Our visit to Brussels

We went to see Lynn and Phillippe who are on a two-year secondment to the European Commission.  EuroStar was smooth and Lynn was there to meet us.  Our long weekend was full of good conversation and sights with lots of gardens and plants to admire too.

The back garden at L and P's house.  Just look at that cheese board.  And the sweet little China on the wall to the right - Climbing Cecille Brunner - see below.

Belgium

The take-home message for Corby was to have a lot of huge alliums in future. The botanic garden of Louvain showed a dark corner throbbing with big exciting dark purple alliums.

The view from the kitchen sink, end of April 2011

The rose in the foreground is Roseraie de l'Haie, one of the best. Never before seen in the month of April with bluebells, daffodils and azalea. The very earliest rose this year was lemon yellow Agnes by the sunny back wall. Rosa altaica was not far behind; this is another yellow rose.
April was as dry as March, excepting the stormy spell at the beginning.  Not especially warm but good and sunny, enough encouragement for the roses to get started a month early.  In the 1990's only a few roses flowered here in May, Rosa persetosa being one of them. (With its tiny  pink flowers, it was known as the "threepenny bit" rose. Its new home is the bottom of the drive, where it seems to be doing well.)