Prunus

At Heale and around and about this week it has been impossible to ignore the Prunus genus.

Heale have some crackers which are in bloom right now and are also beginning to cover the ground beneath them with a delicate flurry of petals. Soooooo beautiful. Magical really. Like the first dusting of snow.

My favourite in the gardens at Heale is the Prunus 'Shirotae' for many reasons. For its positioning in the garden, as you enter into the veg garden, there she is arching over either side of a bench, shining at you. It is known as 'Mount Fuji'. Of course, it is obvious, the pure white blooms, the flat crown spreading horizontally. I am lucky enough to have seen Mount Fuji and this tree makes me think of that time whenever I see it covered in blossom. Even before the blossom, its buds come, they cover the branches and all that promise awaits.

Also in the veg garden is Prunus 'Tai-haku', which is also known as the Great White Cherry. Heale has a fine specimen filling the top corner of the veg garden. As the blossom comes out so does a delightfully coloured foliage, bronze and red, unfurling into Spring.

Heale also has a delicate beauty flowering now in the Japanese garden rather appropriately: Prunus incisa 'Kojo-no-mai'. It is quite small and compact and has gorgeous little pink blossom which shines out at you from across the river.

I didn't stop to think that the Prunus genus includes Almond, Apricot, Peach and Plum. All with either pink or white blossoms. I think we always just think of the Cherry tree. 

(Of course it makes sense now)

The humble pink Cherry tree is one of my first memories of a tree and probably one of my fondest. The only tree in my Nanna's small back garden to her bungalow. She was a great Gardener and in truth has probably informed me in many ways whilst I was small and beyond. That tree managed to survive 3 children (my Father and siblings) and 9 Grand children (me included). It had a swing on it, we climbed it, we bashed it for cherries, we picked blossom, we snapped branches, we jumped on it's roots! I still remember collecting Cherry stones in a tub, endless hours grubbing about in the grass.

I have yet to own a Cherry tree but if I could, I would, and that blossom would be more than worth the wait.

April showers

It is all kicking off in the gardens right now. Really warm one minute and yet a frost last night. Raining all day and dry the next with blue sky. It always messes with my tiny brain! Is it Spring, are we out of Winter yet. Yes? No? hurry up!

I have been busy in my Tuesday garden getting the kitchen garden up to scratch for planting. A small scale, therefore we can be a bit more spontaneous than in a large garden. Things change, we can decide at the last minute where things go. If it doesn't work, we pull it out and plant something else. Weeds are now growing which is a sure sign that seeds will germinate, so it is safe to try direct sowing. I sowed some Carrot and Radish.

At Heale, a much larger scale, things need a little more planning. All our hard work digging through the Winter months, means we are ready to go when the weather turns. We have been sowing more Broad beans, red flowered, which comes from a green bean. I have never seen this colour bean before, beautiful.

We have planted all our Potatoes, a different variety each week, staggered. Salads and herbs are out, Radishes are almost ready, much more in production, seed stage, pricking out stage, potting on and hardening off.

It is a chaotic time and HG (@michaelmaltby30) is really measured in his process of ensuring everything runs smoothly. Every morning the greenhouse temperatures are monitored and as the day unfolds, we have to check they are not too hot/cold and that the seedlings haven't dried out if the sun has shown its face!

In the wider garden, beyond the confines of the veg garden, Spring has sprung. Blossom is bursting from its bud. Magnolias are out (Felix Jury pictured), Tulips, Amelanchiers are just about ready in the Japanese garden and Hostas are sending their thick spikes up through the soil (I always think they are rather like something form the Dinosaur times).

Clematis armandii (above) is showing off it's huge scented flowers and shiny large shiny leaves against the brick wall of the veg garden.

We planted out the Sweet peas last week, our single cordons, over 80 plants. I love Sweet pea planting day, my favourite plant. the promise of these sweet blooms is too much for me. They are such a fabulous flower. to know that I will spend an hour a week with these beauties, pinching out an picking, once they get going is such a joy.

The rains came one day and we had time out to sow, pot on, prick out and sort the prop. When the days are fine, being in the garden is all you have time for but when the rain comes you can actually get all those jobs done that pile up.

We divided some Hostas and potted them on into new soil with feed. HG showed me how you can wash off all the existing soil so you can really see what you are working with. Then you can decide how to divide and which part of the plant will make a good division. Hostas are tough as boots! We took the time to get some potted plants out into their positions in the garden. Lots of Hostas in pots surround the house front door and look glorious and lush when in full flow.

Escape to the city of Amsterdam

What a week it has been, overload for the senses. I managed to get away with my family for Easter and we chose Amsterdam, as a small easily navigated city. I have been before but not with children but what a great city and totally child friendly (avoiding red lights and drugs of course!).

We discovered the city on bikes and passed some fantastic looking allotments called Nemoland. Behind the big gates I could see little chalets with each plot, some with a hammock! An office type building at the entrance and a real sense of community. The allotments take up much of the Wetserpark, at the top of a very trendy road in the Jordaan. You cycle through busy tiny streets towards an industrial sight of a large chimney puffing out smoke/steam (?). The park used to house an old gas works and now those incredibly creative youths have gone and made it a really cool cultural site with art cinema, cafe's and fashion hubs.

We also made it to the Hortus Botanicus, one of the oldest Botanical gardens in the world c.1600, built for doctors to grow medicinal herbs. My children enjoyed the glasshouses, especially with the cactuses and the butterfly house. It was interesting to see this small green space amongst a bustling city. Outside the gates, hop on a tram and you are in the centre of town in minutes.

Along the canals, the famous Singel in particular, the flower markets throng with tourists and those wanting to buy famous Dutch bulbs. My son liked the look of the enormous Buddha Palm Seeds for sale. A bit of a whopper for our tiny garden!

I didn't make it to Amstelveen to the Heem park and the weather wasn't good enough to invest time and money in Keukenhof with two boys but we crammed in an awful lot into 4 days.

Back to work at Heale and I missed Storm Katie and the damage she had caused over the weekend. One Malus has been damaged and lots of twigs around but not too bad. I had fine weather for my days at work and was able to begin planting out some veg, purple Potatoes (much better for you according to various sources) 

http://news.psu.edu/story/367072/2015/08/26/research/colorful-potatoes-may-pack-powerful-cancer-prevention-punch, Salads, Radish. Such a great start to the growing year. 

Now is the time to be sowing and pricking out and we sow all our veg AND flowers from seed, so that is a lot to be getting on with. I pricked out Zinnia, Lupin, Cosmos, Lettuce.

To end a very busy week, I got to my allotment with my family, planting our own veg and mucking about in the sun.

Just a joy to be out there, lots to come, full of promise.