Little Faces

One of my favourite plants is the Pansy.  They just make me smile with their petals that resemble little faces.  I'm not the only one who thinks that either.  The Afrikaans name for Pansy is "Gesiggies" which translates to "little faces".

I have to admire the resiliance of these winter flowering ones.  I bought them from a local DIY store at the end of November, as in my usual fashion, I forgot to go and buy any earlier.  There the were stragglely end of line ones which nobody else had bought.  They were quite small, not overly healthy looking and didn't get planted until the second week of December.  Add to that the three feet of snow that was dumped on top of them in January, I am amazed they even survived!

But survive they have.  Not only that, they are flourishing, as you can see.  They are planted into a metal basket which is attached to the South facing fence, so quite a sunny position until mid afternoon.  All I need to remember to do now is remember to water them as the basket is quite shallow.  Hopefully, if they can survive the winter, they can survive me too!

Blooming Late

It's Easter Sunday and Spring has finally well and truly sprung ..... apart from in my garden!  Everywhere you look there are swathes of yellow daffodils swaying in the breeze.  All of mine have yet to realise it's Spring though.  I did put some extras daffodil bulbs in during December, so I would expect those to be late but all the rest have no excuse.  A quick inspection around the garden revealed one miniature daffodil in bloom, with the rest no where near flowering yet.  No idea why.

I can't believe how much damage has been caused through the winter.  I think the prolonged cold weather, rain, wind and let's not forget the snow has really impacted on the poor plants.  Some of the pots which I have had for years have suffered bad frost damage and even my wooden half barrel has come apart.  Quite a few of the plants in pots need to be replaced including a really good lavender which is now half dead and a couple of fuschias.

On a more positive note, the birds are enjoying the continuous feast I put out for them.  As well as the usual suspects of the Robin, Blackbirds, Pigeons, Sparrows and Blue Tits, I have finally managed to attract a pair of Goldfinches with the niger seeds I put out.  Hopefully they will make my garden a more permanent stop now.

Daisy cat is definitely enjoying the better weather and variety of birds to annoy.  She spends hours waiting under a bush in the hope of catching one but always fails.  The other morning I opened the curtains to see her thoroughly entangled in the Dogwood.  I can only assume she took a flying leap at a bird and misjudged the landing.  She was having real trouble unhooking her back legs from the branches much to the amusement of a robin sat a few feet away!