I appear to have temporarily lost my usual inclination to write about the garden. Perhaps it’s because we’re open now and in the middle of our busiest month.  I spend all day talking with visitors so, when it comes to writing a new blog post I’m all talked out. Wordlessness seems to descend on me as the gates close.  

No matter. I’ll just post a few pictures and let them do the talking. 
Bramley apple blossom – pretty enough to grow for its flowers alone. The apples are a bonus.
The canal border, now 14 months old and filling out pleasingly. Clearly I need to add another clump of Euphorbia palustris towards this end. That’s the twin blasts of acid green at the front, in case you were wondering. 
The meadow under the orchard is starting to lift off. Narcissus Hawera is proving to be the reliable, suitably dainty meadow starlet that I hoped it would be. 
The spring border, just inside the garden entrance. It faces north and is backed by a conifer hedge (not Leylandii as it happens – Western Red Cedar or Thuja plicata. Better by miles..) I digress. The white tulip is ‘Pax’. First time I’ve planted it and I love it. An absolutely pure white which glows in the low light levels here. The white flower at the same height is the perennial honesty, Lunaria rediviva. 
And finally, the display in the bluebell woods has been fabulous this year, no doubt boosted by last year’s rain.  I love the way this old tree is slowly sinking into the woodland floor. These woods are the loveliest sight here at any time of year and one which all of our concerted efforts in the cultivated garden can’t come close to matching. 
May 18, 2013