A Week of Surprises

Dog damage - never a surprise.

All good, fortunately.

I do love seeing old favourites show up in the garden, but surprises, especially good ones . . . well, now you're talking.

So six surprises in my garden on a Saturday.

Enjoy!





1.  Last tulip.

This fella arrived in a free bag of tulip bulbs that came with some order.  The rest were single colour, red or yellow, but he has some style.  While his comrades've given up their show to become a tiny grove of fading foliage, my guy's been blooming for nearly a fortnight.

A little stripe of class.

And for the pleasure of Mr John K, in the background, a Welsh poppy pushing open its bud.


2.  Should we name it Archie?

This hen came from a prolific flock, but hasn't produce for 2 summers.

The hen has a chick.

Now that's a surprise worth talking about.


3.  Weigela F. Bloom.

You may remember back when we first moved here, I kept shifting a pot of forget-me-nots, wondering who in their right mind packs up forget-me-nots.  Then I discovered a tiny weigela opening its leaves - a forgotten end of season sale item from last fall.

The weigela taking over where the forget-me-nots left off.

Surprise!  It's in flower now, a gorgeous little spark of fire.


4.  Another clematis volunteer.

Last week, I shared a clematis blooming for the first time ever.  It started life as a volunteer in my witch hazel pot, the suspected seed of a neighbour's rampaging clematis known for casting its chillen far & wide. 

And when will you bloom, you pretty little thing?

This week, I found another volunteer clematis in the potted oak tree.  I've not noticed it before when tending the oak, but as you can see, there's the ubiquitous forget-me-not, so perhaps it's only now been able to show its face.

Or do they lurk for a few seasons, then germinate?


5.  Heliotrope.

My excuse for buying more plants at this time of year?  I saw a planting combo I wanted to replicate which featured a heliotrope.

I only needed one but they came in packs of three.

Double the joy.

My records show they charged me for those three, then sent me six.  I like that very much.


6.  Guess the heucherella.

As to buying heucherellas, I blame SoSers who led me astray with examples of heucherella heaven.

Identify yourselves.

They're meant to be 4 different colours, but some've yet to show their stripes, so I can't really plant them until I know who is who.   Bummer.


After these 6 surprises, time to beat a familiar drum.

Read me!

Allan Jenkins' book, Plot 29,  has been passed hand to hand amongst SoSers & it seems I'm the kid who caught the spud in a game of hot potato.  This is my 3rd try at offering it out to the great wide world, so do take pity on me.

Allan Jenkins, the editor of the Observer Food Monthly, writes 2 parallel stories in his memoir: his search for his biological family after his brother Christopher's death & 15 months in his allotment, Plot 29.  It's an honest, sometimes brutal story, never graphic, always beautiful.

Contact me, & the hot potato is yours.   


Be sure to visit Mr P who hosts this meme.  He's got black stockings that make me think more purchases could be in my future.  In his comment section, you'll find links that open up inside gardens all across the globe.

Thanks for stopping by!