Flutterby Patch

Hopeful signs of spring

Here in England's north west corner the sun greets us today from a clear blue sky. The birds are singing and busily building their nests and you can almost hear the flowers opening in order to turn their faces to the sun.

Around the garden the daffodils are putting in a later appearance than usual due to the prolonged snow that lasted throughout January.

Winter flowering heathers create cheerful purple carpets.

Camellias are a great substitute for roses which won't be here for another six or eight weeks.

The early azaleas have been in flower for a couple of weeks and will soon be joined by their many later flowering companions.

This hellebore is 'Winter Moonbeam' which we planted last March when it was very small and had just two blooms. Just look at it now. I can definitely recommend this variety.

Peering around the old crab apple tree I see daughter and hubby having an in depth discussion....time to investigate.

The wheel barrow is loaded with tools which means there is a 'man at work!'

This little project was started last summer. The gateway will lead through to the area where hubby chops logs and stores wood of all shapes and sizes

The inspiration came from a wonderful garden we visited last July. We both loved how the owners had used cut logs to create this wall and arch.

I fear ours won't look anything like this but we will hopefully have a loggy sort of wall and a gate that will screen the log chopping area....I'll keep you posted on progress.

Hoping you all had an enjoyable Easter.

Until next time
Eli.

Little pots of colour

I love having flowering plants on my kitchen window sill throughout the year. This is the grape hyacinth I showed you a couple of weeks ago and as you can see it's just beginning to fade. So I now need to consider what will take its place.

I recently found a really nice book on container gardening which contains some great ideas that are definitely going to get used for future window sill colour.

I love the idea of using odd cups and mugs for herbs. The cup could stand on a saucer if you decided to drill holes in the bottom (special 'glass/china' drill bit needed). If, like me, that presents too much hassle then just plonk the plant in the cup, fill with compost and give it small amounts of water daily.

Here's something else I have plenty of.....old plates! The blue and white teamed with snowy white looks so summery don't you think?

I'd never considered using vintage style tins. Drilling holes in these for drainage would be easy enough.

And here's a novel idea for a party..... Tiny flowering plants in tiny containers, gorgeously wrapped in pink paper (or fabric) and tied with a satin bow. Don't they look pretty on the glass plate as an alternative to cupcakes (not as yummy though).

And here's the book I used for the photos. It contains loads of creative ways for using every-day items as containers for plants and is full of pictures which are bound to tempt you to try some of them.

I'm off now to sort through my old cups and mugs.

Until next time,

Eli

Lovely lavender

Who couldn't love lavender. It sings of summer days.

This little scene was created by my daughter last July. Whenever I ask her what she'd like as a gift for her birthday her reply is always accompanied by a sweet image. She popped into her garden with this little dolly, sat her amongst the lavender flowers and 'snapped'.

And so, dreaming of summer days ahead I have spent the week thinking of the colour lavender and all my favourite flowers in shades of mauve and purple.

Sweet smelling lilac has to be my all time favourite.

With refreshments served in my purple pansy mug and something sweet to eat in shiny purple wrappers, I've been busy creating the pattern for a new little character to put in my Etsy shop. She is of course dressed in shades of lavender.

Her name is Lucy Lavender and she's a bit of a rascal as you can probably see from her cheeky smile. She comes with a little rabbit who is holding a tiny carrot. I hope the pair don't cause too much trouble round here!

Until next time,
Eli