April out of doors

April 29, 2023April 29, 2023 ~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ Leave a comment

Easter_weekend_2023_apple_orchard_West_Dean_Gardens_West Sussex — Spring flowers galore, West Dean gardens, West Sussex. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Hello again. What a lovely time of year it is for flowers and foliage. I thought I would reflect on the month just gone by and post some images of things I have seen when I have been out and about these past few weeks.

Over Easter, I travelled down to England to visit my family in West Sussex. One of our favourite places to visit is West Dean gardens near Chichester. Until this year, I have only visited in mid to late Summer to see the wide variety of fruit and vegetables that are grown there. In early April, the grounds were covered in wild spring flowers and it made for a very pretty scene indeed.

Scottish_garden_primroses_on_a_sunny_April_day — Sunshiny garden primroses. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

Back in the garden at home, there are primroses galore, and the grass verges and local woodlands are also decorated with these pretty yellow blooms. My favourite spring flowers, Snakeshead Fritillary, are also out in bloom in the garden, along with lots of Muscari and the first of the new season Bluebells.

April_garden_flowers_in_a_Scottish_garden — April garden flowers. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

Scottish_countryside, Loch_Monzievaird_April_2023 — Loch Monzievaird, Perthshire. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

Out on a walk last weekend, just a few miles from where I live, there were plenty of primroses growing on the grassy banks of the loch. The golden clumps certainly helped liven up a dull-weather afternoon. The trees are just coming to life now, although I’m not sure how much longer some of them will stay upright given the activity of the local beaver population!

Scottish_garden_Hydrangea_before_and_after_pruning — April garden tasks: Hydrangea pruning. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

The things-to-do-in-the garden list is beginning to lengthen now that the plants (and weeds!) are growing again. Just as I pruned the old heads off this aged Hydrangea bush there was an overnight frost, but fortunately no damage was done. I managed to cover the fruit trees with fleece before the frost descended. Lots of lovely blossom again this year which I hope means plenty of fruit if the bees and insects get busy.

Blue_sky_April_morning_over_a_Scottish_garden — April morning blue sky. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

April_fruit_tree_blossom — Cherry and pear blossom. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

I’ll leave you where I began, with one more image of Fritillaria, captured in West Dean gardens on Easter Saturday. Until next time, thanks for stopping by. See you again soon 🙂

West_Dean_Gardens_Snakeshead_Fritillary — Easter Snakeshead Fritillary. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

End of April in the garden

April 28, 2022April 28, 2022 ~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ 2 Comments

Large_clump_of_Scottish_primroses — Primroses in their prime. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Hello again. What a glorious time of the year it is in the garden. Some of my favourite plants and flowers are at their best right now, and this year so many spring flowers seems to be blooming better than ever.

The primroses started flowering in March, but the clumps of flowers are just getting bigger and bigger. They grow at their best in the dampest, shadiest part of the garden, and they really bring these borders to life. The Hellebores are beginning to go over now having been flowering for several weeks. They become more upright the longer they have been blooming which makes them so much easier to photograph.

Established_Hellebore_flowers_beginning_to_fade_in_late_spring — Hellebores fading gloriously. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

The new kids on the block are the bluebells. We’ve had a few chilly, grey days here, but now things are brightening up again, the pretty blue flower heads are opening up all over the garden.

Scottish_garden_bluebells, April_2022 — First of the bluebells. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

Another spring favourite of mine are the unusual looking Snakeshead Fritillary. Alongside the well known pink variety with it’s petals patterned like snake’s skin, a white variety has also become established.

White_and_pink_Snakeshead_fritillary — White and pink Snakeshead Fritillary. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

The Chionodoxa that runs wild all over the paths and flowerbeds from late February into March has been replaced by tiny violets. They have a delicate delicious sweet fragrance as well as looking so pretty.

Scottish_garden_violets — Garden violets. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

I am very happy to see all the small fruit trees in full blossom now. I am looking forward to a good crop of Morello cherries again (fingers crossed). There seem to be lots of bees around so hopefully they are doing a good job of helping to set the fruit. Only the miniature apple tree is in blossom at the moment, but I can see quite a lot of flower buds on the large tree so with a few warm days, I think they will open up.

Morello_cherry_conference_pear_and_Victoria_plum_blossom — Late April fruit blossom – Morello cherry, Conference pear and Victoria plum. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

Apple_blossom_late_April_2022 — First of the apple blossom. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

One of my favourite annual tasks in the garden is dead-heading the Hydrangeas. I can stay upright for this job, little bending or kneeling is required, unlike most of the gardening chores.

Dead-heading_Hydrangea_flowerheads_in_spring — Hydrangea haircut – before and after. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

Bucket_of_dried_hydrangea_flower_heads — Dried Hydrangea flower heads. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

I hope you have enjoyed my pictures of spring. May is just around the corner which means even more colour in the garden. Looking forward to the warmer, even longer days, so until next time, enjoy the beautiful sights and sounds of this special time of the year. Thanks for stopping by and take care.

Red_and_yellow_garden_tulips — Bold and bright tulips. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

End of April in the garden

April 27, 2020April 27, 2020 ~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ 4 Comments

Vivid_pink_Pieris_in_flower_in_April — Flaming Pierus under a clear blue Scottish sky. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Hello again. Thank you for stopping by my blog. I hope you are keeping well. Not so many words from me in this post, I am letting the glories of the spring flowers speak for themselves. I hope you enjoy looking at them.

