Thursday 23 March 2023

Good, back to Spring,

for now, anyway.

Things are looking up. I have been putting in a few hours of hard work in the garden, on my own, sadly.  Handsome Hunk works well, when he comes, that is. No matter how intensely I beg him to come at least every two or three weeks, all he says is "I'll ring you", and then doesn't. Wiry and Willing hasn't properly worked for weeks either, but he has an excuse. He has sciatica badly. He is seeing doctors and physios but nothing seems to work. He came last week but after an hour I sent him home. He looked bad and sat on an upturned bucket to rest his back and leg. He will come when he can, of that I am sure. HH will come too, I just don't know when.

In the meantime it's down to me. I am still pruning and cutting back, there is little point in doing much else, this weekend there will be mild frost again. I can't say that I am totally happy with the hellebores and hyacinths in the first and third pictures. I find the colours rather garish. But I do love the gorgeous quince flowers. (Japanese quince or Chaenomeles) The whole wall is covered in them. If the frosts don't kill them I will have masses of shiny yellow quince in late summer. I no longer make quince jelly, it's far too much work and I don't eat much in the way of sweet jellies. The fruits are not to be eaten raw, they are potentially harmful, but boiling them takes many hours.









I had great pleasure at the garden society last night. A delightful, very enthusiastic grower and gardener gave a talk on how to create a border with interest and appeal for the whole year. Whenever I watch garden programmes on the TV (some of you may have heard of Monty Don and Gardeners' World?), or visit a show garden, or attend a talk on garden design, I come over all itchy and raring to go. While I am sitting watching, I can do anything. In practice not so much. But until such time that it becomes impossible I will struggle on. Did I mention that I have agreed to open again at the end of June? The saints preserve us! Next week I am planning a visit to a nursery for a splurge on plants. Well, why not, I rarely treat myself to anything nowadays.

I've also attended my first concert of the year. Excellent but very complicated music. I was exhausted from just listening. I hadn't realised it was a private performance, by invitation only. The concert was given in the barn of a friend (good acoustics), there was wine and nibbles beforehand and during the interval, and altogether it was quite an occasion. I was fully aware of the honour of being on the guest list in spite of having initially misread the invitation. I had thought there was something funny about it, no tickets to purchase! Still, I enjoyed the outing and behaved impeccably! The performers were doing it all again the next night, this time on a stage, with a ticket price. Afterwards, I thanked the cellist for inviting me and he let out that they were, in fact, using the barn performance as a kind of dress rehearsal and needed a knowledgeable audience to be present, with the feel of a proper performance. Ah well, gift horses spring to mind. But a pleasure and an honour all the same.



 

23 comments:

  1. I love your pretty flowers and hope you will grow and share many more with me over the coming season. :-)

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  2. Looks like spring is well underway in your neck of the woods. All we've got so far is daffodils, which are pretty, but they look lonely.

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  3. I think working with your hands in the soil and watching things grow is a wonderful (and not easy) way to spend your time, Friko. I hope your help comes through for you, but I'm glad you're getting on with it. Enjoy your splurge on plants at the nursery!

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  4. The concert evening sounded delightful, no matter the reason for the invitation. I would love to hear (or read) a presentation on creating a border with year round appeal. Muddling along seems to be my way. Just now there are hellebores, daffodils, and a few grape hyacinths blooming in the bed.
    After spending a day in the garden this week I told my husband that I was very out of shape, in spite of walking and exercising all winter. The harder physical work of gardening is exhausting, but very rewarding.

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  5. I think your hellebores and hyacinths look lovely, happily thriving together. A splurge on plants sounds like the perfect outing, second only to a good concert maybe.

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  6. This is a beautiful post and fills me with garden envy.

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  7. How very nice to be invited as part of a knowledgeable audience. It sounds like a most agreeable evening.
    I love your quince. We inherited one but it's never done much. I think I managed one year to make a minuscule amount of jelly from a tiny harvest.
    I do admire your tenacity in planning to open your garden in June.
    Sciatica - ouch! My back twinged in sympathy for WW.

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  8. Hi Friko - how lovely to be invited to that private concert, especially on learning you were there as a knowledgeable member of the audience - an honour. It sounded like a wonderful time.

    Good for you - being out and about in the garden, doing what you can at this time of year ... I hope said gardeners return more often in due course. Frost is a peril at the moment - let alone the winds racing across.

    The garden always looks lovely and well cared for - despite lapses as life grabs us. The japonica takes me back to my childhood - I always loved the hedge when it came out - prickly though it may be. The hellebores remind me of my uncle and aunt ... we must have had them, but they've only resonated since I returned to England. I love hyacinths.

    Well done on having that goal of a garden opening ... it's a beautiful situation ... lucky everyone who can visit. with thoughts as we edge towards slightly warmer days - eventually it all happens too quickly - the sun and longer days bringing forth nature's bounty.

    Cheers and with thoughts from down here - Hilary

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  9. The concert in the barn with nibbles and wine sounds like my kind of event - only that nobody would have invited me, as I am not really knowledgeable about music.
    It must be frustrating when you want to do things in your garden but the gardeners do not turn up and you can not do those jobs yourself.

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  10. Our master gardeners are pushing natives only and if needed cultivars of those. I do that about 80%, but I still have favorites that are not invasive and not native. Do you have an internet neighborhood social list? Sometimes that works if you are posting for help...just get references. Most of our gardeners were actually newly released prisoners and they have helped us so much, but not are moving into society and real jobs. I love your hellebores...bright and pale.

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    1. gardeners here are worth their weight in gold, and very expensive. Some get more than a junior doctor!

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  11. There is nothing like working in a garden in the spring time.

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  12. Your garden is lovely! I'm quite envious as we still have mountains of snow to melt here in the northern USA.

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  13. I find it amusing that you think the pale colors of the hellebores are too bright but love the quinces. there is a flowering quince that I sometimes saw when I lived in the city. glad to hear you are getting out and socializing again.

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    1. it's not the hellebores so much that I find garish. they are harmless enough. It's the hyacinths, particularly the pink one.

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  14. You sound like a master gardener.. and the concert sounds delightful.

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    1. Welcome to my blog and thank you for visiting.

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  15. I'm delighted you got out to the concert and that it was a lovely event. A free one, even better! And also happy you are doing an open this year. It's terrific motivation and I know others will appreciate it. (And I love the garish colors -- and Monty Don!)

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  16. I am glad your out in your yard. I am waiting for the rain to stop.

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    1. another blogger stopped from identifying her/himself by Google. Sorry about that.

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  17. What a great preview to spring coming to my part of the world. We had snow this morning and a sunny warm sun this afternoon.

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  18. I always set you as an example. Especially when it’s hard for me to do something, but I need to plant, cut, etc., I remember you, Friko and your words that as long as you can do something, you don’t give up. Yes, it's hard when helpers don't come. I hope your garden will shine in June.

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