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.)



Looking east from the roof

 On the left is a leafless beech which used to be in the hedge. It will soon be a big tree, The white blossom in the centre foreground is the ancient damson/plum. Rhododendrons behind it are all doing their thing at once. Penjerrick is the pale yellow hybrid with large bells and the red is a Chinese form of R. arboreum.  The pink on the right is R. davidsonianum that China Wilson named after his surgeon, Dr Davidson who sorted Wilson's leg in Shanghai.  The blue one behind is a Bodnant selection of R. augustinii. Click on the image to see the detail better.
In the middle of the picture you can see the path to the woods with the new white gate. Moving right, you look into the new garden with its new lawn and a few herbaceous plants just coming up. The bare area behind the chairs is where the old ivy-covered Wendy house used to be hidden away. Dense planting up there will increase the protection from wind.  Eventually that little garden will be nicely sheltered. One will enjoy one's g and t in the summer evenings.

Top of the garden, Moel y ci in the background

With scaffolding set up for access to the roof, it was a grand opportunity to look down on the whole garden. On the left a big sycamore has just come into leaf.  The new garden beside the wood is a good spot for summer evening sun.   In the middle, Lord Lambourne apple tree, with possibly a few blossoms left after the usual ravages of the bullfinches. The poly tunnel on the right is full of raspberries, and behind the tunnel Corby in a pink hat is doing something in the vegetable garden. The bare space in front of the tunnel will be a bed of high-octane dahlias later on. On the far right, the beech tree in the hedge still holds on to last year's leaves. Click on the image to enlarge it.

April resolution

Make a note of everything planted, date and place.  We have been peering at the bits of straw in the border of the new garden, wondering which ones of last year's new plants have made it through the winter. this is the place to write down that several clumps of Iris sibirica moved from the base of Rosa mutabilis are now transplanted to this new border.

Another note: Ceratostigma, Corrine's recommendation.

Corby is tackling the ivy in the bed by the rose arch. The aim is to eliminate all the ivy from this defined area, which includes the retaining walls at the side of the patio. Ivy's had a free run through the stones, plants and trees since forever. The dry stone walls have been rebuilt by Dave Grundy and Corby and will now stand up without the help of the ivy, so that's a good start.

An old plant given a new lease of life

Rhododendron pachysanthum is an asian species with many good features in the garden.  It is compact and its new growth has a silver indumentum that turns a bright rust colour later in the season.  The flowers open pink and fade to white so the effect is 'apple blossom'.  Sister Shirley grew this plant in Pencaitland (I think) and we inherited it and we remember slinging it from a broom handle to ferry it to Bangor on British Rail.  A large ash tree in the back hedge gradually stole its light and it stopped flowering.  We cut down the ash two years ago.