2010

Please click on small photos to see a larger one.

There are an increasing number of photographs so I've decide to use small ones with big ones behind, just click on the small ones to see a bigger one.  The 'thin' photos are much wider, i.e. the small ones have been severely cropped when you look at the larger ones.

25th December

28th August - these were to be the last photos I took of the plants

	The lawn, which struggled at times because of the heat and drought then the torrential rain. The stands have now started to fade and droop
	This is a lovely small brilliant rose-crimson flower, Lychnis coronaria This cactus is on the north-east rockery. There's a similar one on the south rockery
	A lily that Mrs Walker gave us, Schizostylis coccinea 'Grandiflora'
	The cyclamen and heather
	We thought the eucaliptus was dying but it has burst into leaf again throughout the summer
	The virgina creeper too is dying but it is a blaze of colour at the moment The nest box became a wasps' nest during the warm weather!
	Our sitting lady and hart's tongue fern The firethorn's blaze of berries

22nd August

	The clematis on the north fence

15th August

	This year we had more blossom on the rowan tree than ever before and is now laden with berries. This tree was only nine inches tall when we planted it.  there were two but oin;y this one survived.  It was in my golfing days, taken from Windermere Golf Club on a golf day out with my friend and colleague Tom Crook
	This is the clematis on our north fence and the honeysuckle growing alongside it.
	The last photo on the left is one of our many violets, this one in the wid flower border.
	The montbretia on the rockery on the south border. A this time the rockery is overgrown.  Several plants can be seen in this photo
	This is the eucaliptus tree on our south border. we thought it was dying off early but this is the new growth on the bottom of the trunk.

14th August

	Our Japanese wimdflower. For several years it has had to stuggle in the 'dark' but last autumn we cut back the rhododendron which has been hidng it.  this year it is beautiful.
	Two photos of flowers in our wild bed. The colours are not true in the second one? We have montbretia in various corners of the gardens and like the blue cornflower this isn't the true colour.

4th August

	We've had a very wet July, which hasn't helped the lawns.  During the 'drought' in June the lawns almost turned brown, the areas over the drains we put in in 1970 were brown and much of the grass in those areas died off.  When we got back from Cornwall the lawns were like meadows, cutting them, when it was dry enough left most of the grass white or light coloured.  It was two weeks again before we could get the mower on the lawn again and, again the grass was very long leaving it looking very pale and neglected.
	More roses from the front garden
	The small flowered clematis at the top of the drive.  It's coveriung the conifer and climbing into the cherry tree.
	The front tubs a fortnight on and the hanging basket.
	More photos from the square showing the bay tree and the sculpture.

22nd July

	Roses in the front garden.  The rain has ruined a lot of the flowers.
	Golden Rod and Marguerites in the front garden, they've been moved all over the front garden and have just about survived on the north border in front of Bill's leylandii hedge.
	The two tubs in the front under the kitchen window
	Hollyhocks in the back garden, the first one we bought at the June CVP farmers market.  Thought it would be like theothe one. Is the other one a selfset or is it one we planted last year that's only germinated this year?
	Our herb 'garden' variegated thyme, chives and rosemary in the tub as you enter the back garden. The pots outside the library. the stands today. teh left hand stand.

5th July

	As you walk down the side of the house you can see the rambling rose that attempts to hide the compost bin and tools etc. Day lilies near the compost bin. A better picture of the sisyrinchium - yellow. A general view of the north borders. A lovely bell like flower - harebells? - We're not sure
	The yellow wild flowers have set themselves in the paving. The alchemilla mollis flowers are now overgrown and prostrating themselves on the lawn. We're now on the south border, near the bird feeders, and these oats have grown out of the food scattered by the birds.
	On the south fence we have a small rockery, in the shade facing north. Sedum. Dwarf companula. Geranium dalmaticum.  You can see the tendrils of the viginia creeper creeping out.
	This is the back of the house. The firethorn is on the left. In the centre is the yellow climbing rose with wandering jew underneath. The two stands were made by Colin our next door neighbour now in another world - hope there's plenty of rum. The other two photos are the hanging baskets at each end of the wall.
	The first two photos are close ups of the stands, more comprehensive if you click on them. The other photo is taken in the 'square' a paved area between the extension, now library, and the garage, again much larger.
	Still in the square: Sweet peas in an obelisk - my small contribution to the planting this year, except potting up foxgloves, which you can see under the stands at the back of the house. Another plant that Alison has given us. The hanging basket in the square. A group of plants waiting to be put in.

12th June

	This year we've had a lot of starlings. There were many more than this when I got the camera out but by the time I'd got it ready most had flown off, camera shy.  We hang up a fat filled half-coconut shell for the blue tits, who nested this year in the box above the water butt, and the starlings have managed to hank like the blue tits and gobble it all up in no time.

