Our first Easter weekend at Windy Acre begins

Another glorious weather day - tennis in the garden...picnic lunch at Ramscombe...evening bouncing (for some, anyway)...and our first proper rose!

First full bloom of the season - Rose (unknown variety) in the 'rose divider bed'

A shot of the full bush hopefully to help my later identification attempts...

Of the many roses in the garden, this small bush looks at the moment among the healthiest, no signs so far of any pest or disease, and quite a nice balanced shape.  Tomorrow I will dig out the pile of old nursery labels that I found in a box and see if there is anything to give me a hint of the variety - unless any of you lovely readers have any suggestions for me?  I am a bit of a rose novice really, as the only rose that would grow beyond a month or so in the old garden was the dedicated old 'Zephirine Drouhin' around the north facing front porch.  She was a stalwart, the most intense fragrance and about the strongest pink that I can physically tolerate, although she did always succomb to major leaf spot quite early on in the season it never seemed to affect the blossoming.  I practically hacked her to the ground two years running while we were in the process of repairing and repainting the porch wood and glazing, and she was back each summer launching 8 foot stems towards the poor postman!  Lucky really it was thornless or I might have had problems... I took loads of hardwood cuttings the autumn before last and two have survived to come with us with what might be plant-out-able size now.

This little chick has carried a smattering of small blooms for a few months now, although I am assuming it is because of the mild (though wet) winter I don't really think she ever stopped flowering properly at the end of the autumn.  Its not that I don't like her, I just don't feel as if it's the first real rose somehow, not like the fab feeling of discovering the one above.

Small bloom rose to the left of the wood shelter

Work needed here I think, to strengthen the support (decidedly wibbly wobbly) and add some cross wires so that I can tie it back more regularly and securely.

Out of interest, here's the rose on the other side of the wood shelter, equally wobbly support frame in desperate need of redesign in preparation for what I remember last year as a breathtaking display of small blooms... no sign of these yet though.

Small bloom rose on right side of wood shelter

I make no apologies for the gratuitous tulip fest that follows:

'Queen of the Night' ? in the circle bed

Unusual (if a bit wishy washy for me) mauve veined/washed variety in the rose divider bed

Mad random colour mixture in the eastern end of the rose divider bed!

'Ballerina'? and lipstick pink alongside new peony shoots in the circle bed

I can only imagine that these crazy colour arrangements are the results of grandma randomly replanting bulbs into the garden beds which have done one year in the patio pots...

A good spot for a warm shady snooze

Evidently overwhelmed by the clashing of tulip colours all around him, Cobweb took the only appropriate action - have a snooze on the baking flagstones while keeping one eye open for small boys trying to muscle in on such a comfy spot.

In Camellia news:

Camellia hiding underneath the magnolia tree

...I was startled to discover this in full bud and early blooms, whilst I was rootling about under the magnolia tree to retrieve a tennis ball.  Camellia admittedly are not my fave plants - I love them in Cornish valley gardens, where they capture that sense of sub-tropical spring that Cornwall always tantalises us with, and where the flowers tend to be protected from being spoiled by the wind and rain by the generally enveloping overhead bushes and trees - but I don't find them an easy plant to find good neighbours for in my own planting style.  A lot of the camellias in this garden are likely to be for the chop as they are frankly struggling unattractively in the limestoney clay soil.  Grandma was always planting them as Uncle Harold was always digging up his marvellous specimens in the Forest of Dean and sending her home with one each time she visited...But for some reason this one seems to be quite contented.  As always the older flowers are browned round the edges, and of course - it had to be lipstick pink!!! - but I suppose at this time of year we can be more flexible about colour schemes (can't we?), when we are just so pleased to welcome any flowers at all.  And later on, if it retains it's lovely glossy healthy appearance I can value it as a good evergreen framework plant.

Furthermore, I have gates!

New gate leading to the soon to be created 'secret path'

New gate which will eventually (!) lead to the new potting shed in the orchard

Ok, so far there are only two but this is still progress.  The more complicated, twin gate for the main entrance to the vegetable patch is to be tackled manfully tomorrow.  I can't wait.  As long as we can distract the small boy from the workbench, or at least find him useful ways of 'helping'...

Vegetable patch sunset - 18th April 

All in all, a satisfying start to our first real Easter weekend at Windy Acre. x