A cut flower special (one for Mr Higgeldy)

Last week at Heale we spent time preparing the cut flower beds in the veg patch - a luxury of a large garden -masses of bulbs which can be picked for the house next year. We planted a mix of Tulips:
viridiflora 'Hollywood Star' - long flowering of green with painted red - looks pretty
triumph 'Helmar' - long stems, yellow with red running through
single late 'Colour Spectacle' - yellow and red and multi flowered

We also planted out Alliums and Anemones - the latter of which are a bit of an experiment as they are one of the few Anemone that prefer to be planted in the Spring - coronarla De Caen 'Sylphide'. They will be a bright magenta pink.

Already in the ground are Narcissi and once the Season gets going we also plant again - last year we planted Helianthus 'Prada Red' and Cosmos 'Purity'.

We also prepared our experimental raised bed which the owner is trialling as a no dig. We harvested the remainder of the leeks (wow the smell!) and mulched the Asparagus beds.

Amongst this I got to try riding a quad bike (HG is VERY patient!) and it is really zippy.

Away from veg, we worked through a big border which is undergoing a change. We lifted and divided plants such as Iris, Echinops, Salvia and Solomons Seal. A great job at this time of year, perfect.

HG wanted to try and propagate some seed so we tried Euonymus wilsonii which has the most beautiful and bright seed pods, starting green, turning orange and splitting to expose a pink/red seed like a pomegranate seed. Gorgeous!

The garden may be exposing its bare bones but it still holds much beauty. The sunlight is glorious around 3 ish when it begins to fade. Nature seems to be inching closer as you can see further afield through the trees. A swan came into the Japanese garden to have a look one day.

Looking forward to the fruits of our labour already!