I started a new job back in December, and I’ve worked most Mondays since then.
But not today, so there’s time this morning to join with the lovely gang at Rambling in the Garden, Cathy’s blog sharing local seasonal flowers in a vase on Monday. I’ve missed taking part in this delightful gardening meme.
In a vase on Monday today, 30 April 18, we have ‘Painted lady’ tulips, with ‘Cosmopolitan’ pink rhododendron, bluebells and willow stems.
The vase is Bristol blue glassware, picked up from a Frome charity shop for a couple of pounds, and the blooms are all from our garden.
The painted lady tulips were bargain bulbs from Lidl that I popped into the ground outrageously late in the season – around mid Feb – which have done marvellously well.
The rhodedodo (as my dad often calls them) is a potted plant that I’ve had for a few years now, and picked up as a small plant from Thelma’s flower shop in Tottenham.
It’s a fabulous splash of shocking pink and I love its garish, gaudy tones.
The woven fence at the back of the veg patch / hugelmound is made of living and buff willow, with a dogwood heart at the centre. Weaving is addictive and very satisfying and covers up an ugly wall rather well.
The hugelmound was an attempt to kill two birds with one stone, as a way to deal with a lot of deadwood pruned from the garden, and develop a nutritious soil with plenty of organic matter.
It’s a pile of logs, sticks and compost from all around the garden, heaped into a mound, and then smothered with mushroom compost.
Last March, it looked like this… https://doingtheplan.com/2017/03/24/a-huge-pile-of-crap/
And now…
The fire garden is still my favourite spot though, and this was the view from the Arthur Brown bench this morning.
Although I’d hoped for sunnier weather on my day off on Monday 30th April when I booked it in Feb, at least it’s not raining (yet?).
Despite the gloom, I’ll get on a with a few things to do from my planning and planting lists. And I hope that your plans and plants are coming along nicely.
Jen x
Doing The Plan 
heh heh, from north of the border that bench is going to become known as Arthur’s Seat … How lovely it is all looking! You’re apparently officially six weeks ahead of us in the Frozen North, and our established things are racing to catch up. Unfortunately, tho, the baby plants can’t be planted out until there is no risk of frost, which will probably be around August … and there is no space left in the kitchen to put any more … xx
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Lovely arrangement. I especially love the color scheme.
Wow, you put so much work into your garden! And it looks like it is filling in nicely. Definitely have to agree that the view from your bench is beautiful and so peaceful.
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Hope your new job is going well – we have missed you on Mondays and I was hoping all was OK. It was good to see some views of your garden too and to see your weaving exploits and your hugelmound, the latter not something I have ever heard of! Your Bristol Blue vase looks really elegant with the pretty tulips and the frothy rhododendron – how long will the ‘rhodedodo’ last in the vase, do you think?
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Thanks Cathy, the new job’s fine thanks – I’m back in the office but only part time. The rhodedodo lasted about five days all together.
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I enjoyed the glimpses of your pretty garden. I tried a hugelmound here but it didn’t work out nearly as well or decay as quickly – our drought is no doubt the reason. Love the vase! Tulips and Rhododendrons are among the many plants that don’t “do” Southern California.
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Thanks Kris! We have wet winters here in Somerset 🙂 The hugel mound is decaying slowly, but the plants seem happy to grow around the old twigs. I chuck more compost on it from time to time, but don’t usually water it much. It’s a shame you don’t do tulips around your way, but you have some wonderful blooms in your collection.
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Oh, I used to grow rhododendrons, and intend to get back to doing so, but I am not familiar with that cultivar.
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