[ymfoster]

Your garden is flourishing Margaret,

it must smell lovely

[margaret zanoni]

Today is the first of May - the Month of the Madonna as they say in Italy - but for me it is also the month when the Lily of the Valley blooms and the tiny fragile flowers hidden amongst their leaves fill the air with fragrance. I chose them for my bouquet when I got married 47 years ago and every year it costs my husband a fortune to give me a vase full of them on our anniversary......the trouble being we married in July not May!!!

The larger flowered Clematis are starting to appear now and the 'President' is full of buds already and for the moment clear of the dreaded aphids.

The rose buds too are fattening up nicely and Arthur Bell should soon be in bloom as the weather at the moment is warm and sunny. Strange - because it is a Bank Holiday Weekend here in England and usually it pours with rain!

I hope you are all enjoying your gardens wherever you are...

Kind regards...........Margaret

[poochee]

Margaret, enjoyed viewing your pics.

[ymfoster]

Lovely Lily of The Valley pics Margaret,

I'll have to grow some one of these days, I remember Grandma having them.

[margaret zanoni]

The garden seems to change by the day now and everything is growing very quickly. The first blooms on my large flowered Clematis are now out - The President is always the first and the flowers seem larger this year but the Guernsey Cream is also opening - I like this one very much because the edges of the petals seem to 'pinch up' with a pale greenish tinge as well. It also tolerates shade and so doesn't fade - whereas the President has varying shades of purple/mauve depending on whether they open with sun or not!

I planted a Chrysocoma clematis on the trellis with the honeysuckle and it is only just starting to come into flower and will take over when the honeysuckle dies off and fill the gap before the roses bloom - the common name is Dogwood Clematis and it will grow anywhere - some can be fussy!

The Alliums and Dicentra are also out now and bring colour to the border. For those who are not familiar with Alliums (from the onion family really) a word of warning......do not cut them to take into the house as after a few hours in a vase the stems start to go brown and they give off what can only be described as a terrible stink!

The delphiniums are pushing up their flower spikes and will bloom early this year and I just hope the heavy rain forecast for the weekend will not damage them too much. The rain will be welcome though and not having to spend a couple of hours watering will be welcome!

Enjoy your gardens.......regards to all........Margaret

[poochee]

Margaret, thanks for sharing your beautiful flowers.

[margaret zanoni]

I thought you might like to see the latest visitors to my Feeding Station - the Woodpecker is taking over the suet bell so we have bought a bird seed mix with suet bits in it for the Blue Tits - but it is the little sparrows who poke their heads inside the feeder and sort out the suet to take to their baby chicks!

The photo's are taken through the kitchen window where the bird put on a show for us every morning when we are having breakfast!

We have several nests with babies at the moment - robins, blue tits, gold finches and of course the sparrows (my favourites)!

Hope you enjoy seeing our feathered friends..........Margaret

[poochee]

Margaret, enjoyed the bird pics. I also like to watch them in the tree outside one of my windows. I live on the second floor, so I get a good show with a variety of birds.

[margaret zanoni]

At last the first roses are blooming - Arthur Bell is an old favourite not just because it is prolific and is a deep golden yellow colour but a truly wonderful smell - a 'proper' rose smell as my Dad used to say. Sadly many of the newer varieties have huge blooms in many fantastic colours but hardly any fragrance - what is a rose without any perfume?

Several of the other bushes have started to bud up but are not showing colour yet - if we have a few days of sunshine perhaps they will at the weekend.

My hosta's are growing well and if only Roland (our resident squirrel) will leave the buds alone this year they will provide a nice display of white scented flowers - although I grow them mainly for their foliage which brightens up the dark shady corner border. I had no idea squirrels take bites out of all sorts of plants - I wish they kept to nuts!!!

I hope you are enjoying good weather now wherever you are - kind regards to everyone......Margaret

[poochee]

Originally Posted by margaret zanoni

At last the first roses are blooming
I hope you are enjoying good weather now wherever you are - kind regards to everyone......Margaret

Hi Margaret, your plants are beautiful and healthy, even with Roland's nips from them.

[ymfoster]

Loved all your flower shots Margaret & the bird pics,

it's great to see you enjoying Spring now.

[margaret zanoni]

Another Bank Holiday weekend here - and this time HOT weather was forecast - no sign of it yet though but hopefully tomorrow.......

Many of you know I am a great fan of Clematis and grow lots of different varieties but one of the most spectacular is Vyvian Pennell. It has greyish buds - about the size of a large walnut and then as they start to open the first petals they produce are really the colours of autumn and are translucent (gorgeous with the sun shining through them) - after this they start to produce their true colour petals - but slowly - and finally finish up with huge double blooms. I'm posting some shots so you can get the idea. They bloom all summer and often into late autumn too.

The delphiniums are beginning to open and this is a sign that summer is on the way. I prefer the shorter type as it avoids so much staking and tying up!

Roses are opening every day and at the moment the red climbers are stealing the show but the old fashioned bush type are producing huge buds and will soon take over.

Have a great weekend everyone......kind regards.........Margaret

[poochee]

Margaret, thanks for the lovely flower show

Enjoy the weekend!

[margaret zanoni]

Hello again......hope you are all enjoying the lovely sunshine we have here at the moment!

The cottage garden type flowers are now filling the borders and their dainty little flowers contrast with the huge blooms of the roses and the clematis.

I am a great fan of perennial plants in the borders not just because they last for such a long period but also because you don't have to keep buying new plants each year! The perennial geraniums are coming out now and this year the Johnson's Blue variety is particularly good.

My old fashioned shrub roses are also producing lots of flowers this year despite the bad winter we had. I have had one shrub for many years and it has huge, very fragrant deep pink blooms which last well even indoors. It is a large bush now and this year I forgot to thin out the buds and now it is too late but can't throw away any flower let alone a rose so I leave the largest bud on each stem and pick the smaller ones around it. I have to put them in wine glasses as the stems are almost non existant. Most of my roses change colour as they start to die off (Arthur Bell changes from deep golden yellow to a pale lemon for example) but this one goes from pink to almost purple - I'm posting a photo so you can see the difference - luckily though the perfume lasts all the time so the petals can be dried and mixed with lavender make lovely sachets for the linen chest.

I hope you are all enjoying your own flowers................kind regards.....Margaret

[poochee]

Margaret...more beautiful flowers. Thanks for sharing.