Mar 21 2023
Finally, all the muddy work Vic and I did down on our knees back in November is paying off! The containers are jammed with spring colour, and it’s such a mood booster in this grey and sodden March. The oak barrels outside the CG soapery are stuffed with egg-yolk yellow crocuses, while down on the farmyard my treasured zinc dolly tubs are filled with Cadbury-wrapper-purple crocuses, with red bore kale in the centre and a wave of Tenby daffodils about to pop over their heads. We’ve planted bulb lasagnas, so under the daffs there’s another layer of tulips bulbs lurking, all ready to do their thing in April and May. I can’t wait!
Meanwhile down in the Compass Garden, we’ve planted a new little hedge of Hidcote Lavender around the two triangle beds, in a nod to the increasingly hot and drought-stricken summers we’ve been having. Hopefully they’ll be able to make it through without too much extra watering this year. I’ve got purple roses, purple salvia and purple crocuses in there too – all looking pretty bare and stick-like at the moment, but I’m optimistically anticipating a fountain of colour later on…
I’m busy almost every day in my beautiful glass domes, planting up seedlings ready for the season. We’ve got three geodesic domes now. (All birthday presents from Rich, bless him! Such a patient man…) The lower one will be filled with tomatoes, marigolds, basil and lilies – the middle one will have cucumbers and salad crops, and the mini-dome at the top is stuffed full of strawberries and dahlias in pots, waiting to leaf up before being planted out.
But my main passion at the moment is my little wildlife pond. It started life as a circular cattle trough – and Rich installed a lovely fountain for me, which sprayed into a showy arc. I loved it, and kept it going all year round so that I could see it from the bedroom window.
But then a frog moved into the pond! Jordan, our Head of Barn, found it nestling in the barn and carefully transferred it over. And the next time I looked – there were seven frogs there, and a big clutch of frog spawn, floating in the water like an enchanted crystal globe.
I quickly turned off the fountain, so as not to suck any tadpoles in. Built up stone ledges around the circumference, and brought in some frog friendly plants to oxygenate the water. To say thank you (I’m sure of it ; ) the frogs obligingly laid a little clutch of frog spawn right on the edge, right where I can see it growing every day. And I must admit, I’m spending far too much time (when I should be working!) down on my knees, peering down into the fascinating world of the pond…if you need me, that’s probably where you’ll probably find me!
Hugs from the garden,
Shann
