Rain at last

I was really rather pleased to see this morning it was still dark when I woke up. I was confident it was after 7am, so time to come to full consciousness rather than to turn over & try to go back to sleep as it was the middle of the night.

Why should I be so pleased? Because it means it is wet today & our garden desperately needs some rain. We have been watering the pots on a daily basis. Even the lawns have had a couple of hours spray. But somehow, as our gardener commented, tap water will sustain life but the chemicals in it are not conducive for plants to positively thrive.

We did have a bit of a shower yesterday. That helped to soften the ground to make it more water receptive today.

After dinner we had a stroll in the garden. Now the small pergola is bedecked with white clematis. Beyond, there is a hint of burnt copper as seen from the house, but is in reality & deep red & yellow broom. The rowans have a creamy froth of flowers. In their midst soars a bright yellow broom. The cream broom on the left continues to flower next to a beautiful copper hazel now in full leaf. 

The cream broom early in the spring

The peachy rhododendrons contrast well against a deep pinky purple shrub I don’t know the name of but which produces purple seed pods at the end of the season. The roses are in bud & will soon open out, especially with this rain. There’s a bright coral red azalea further up the garden. All around blue & white Spanish bluebells appear. On one wall a large pink & white clematis is opening up. A delicate creamy white lacy hydrangea has flowered for the first time this year. And it is really pretty. Summer is really on its way.

Around the back, in their pots the golden globes of trollius are opening up. They are remnant of our old bog garden.

I do love our garden. I love the wildlife it encourages, the bees, butterflies, birds & frogs. Ideally I would have had a smaller garden, something I could have stood a chance of looking after by myself, but it is what came with the house so we’re makig the most of our private park.