wild primroses are so very pretty, aren't they!
    Hard to believe there are people who would prefer seeing the old walls cleared of all garden escapees, do they really think it would look better without plants and flowers?

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  17. I've been away and have enjoyed reading back to when I left. It's comforting, in a strange way, to know that new life is springing forth in one part of the world as it dies off in another. Love the mystical quality in your first shot!

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  18. Splashes of colour appearing hereabouts, too. What a fabulous time of year!

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  19. Hi Friko - your woodland photo is gorgeous .. just as it should be. I remember celandines brightly shining through the early woods when as kids we escaped to explore ..

    I love Spring and how everything appears and has its space - gorgeous photos and story - so pleased Mr Gnome is here to tell the tale - he looks regal amongst his empire.

    Cheers Hilary

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  20. Hello:
    Are you absolutely sure that one gnome is enough?We rather think that he looks a little lonely, no matter the brave face that he seems to be putting on......a fishing friend, perhaps,complete with rod or Snow White perhaps and a smattering of dwarves...now that would surely cheer the garden up and delight your visitors?!!!!

    Your stroll through the countryside reminded us of our Herefordshire days when our hearts were lifted with the seasonal display of Primroses which grew profusely in the damp banks of ditches. But, as you say, with each passing year, there seemed to be fewer of them. So sad.

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  21. The first photo of the path in the forest with the sun filtering through the trees looks magical and inviting!

    And your beloved little Gartenzwerg mit der roten Zipgelmuetze und dem grauen Bart is one of the sweetest I have ever seen - his smile is almost human! :-)

    Such a lovely spring post you wrote!

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  22. And beautiful it is. I like walking about the countryside with you.

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  23. Bless your heart, you little hooligan!

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  24. I love the image of you surreptitiously stuffing little plants in the crevices of garden walls.

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  25. Love your gnome. I need one too. No room, however unless I rid myself of some other "goodie."

    Oh the dilemma of "invasives." I fretted about them for years, especially when violets invaded my garden. Now I just make friend with them. The Celadine is pretty somewhere else.

    I noticed much wild Valerian in your part of the world when I was there ages ago. By that I mean the Midlands which is as close as I got to the Marches.

    Dianne

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  26. Spring is such a life-giving time of year, and what beautiful flowers you have photographed. Maybe I'll post some shots of my grapes this year.

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  27. A lovely post, Friko. I visit here often, but you have so many admirers and commenters that I feel I'd get lost in the crowd. I do agree with you about the lovely things that grow in the walls of English Villages. I wonder why I have trouble getting the same plants to grow in my walls here in the Pacific Northwest. Perhaps it is because the rains are more seasonal. Too much in winter, too little in summer.

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  28. One and a half acres of our land I keep wild! I love it. And all the wild flowers that pop up in the tamed areas are encouraged to stay. So good for you on you undercover work!! Ha!!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  29. What a beautiful place to stroll, Friko, with the forest and the gorgeous flowers! Your world is having the absolutely perfect spring!

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  30. We went to Shrewsbury today and I'm sure the hedges had greened over a little bit more on the way back. It's a lovely time of the year.

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  31. Dear Friko, . . . your very own part of the world is quite lovely. I used to have a rock-garden in Stillwater, Minnesota, and I treasured those alpine blooms that crept into crevices and flowed over rocks. Peace.

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  32. Imagine such tender flowering plants in the woods. I don't have any sort of primrose, let alone wild, and I love them.

    We, too, had a gnome (though not a fancy-pants one like yours), and he broke, sadly. It was my one piece of kitsch (although we might argue that my husband is a piece of kitsch in our garden).

    Wonderful images of your world. Thank you.

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  33. Nahezu ein Märchen.

    Danke. Einen guten Mittwoch dir.

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  35. Beautiful! I love the little purple flowers in the wall -- long may they flourish!

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  36. I've noticed that some people always say backwater as if it were a bad thing. It is not to me.

    Wild primrose is always welcome here. ~Mary

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  37. Your walk was a match for anything Bavaria has to offer. Many thanks for the magical tour. You are so far ahead of us in Southport...

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  38. the rock flowers were my favorite. i like how you help them along, fire-breathing dragon:) you blessed to have such a walk. thanks for sharing it.

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  39. It as been one of the delights of blogging to listen to people talk about the change of seasons in a different hemisphere. Here is Oz we are battening down for winter, beginning to watch the leaves on the trees turn red then gold and awaiting the first of the frosts. March has to be the best month of the year.

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  40. Your wordsare as beautiful as your images are engaging.

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  41. Wunderschöne Fotos!
    Viele Grüße aus der Heimat :-)
    Markus

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  42. Such sweet and beautiful signs of spring! Love how you've cataloged them here to tell this season's story!

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  43. Wonderful pictures. Spring is such a wonderful season - so new and exciting. Thanks for sharing!

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  44. What a wonderful post. That first shot is heavenly!

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  45. Now I feel completely ready for spring. Thank you for this!

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  46. Keep breathing fire, dear Dragon...those touches of happy purples amongst the rocks are so wonderful...how could anyone have negative thoughts about pulling them out?

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  47. I am certain I commented on this and it has disappeared! It was witty and erudite obviously if only I could remember what I said.

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  48. My celandine poppies are in bloom right now and sit in spot where I hope the spread (I know, be careful what you wish for). I enjoy seeing them here in your post. Friko. What a beautiful walk you took - and I love the little plants that take hold in between rocks.

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  49. A lovely tribute to spring. I like celandines - so bright and cheerful and happily spreading in my garden.

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  50. You take such good photos, Friko with your eye for detail. I'm glad to say that primroses are spreading up the hills in our bit of Mid-Wales - far more of them on the heights than when we moved here nearly 40 years ago.

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  51. Oh, my gosh. I have missed so much. I was so busy with work the two weeks before Easter I felt as though I'd never catch up. I haven't, but at least I'm getting out and about a bit.

    You have some truly beautiful photos here - you's such a good photographer, and your flowers are beautiful. I still miss the tulips, daffodils, and such from my "northern years". They're just not going to grow here, and after last years drought, everything except the wild flowers seems mixed up. Leaves before blossoms on the trees - that sort of thing.

    I like your gnome. I'm not much given to that sort of thing myself, but I do have a well-rusted squirrel I'm rather fond of. Now and then I wonder who will rust away first - him or me!

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