This morning I snapped a selection of six garden things to share with the #SixOnSaturday gang of garden bloggers

The view has changed – its about a month between these snaps of before and after the leaves fall…

First up, the Vanessa Bell rose, looking resplendent as one of the three teeny rosebuds in the rose patch by the back door. This rose is one of the first to bloom and last to flower, and it’s named after a member of the Bloomsbury set. Not only was Vanessa Bell a pivotal player in 20th century British art, inventing a new language of visual expression. she also painted an unflattering portrait of a love rival, and is the namesake of this beautiful rose

This ‘bitter bracket’ fungus is my next selection. It’s a funky looking mushroom, growing in the conifer tree stumps by the pond. We got an overgrown Christmas tree removed from the front garden not long after moving in, and its stumps became seats by the pond. They are slowly rotting down in a shady spot under the elder. It might be worth trying to grow a few edible mushrooms in this part of the garden – that’s a possible project for next year…

We have a few flowers still going in the ‘horsey’ border.

This shady border under the apple tree has sedum and hot lips salvia giving a bit of colour.

The baby bonsai oak is on the kitchen windowsill, and clinging on to its leaves for just a little while longer. And I should probably clean that window soon…

🙂

We’ve expanded our collection of garden pots, mostly with second hand finds at markets and charity shops. I’ve put in some spring bulbs to brighten up various views around the place.

My final selection is the front porch shelf, which features this rambling succulent, a woven tray that I made at Frome Community College a few years ago, and a tiny dancing solar powered owl called Ray. This little Ray of sunshine was a gift from a friend years back. It’s solar powered and it boogies in the sunlight in a very endearing style, shaking its little tail feather. And tomorrow I am off to London to see that friend, and go to a show by They Might Be Giants, and shake my own much more substantial tail feather.

As ever, I must acknowledge that my lovely husband does most of the work in the garden, he’s been busy mowing and pruning and weeding and tidying, to make this amazing garden happen.

I hope you have a good weekend,

Jen x