Temperature rising this past three days from 30C-84F to today 33C-88F with just a whisper of wind,..planned to do nothing but sit and plan,..doesn't work!,..after relaxing for about a glass of wine i had to move and do something,..it was painful!,..i heard a commotion outside my garden gate,..legged it down the garden and through the gate to find three of my cats had cornered a "Pica hudsonia,'black billed magpie',..the poor bird had took flight right into chicken wire and had its head caught,..shooed the cats away grabbed the Magpie with my left hand stuck the finger of my right hand through the wire to release its head,..it bit me and would not let go,..in the end it did,..with a piece of my flesh,..no i didn't ring its neck,..i set it free,..very handy having a camera in pocket.
Pica hudsonia,'Black-Billed Magpie'.
Helichrysum italicum,'Currybush'.
How It Blooms In July.
Primula veris,'Cowslip',..and Echeveria'.
Foeniculum vulgare purpureum,'Purple Fennel'.
Decided to move a Clematis from its position against the wall of my cottage to the middle of the garden,..there used to be a rotary clothes line there so the cement square plus the hole to hold it in position was still intact,..placed a big square container over it,..bored a hole in it then stuck a large metal pole into the hole,..the pole being hollow allowed me to insert hooks at the top then attach slim wire from them down to the container plus circles of wire from top to bottom,..looking forward to seeing the Clematis grow and bloom in its new home.
Sempervivium.
Echeveria.
5th April 2015.
Our town is divided by a river and i used to live on the far side and would always end up in the same spot,..at a big rock,..now that i live on the other side i have never visited that rock,..but this week i walked that route,..i was in good mood with Molly the dog in tow until i reached that rock,..i used to take my other dog Hodson there for years then when Molly came along both of them would end up there with me,..well i suddenly found myself missing old Hodson,..she died in October 2012 aged 18 years,..i was in a dark mood for the remainder of the day,..i guess you never forget!.
Molly And Hodson At The Rock.
Hodsons Spot.
Just Molly.
I Can Never View This Video Myself.
Video===Hodson
Slugs starting to appear!,..noticed one on my lily leaves,..i guess my little garden Hedgehog helpers are still hibernating,..since they eat slugs i have to be careful what i use so 1 teaspoon of Neem Oil and 1 teaspoon of liquid soap in a pint of water does the job,..it works for anything that eats leaves,..firstly the taste and if that doesn't put them off they get sick from eating then die,..does not harm bees or butterflies thankfully.
Day Lily starting to get taller,..plus one slug!.
Digitalis seedlings coming along fine.
The large flowerpot knocked down during the strong wind,..relaxed after lunch by sticking most of it together but i will use Plaster of Paris to secure it.
The Pygelius that was in the broken pot is now housed and happy in its new home.
It stopped raining for about 1 hour today so i prowled around the garden to see what has come above the surface,..Hollyhocks,..Delphiniums,..Foxgloves and Lilies,..that put a smile on my face,..visions of blooms to come later in the season.
I was presented with a bag of Narcissus,'Replete',..the first appeared in bloom today,..i am impressed,..wish i got more gifts like this.
Narcissus,'Replete'.
Always nice to see Cowslips appearing.
Primula veris,'Cowslip'.
I love watching how my Pieris japonica,'Andromeda',..changes color,..in bloom today and will turn red in the coming weeks.
Pieris japonica,'Andromeda'.
April 1st 2015.
We have had rain and more rain for the past few days but yesterday winds over 60 mph,..i was trying to figure where to plant some rose bush cuttings that rooted since last summer,..also transplanting a Pygelius ,..but how to remove it from a lovely container as it was root bound,..well the wind solved both problems,..the container blew off its stand and smashed,..the Arch at the end of the garden blew apart so where it stood some new roses can be planted,..the Phygelius was undamaged and is now in a bigger container,..yes its an ill wind that doesn't do some good.
The Arch Now Gone.
The Duck Container Also Gone.
