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Snakes Head Fritillary – ‘Fritillaria meleagris’
If you like something unusual in your garden. Then look no further than the snake’s-head fritillary. They are actually a native wildflower, widely naturalised across Britain. But for those that haven’t seen them before, they cause quite a stir. Resembling a Snakes Head Before their bell-shaped flowers open, they really resemble a snakes head. Poised and slightly menacing. Extraordinary Pattern That’s before you examine the pronounced patternation. Which is also very similar to snake skin. The flowers are literally chequered all over. Dark maroon with tiny checks of the palest pink, and sometimes white. Really quite stunning! White ones too! They do also come in white, but they don’t have…
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Early Spring 2022 – Let’s get back to the flowers!
Early spring is a wonderful time of year. It starts slowly with the snowdrops and hellebores. Incredibly the hellebores are still going strong, after all these weeks. Then the first of the crocus come out to join them. Suddenly, you can hardly keep up with things popping up, here there and everywhere. You notice the first odd flower on the primulas. It feels like the next time you look they’re covered in bright little yellow flowers. On a sunny day as you walk down the garden, you smell the hyacinths before you see them. Of course the bees have already found them. It’s so important to have nectar rich flowers…
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The Frogs have Spawned!
Well I think by now, most of you know how excited I get about frogs and wildlife in the pond! So as this week has brought, only our second ever frog spawning. You won’t be at all surprised to hear how pleased I am! Getting Frogs in the pond After creating this pond, mainly to attract frogs. The first few years were a bit of a disappointment! Driving me to take frogspawn from a friends pond. But all good things come to he/she who waits! And now we are reaping the rewards! Last year the frogs spawned on 25th February, I know this for a fact as it is a…
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Happy Birthday Walnut Kitchen Garden
This week, marks twelve months since I started this garden blog. Is it me or is time going faster! It’s gone by so quickly. I’ve had such an enjoyable time, writing about the garden each week. And as I have done research for a number of the topics, I’ve leaned a great deal too. To celebrate our first anniversary. I’m going to take you back through the original garden transformation series. And show you where we’re up to today. If you’d like to read any of them again, just press on the titles. Part 1 – Let’s get stuck into the garden makeover! In part one, we did nothing but strip…
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Crocus – The First Vibrant Colour Of The Year
And this week’s favourite flower is…. The crocus! I’m so fickle, my favourite flower changes as I walk around the garden. It’s more tricky at this time of year though, as there’re a lot less to choose from. My favourite can last up to a week! Crocus – They lit my gardening fire! The humble little crocus bulb, was the first plant I ever payed money for. When I started to create my first little garden, with virtually no plant knowledge. Lots of generous gardeners gave me all sorts of plants. Things that they’d split from their own gardens. It was autumn, and in those days, there wasn’t the choice…
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Growing Tomatoes from seed – Now is the time!
The best thing about growing your own tomatoes, is choice. There is such a wide variety of tomatoes to choose from when you grow your own. The sizes range from, tiny cherry tomatoes, pointed plum tomatoes, right the way up to large beefsteak varieties. And don’t be thinking that all tomatoes are red. They can be yellow, orange, different shades of red and even purple. Growing a variety of colours, looks great in a salad. How to choose your tomatoes The most important thing, when you are growing for yourself is flavour! This is obviously personal preference. So experiment, growing different varieties, but remember to keep records. You’ll soon build…
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Discovering the Beauty of Hellebores
Hellebores are commonly known as Lenten Rose or Christmas Rose, despite being no relation to the rose family. They are from the Ranunculaceae family, and are mainly native to the Balkans, with a few from Asia. My first Hellebores The first hellebores I ever grew, were at our old garden. Helleborus ‘argutifolius’, these originate from Corsica and Sardinia. They are commonly known as holly-leaved hellebore, because of their prickly leaves. Each leaf has three spiny-toothed leaflets, and take it from me they do scratch! The flowers are green, and shall we say, they’re not exactly a show stopper. It’s obvious that I wasn’t impressed with them, as this is the…
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Snowdrops
The exact number of Snowdrop species is a disputed fact, but the general number seems to be around the 20 mark. As for different cultivars in each species, there are simply hundreds. So there’s definitely one out there for you. The correct scientific name for snowdrops is Galanthus, although you don’t often hear it. The common name really has taken over. Whatever they are called, I absolutely love them. I don’t know if it’s because they are white, as I’ve always had a soft spot for white flowers. Or it could be that they are the first flower of the year, very welcome! Mine are now finally out! Most of…
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When’s the most exciting time in the garden?
Just like I constantly change my mind on which is my favourite flower in the garden. Depending on which ones are flowering at that moment! Deciding when the most exciting time in the garden is, changes continuously throughout the year! Tomatoes. Is the best sowing, planting, nurturing or eating? Take right now, as I start to sow my tomato seeds. This feels like the most exciting job. Especially having done very little gardening since the autumn. I simply can’t wait for the gardening year to begin! Tapping out those tiny little seeds into your hand, and placing them carefully on the compost. It’s a lovely job that I can’t wait…
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The Annual Holly Hedge Trim
We shouldn’t complain about this prickly annual job really, as the largest circumference of the garden is walled. But cutting the 80ft long 8ft high holly hedge isn’t our favourite gardening job! It’s supposed to be cut in November. But these days the weather just isn’t cold enough, to cause the perennials planted under the hedge to die back. Meaning we only have a small window of opportunity, between the perennials dying and the bulbs coming up. This now seems to be December most years, but this winter has been particularly mild. Even Harry, our resident hedgehog was confused, and was still bobbing around at the end of December. Obviously…