10th June

	The climbing rose that grows between the two back bedrooms, note the empty trays in teh first photo. The third photo is our 'wild' garden on the north edge of the back lawn
	Plants along the north fence of the back garden, behind the wild flowers.  Dorothy gave us the first one and we're not sure what it is. Betty, next door but one south thinks it's a sisyrinchium.  Then one of our many foxgloves. On the east border geraniums now in full bloom and  alchemilla mollis, grows evrywhere, even in the paving cracks.
	The peony on the south fence, striving to get to the sun but it's flowering this year, it's fought for survival for many years until Sue cleared away round it. The rhus cotinus, smoke tree, thriving after severe cut back and staking. The firethorn alongside the patio doors.
	Roses in the front garden. In the first photo you can see haow overgrown the rose bed is. The frost and 'drought' helped to keep the weeds down until now.
	One of the geraniums in the front garden, you can also see the rhodedendron in the backgrown which the drought prevented form opening up properly.

9th June

This morning we noticed a Greater Spotted Woodpecker and what appeared to be one of its young eating on our peanut holder in the back garden.  There was a 'flock' of young starlings on the bird table and there are young blackbirds, goldfinches and chaffinches around, probably sparrows too.  Our nesting blue tits appear to have flown but they too. The duck eggs must be addled by now.

31st May

	The first roses in the front garden and the cotoneaster, from Auntie Jean, that we savagely pruned. The first geranium, given to us by Alison.
	More Granny Bonnets

30th May

	Left to right - 1 - Our wild patch in the back garden, the first wild flowers, the granny bonnets are taking over. 2 - The lovely red rhododendron tied to the washing line pole - the flowers are smaller this year. 3 - The smoke bush and on its right our peony with a bramble threatening to dominate
	1 - The end of the lilies of the valley. I managed to successfully transplant a few along the back passage behind the magnolias - not shown here 2 - Violets thriving in the 'wild' garden

24th May

	The wisteria now looks a lot healthier. We really cut it back severely last autumn, Sue was concerned I'd overdone it. There are bluetits in the box at the north end. Sadly there are eight eggs in the duck's nest but she's abandoned them.
	Our lovely red rhododendron wrapped round the clothes line pole.  Like all our rhododendrons it is suffering from the 'drought' - the flowers are much smaller this year.
	The hawthorn tree in the front garden. This is the first time we've had a lot of blossom on it.  Perhaps this year is going to br like 1974 when the hawthorn when the hawthorn trees were laden with blossom - all the hawthorn trees seem to be heavy with blossom again
	The weigela in the back garden.  Unfortunately, for us, I didn't prune it on our neighbour's side so they have most of the flowers thsi year
	We've lots of granny bonnets again this year

19th May

	Our rhododendrons in the front are both looking very sad, not enough water to let the flowers open.
	The holly in the front is full of flowers this year

11th May

	My favourite yellow primrose still blooming, even better
	The wisteria is beginning to show
	Our lovely yellow azalea

25th April

3rd April

	A delicate lily we got from Dunge Farm many years ago - erythronium 'pagoda'
	Close up of one of the magnolia stelata's flowers, see 12th April
	Close up of one of one of the camelia's flowers
	The pink camelia, as all the camelias, has been severely damaged by the late frosts.
	Close up of one of rhododendron's flowers
	The small rhododendron underteh magnolia stelata

22nd April

	We had a rare visitor today, a hedgehog. Sue thought it wasn't well, because it was out in daylight hours. She fed it lumps of chicken and it revived itself and we haven't seen it since
	A chaffinch, one of our regular visitors

12th April

We think there's another egg in the duck's nest but we haven't seen much of them for two days!

	The flowering sherry at the front of the bungalow is now out for its brief blossoming season. The car on the left is Steven's.
	We are lucky to have lots of violets all over the garden. these are in the front patch near the road
	These narcissi are just outside the front door.  They are all over the rose bed, the bed between the two cars above.
	I keep trying to photograph this lovely coloured primrose but I keep leaving it out of the frame.
	A primrose in the rose bed
	The Magnolia Stellata is almost fully out now

7th April

At last the garden's waking up!  The duck is laying eggs!  If she hatches them out how are they going to get into the water.
The lawns need cutting, their treatment a couple of weeks ago is taking effect.

