The garden end of April 22

Looking down the back garden the row of blue boxes at the bottom is increasing.

The bees have kept us busy and there have been swarms and sunny days.

I am glad I planted the thyme under the cherry tree it keeps down the weeds and adds a splash of colour. I added two other varieties of thyme to the wild variety I found in the grass. I fought valiantly for some years to keep back the native variety but I have given up now and the other varieties have been completely smothered.

The bees seem indifferent to the different varieties and the thyme is always covered with honeybees, bumble bees and other wild bees.

Looking up from the bottom of the garden, our red Hazel is at its best just now. Its leaves don’t stay this colour but change to green, so we have to appreciate it at this time of year.

On the left of the photograph one of our Judas trees is coming into flower.

They are such beautiful trees and are pushing forth blossoms on their trunks as well.

We bought a Gleditsia triacanthos ‘Sunburst’ in 2016. We did know that certain varieties had vicious spines but this variety is “inermis” – meaning unarmed in Latin or to put it another way, thornless.

So I was quite surprised to see these sticking out of the trunk. I hope it will not be repeated.

I was tempted to plant this tree for the bees as it has been vaunted as producing flowers with a high content of nectar. Now that I am looking closer into it, I find some sites telling me that it is dioïque and others that it is only the male flowers that produce nectar. So I do not really know what I am going to get as it has not flowered yet and it is getting very tall. It might be quite a delicate mission, if it ever flowers, to get up close enough to the flowers to find out if my tree is male, or female or can produce both types of flowers.

Some plants are much easier. My aquilegia spring up every year without planting or care and flower before I have time to notice them.

Other plants make themselves at home, whether you want them or not. When we first arrived here we had very little in the garden and a UK gardening magazine I had bought had offered free Oxalis bulbs stuck to the front cover. They were duly planted but I did not take to them. They looked too much like the weeds I was trying to conceal. I did nothing to propagate them yet they still keep on popping up here and there.

So I was delighted to see the carder bumble bees on them, I had never noticed they were attractive to bumble bees. Actually, they look rather nice with the Cerinthe and forget-me-nots.

The blackcurrants are in flower. I think this is a little male Osmia pollinating them for us.

At this time it is the little grey Anthophora bees that create all the noise in the Cerinthe with the bumble bees that are my favourites.

Meanwhile, April has been busy in the garden or rather the bees have been keeping us busy.

The bees do not always decide to swarm so low down but it allows for a gentle transfer into the hive which suits every one.

Green grass and daisies

After the frost and frozen leaves we are having days like summertime. In the back garden the grass is spring green and covered with daisies.

From the upstairs window you can see the grass covered with daisies.

When I see daisies I have an instinctive desire to make daisy chains. I asked two of my neighbours, separately, if they used to make daisy chains when they were children. The answer was negative and I have now initiated them into the art of making daisy chains. Is it a lost art or is it a “British” thing?

The odd butterfly takes advantage of the daisies but there is too much temptation from the blossom and other flowers for the bees to bother with them just now.

The main bee action is in the front garden on the Cerinthe, it is quite noisy with the bumble bees, Anthophora and Amegilla. It self seeds and is quite tough. Some of the seeds germinate in the autumn and survive the winter to bloom early in the spring here. For places with a cold winter you could sow in early spring, it is a magnet for bumble bees.

I have some bright yellow primulas beside the Cerinthe which adds a flash to the purple Cerinthe but they are largely ignored by the fickle bumble bees while there is Cerinthe available.

This is our ornamental apple tree which survived our frost quite well. Others of the frost bitten trees are recovering their leaves but there will be less of the early fruits this year.

Our lemon tree is outside once more as we had to put it back in our front bedroom to shelter it from the cold snap. As we lifted the pot to take it inside we had a good look in case the little tree frog was still hiding in it. We laughed a bit about the idea, but it is a bit of a walk round to the other side of the house so I did not think there was really a chance he would be in the pot. Nearly two weeks later we opened the front window and he was sitting on the trunk of the lemon tree. We felt really bad. We put the tree and the frog back in the usual place but we have not seen the frog since. I think he is sulking.

I have planted a pot of mixed Allium for the patio this year and they have just shot through. In the morning I noticed that the tips had exuded a ball of sap that twinkled in the light. There is always something new in the garden.

On the back wall of the front garden we planted an Akebia “Silver Bells” in November 2020. The flowers look very impressive in my close-up photograph but I am a little underwhelmed by it at the moment. Perhaps as it grows bigger and has more flowers I will change my mind.

At the same time we planted a Ribes odoratum nearby and I am more optimistic that it will be a success, although it has a bit of growing to do.

Bee swarm

In the meantime the bees are keeping us busy.

Slow down…

The back garden is a mixture of bare trees, leafing trees and blossom.

I don’t want the Nashi and the Accolade flowering cherry to finish.

In the front garden there is plenty of colour even although most of the daffodils have finished.

The Eleagnus umbellata trees are full of flowers and attract honeybees.

I would highly recommend Eleagnus umbellata if you were looking for a fast growing small tree. I bought 10 at 1.71 euros each and shared some with friends. That was in February 2017 and they have grown rapidly. I like them as trees but they can also be used as a hedge. They survive our dry summer weather which is a great plus.

Another beauty is the Malus coccinella, it was bought in February 2020 and is smothered in flowers just now (one of the Eleagnus umbella trees is behind it in this photograph, slightly to the right.)

I do not want the blossom of the Malus to finish but it will eventually be replaced with small ornamental apples that were appreciated and completely finished by the birds in the winter.

The weather continues to seesaw from our recent summer-like temperatures to overnight lows near zero. We took our lemon tree back inside yesterday, we knew that the it would only be a short warm spell at this time of year. Still the frog was able to sunbathe in its leaves some of the days. Can you see it so perfectly camouflaged? (Hint, towards bottom left.)

At least we are having more sun than was predicted but when I look at all the blossoms and flowers I feel like shouting at the garden – Slow down you move too fast, you’ve got to make the springtime last!