OneGuyFromBarlick

Snowdrops have been stunning this year. I love a mass in grass like yours Ken. Mine are round the apple tree where my bed of alpine strawberries grow in the summer. A nice ground cover Spring and Summer

I like your gnome Cathy!

Damn! I meant to mention that as well Cathy. I don't care what the purists say I like gnomes and mushrooms.

The gnome was given to me years ago, by a lovely old lady , a neighbour and a cottage gardener, who I chatted with.

We can't get away from Pratchett can we. What's the difference between a Gnome and a Dwarf ....

They're likely originally the same thing. Dwarves were from German Mythology (Odin, Thor, and friends) and Gnomes came around much later (Renaissance era) as a general earth elemental. Nowadays the major difference is usually that Gnomes are smart tiny people and Dwarves are strong tiny people.

Everyone knows that Gnomes are bankers and clerks (See Gringotts Wizarding Bank.). Disney got it right, dwarves are miners.

Oh dear, I thought GNOME meant
‘Guarding Naturally Over Mother Earth’,
and that they lived underground.

Australian ones perhaps are......

Not the most beautiful garden pic on the site but it does at least give us some hope! The Lilac is budding.

Blue skies here and rose is doing well over the arbor we put in...

We've got blue skies as well but -7C to go with it.... Deep joy.

Too cold even in london to put out the tender plants (I dont have access to glass protection) or sow some of the seeds. Theres a lack of rainfall too about, cold dry easterlies for the weather page.

I’ve got half a dozen of these plants and they are looking very jolly at the moment...I can’t recall the name of them, but they are from Mexico.

We would call them a Christmas Cactus Maz. A houseplant here which flowers around that time.

A very old, very large cherry tree opposite our house is in full white blossom - it looks beautiful!

It must be spring. Should I do something about the dead mint stalks in the front garden?

Dead? How do you kill Mint?
You’re doing well

They're the stalks from last year Cathy, This year's crop will be here shortly. I refer to it as my wild garden......

Passed these on our walk on Sunday. Very jolly. ( Hibiscus).they grow well here.

This may look like total devastation but it's actually a very constructive scene. The lilac bush in the front garden had gone berserk to the point where it was completely blocking out the light in the front room. I am not capable of gardening and something needed doing so I had a word with my friend Ian Capstick and he has started the clear out and tidy up.
I'm thinking of throwing some wild meadow seed on the bare plot. Does that sound like a good idea?

A mix of self seeding wildflowers would be lovely and really brighten up the frontages in your row.

Good idea - you'd be in good company. See what King's College did - Lawn to meadow

Best order a scythe now I think. . . .

Thanks. I shall order some seeds.
Done, I shall get Ian to scarify the soil and sow them.....

Whatever you do don't put any fertiliser on the garden if you want your seeded wild flowers to grow. If you put fertiliser on you'll just get a crop of coarse, butch weeds. The wild flowers need a relatively nutrient poor soil so they can compete with the coarse stuff. Likewise, don't dig in any of the previous plants, remove them completely otherwise it will act as fertiliser.