	This shrub is in the bed alongside the road.  We're not sure what it is.  It's been like a collection of dead twigs all winter but suddenly it's sprung into life.
	The yellow primroses are blooming, left.  The pink prirose has been joined by an orangey pink one, far left of photo.
	Our first bluebell.  This one is squeezed betwen the lounge wall and pavingstone, they'll grow anywhere.  The heat fro mth front room must have encouraged it to grow.
	Left: Rhoedendron under our front room window Right: Close up of one flower head
	There's a small group of hyacinths in the rose bed near the car turning point.
	Left: The first clump of daffodils, the ones in the photo of 26th March.  There are more leucojum aestivums in evidence too. Right: Close up of the narcissi in the rose bed       Left: Daffodils, narcissi between us and next door south Right: Close up of this type - Trousseau or more likely Ice Follies
	The grape hyacinths outside the front door have recovered and are flowering again
	The mahonia is in full bloom.  This one is in the front garden near the sunflower bird feeder. The ones in the back garden are out too.
	Top left photo Magnolia Stellata - white just coming into flower. Top right photo - the camelia in the photo on the left Bottom left - camelias Bottom right an emlarged photo
	This anemonie is the north-east corner of the back garden, on the rockery
	Primula Veris - this cowslip is also in the north-east corner of the back garden
	Here she's laid six eggs, yesterday, but today there are seven! You can just see her in the left-hand photo

27th March

We have two ducks, mallards, who have started to visit us.  This morning I noticed something white through the bedroom window and it turned out to b a duck egg!

The pieris japonica in the north east corner of the back garden is now in bloom

The tree heather nearby is also out and smells lovely.

One of our statuettes, a tatty hart's tongue fern and some tatty primroses outside the library doors.

26th March

Still no daffodils have opened but: there's a leucojum aestivum right in the centre of the photo, it's like a snowdrop on a long stem.

The chionodoxa forbesii, in the front, came out a couple of days ago

17 March - photos taken today and on the 15th.

Since I last reported we've moved the sparrow 'flats' from the back of the house to the front.  The sparrows don't seem to be interested in them at the back.  They usually spend most of their time in the front garden between the dividing hedge, the bird table and the hawthorn tree.   When I opened them to clean them out the central one had a dead blue tit a nest of sorts and under that mess of stuff another nest with what could be a wren's egg - most unlikely.  We once had a wren nest in the moss of one of our hanging baskets.

These are the boxes in teh back garden:

This tit boxis on the back gable end.  We've had tits and great tits in this one as well as the one below.

This one is on the back wall of teh extension, now the library.

This is on the other side of the extension door. allegedly a blackbird box. there's been some activety but no one has nested in it yet.

This robin box is at teh back of he garden hidden from everyone except cats!  No activety at all.

This robin box is on the south fence near the eucaliptus tree - it's too handy for cats.  We feed the birds and they attract all the neighbourhood cats!  Many many years ago we had a robin nest in one like this nearby.

This week we've scarified the lawns and given them their second cut.  They still seem to be in shock from the frost and snow.  Greenenvy are coming next week to feed and weed the lawns, their first of four visits.

We've never had such a weed-free garden, down to all the hard frost - at least some good hads come from the winter.

The yellow crocuses (croci?) are in full bloom and we've now got a fewpurple/blue ones

In the back our miniature daffodils are now flowering:

The croci have now joined the snowdrops round the magnolia tree and it looks like the companulae are waking up.

It's amazing where the bulbs find a way too.

25th February - We have had the coldest weather thatwe've had since we moved in in 1970. snow on the ground for the first three weeks and very cold since with brief slightly warmer spells.

Consequently we've had a few unusual visitors.  All winter we've had at least eight blackbirds. We had our first reed buntings on the 3rd January, we saw them a few times afterwards, the last time was the 31st.  On the 5th we spotted a redwing.  Our Big Garden Birdwatch sightings at the end of January were less than normal.  We've seen two robins courting and the blue tits and great tits are examining the nest boxes.  We seem to have got all our sparrows back, over twelve but they are ignoring the set of nest boxes I put up at the back of the house.  I keep meaning to move them but don't seem to get round to it.  We have regular goldfinches, over twelve, and a few chaffinches and greenfinches.  Several collar doves, pigeons and magpies.  We have a couple of thrushes visit us and I've seen a drumlin, until then not seen them all winter. The starlings are devouring the fat balls.  Occasionally we spot the wrens.  Our other visitor is a sparrow hawk, and grey squirrels.

Photo 25th February - our viburnum carlesii in the front garden has been in flower for some time.  I think it is the second flowering from last year.

Photo 25th February - These are the first snowdrops to burst through this year.  The first one started to open on 24th January, much later than usual.  This clump have double flowers.

Photo 25th February - These snowdrops are in the back garden, some of the many clumps, didn't start to open in the back until 1st February.

Photo 25th February - The crocuses first opened in the middle of February, this is one of the clumps in the front garden.

Photo 25th February - Our first primrose also the middle of February.

Photo 25th February - The first pink ones

Photo 25th February - A crocus in the back garden pushing up through a clump of cyclamen.

The daffodils, bluebells and lilies of the valley are begin to poke through.