a merry day

because today we went to Merriments Garden Centre and came home with things to plant - more things that is, since I was also away at the weekend and bought plants from the Herb Farm too, not to mention the ones I picked up from Ray and Wendy's nursery at Rotherview!

All this is a bit of a triumph of hope over adversity, since my back is a bit too tender to do proper garden work, but my dear one keeps watering them and I keep thinking about where to put them so when they do go in the ground it should be in the best place. All is experiment in this new garden of ours since all we know is that some stuff grows here, particularly weeds and our native fern, which is really trying to take over.

But it is good to take time and be slow about planting - no instant makeovers for us. We are learning so much just from watching what is growing already here, geranium, rhododendron, camellia, a few iris hiding in the undergrowth and the ever present bracken. Combined with looking at the gardens around us, most of them very well kept I have to say, this tells me that we are in an acid soil area which is fine by me. What has surprised us is how much sun we are getting. We moved here in the winter when sun was low in the sky and the garden is north facing. Now, as the earth turns us towards summer, we are delighted by sunshine in places we never expected. The bed that I had planned as shady looks ripe for the irises we bought today - I love them anyway, but have been spurred on by Suzanne's lovely pictures of hers here. I suspect they grow even better in sunny California, but we don't do too badly here.

In the old garden I had some beauties,

but didn't do enough forward planning to split and pot up so will have to start again, which is no hardship. most of what I bought taoday was paid for by £50s worth of vouchers I won for coming third in a photographic competition run by Merriments a while back. I was astounded!

So roll on May, for growth and goodness, but please, please could we have a little bit of rain?

Oh, what was the picture that won third prize? This one