Like the rest of the UK, we have had a wonderful month of weather here in central Scotland. In fact, it has felt more like May than April, with several flowers, shrubs and blossoms a couple of weeks ahead than this time last year. Funnily enough, as I sat down to write this post today, the skies clouded over and we have had some much needed rain. It is also cooler, and the forecast looks set that way for the next few days ahead.

3_classic_tulips_blooming_in_April

3_multi-petaled_tulips — 6 of the best tulips. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

The bold and brassy tulips are early this year by about 2 weeks. The classic upright varieties have been planted for a few years now, but the multi-petal, peony-like ones, I put in last Autumn. The colours are so bright, they take on an almost day-glo look in bright sunlight.

White_and_deep_pink_Snakeshead_Fritillary — Snakeshead Fritillary in white and deep pink. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

More sedate-looking are the Fritillaries in white and in deep pink. They don’t grow in huge clusters, just a few dotted here and there, but year on year, they are slowly increasing in numbers all round the garden.

Morello_cherry_blossom_and_Conference_pear_blossom — Morello cherry and Conference pear blossom. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

Close-up_on_miniature_apple_tree_blossom_with_bee — Apple, my favourite fruit blossom. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

The fruit trees are laden with blossom. Fingers crossed that this means a good harvest of fruit later in the year. The bees are certainly busy, so the signs are looking promising so far.

Now that the daffodils have finished flowering in the raised bed, the Forget-me-nots are free to take up the space left behind. This is a very sunny spot in the garden, and they thrive here.

Springtime_Forget-me-nots_in_Scotland — Dainty baby-blue clusters of Forget-me-nots. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

My final image this week is of another early appearing flower. These last few days of warmth and sunshine have brought out the bluebells in front of my greenhouse. Their sweet, spicy fragrance hangs heavy in the air, and their vivid blue-lilac, little pixie hat-shaped flowers are popping up all over the flower-beds and paths.

Scottish_garden_bluebells — Scottish garden bluebells. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Over the past few weeks, I have been feeling more fortunate than ever over to have such a wonderful garden to escape into, and with beautiful weather to boot, these strange times we find ourselves in have been so much easier to deal with. My best wishes to you, and I look forward to catching up with you again soon 🙂

Spring in full swing

April 11, 2019 ~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ 2 Comments

Raised_bed_of_spring_flowers_in_early_April — Raised bed of spring flowers. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

It’s been a glorious week here in central Scotland and I just couldn’t resist posting another series of images of spring flowers. It is my favourite time of the year and this year the garden seems more abundant than ever, bursting with colour in every corner.

Whilst the sky has been blue and the temperature relatively warm during the day, the nights have been chilly, and only this morning the lawn was covered with frost.

Grape_hyacinths_and_snakeshead_fritilary — Muscari and Snakeshead fritillary. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

There is plenty of blossom forming on the fruit trees, and the sprigs nearest the walls are already in bloom and sweet-smelling. The bees will be smiling.

Plum_cherry_and_pear_blossom — Victoria Plum, Morello Cherry and Doyenne de Comice Pear blossoms. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

I have been in and out of the garden all week keeping my eye on the progress of the bluebells because they are exceptionally early this year. In the sunny spots, the stems are getting longer and the buds bluer, and today I discovered one wee bell-shaped flower fully open in amongst a thicket of twigs, and here it is, my first bluebell of 2019 🙂

Early_Scottish_bluebells — My first bluebells of 2019. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

One of the most prolific plants in the garden is Euphorbia. This time of the year the flowers are lime-green and yellowy and look stunning in the sunlight. They really brighten up the dullest parts of the garden and make an eye-catching display with the fading pink and white hellebores in the background.

Euphorbia_and_hellobores — Euphorbia with hellebores. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

My last images of my post this week are of a beautiful pink Persian Buttercup (Ranunculus) with its many layers of delicate petals. I don’t seem to be able to grow them in big clusters, just the odd one comes up here and there. The other is a very “early bird” in the garden this year, a single Mountain Cornflower (Centaurea montana). Usually these thistle-like flowers grow in abundance from early summer and onwards throughout the autumn, but this fellow has popped up several weeks ahead of the others.

Pink_ranunculus_and_a_Centaurea_montana — Persian buttercup and a Mountain cornflower. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

That’s all for this week. Have a good few days – enjoy the sunshine if you have it. I’ll be back in the kitchen with an Eastery recipe for next week’s post.

Spring, glorious spring

April 26, 2018April 26, 2018 ~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ 4 Comments

Solo_Snakeshead_Fritillary_in_spring_sunshine — Snakeshead Fritillary under a blue spring sky. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

It really was a glorious day today. After a few April showers this morning, it was a sunshiny blue-sky afternoon. It was very pleasant to take a stroll, breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the sunshine. Out of the sun, it is still chilly, and the night-time temperature is low, but the spring flowers are at their best right now, and I couldn’t resist another post showing how the garden is looking at this very colourful and fragrant time of year. The scent from some of the flowers is intoxicating, I only wish there was some way of posting the aromatics as well as the images!

Red_and_white_striped_tulips_under_a_blue_sky — Bold and brash, candy-striped tulips. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Pale_lemon_multi-headed_Narcissus — Pale lemon Narcissus, each tiny stem has 4 very fragrant blooms. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

I’m in the throes of a very busy period with my work and subsequently, I have had little time to spend trying new recipes in the kitchen. I will have a recipe post ready for next week though, so in the meantime, I hope you enjoy the glorious multi-colours of my Scottish spring garden. See you next week.