Busy in the garden

I finally got out into the back garden to start tidying up and moving plants.  When little Martha passed away, I cleaned out her house and we pushed it over to the left for Abigail to move into.  Adrian and I demolished Abigail's old house as it was very rickety!

Of course, Abigail has now been rehomed so we will be demolishing Marth's old house ~ from a distance, it looks in better condition that it actually is LOL  The large slabs are staying in place and will have a thorough scrub and hose down once the hen house has gone.  I have ordered a little arbour seat to stand there, which we will take with us when we move.  It hasn't even arrived yet but my head is full of different colourschemes ~ oh decisions, decisions!

Our fab handyman, Steve, is coming next Wednesday to start on the new border, which is where Martha used to live.  When we moved her old house, we left the woodchips in situ rather than bag them up to get rid of them ~ I will just dig it all in when I add soil/compost to the border.  It more or less faces east and tends to be a bit on the shady side for much of the day, so obviously I'm planning on putting in plants that will be happy living in shadier conditions.  

The rhubarb is doing well this year in its pot but I'm sure it will be much happier once I've got it planted in the new border.  I'm going to move some of the plants I already have from elsewhere in the garden into the border as well.  I've also ordered some new plants for various positions in the garden.  I do so love searching out and buying new plants!

I'm looking forward to seeing these daffodils opening out.  When the leaves started to come through I was worried that they would come up blind but there are quite a few buds there.  Daffs in other parts of the garden have already come and gone.

The border looks much better now, doesn't it!  I was only planning to weed and tidy the area above but it really didn't take long at all, so I was able to get more done than I thought I would.

I worked my way along the fence, weeding and relocating plants as I went.

The crocosmia are so reliable, coming up year-after-year.  I always leave the dead leaves on over winter, so it was lovely to see the fresh green shoots when I finally pulled the old ones out.

These primulas just keep on going, too.  They were in a planter in the front garden last year, then I moved them round to the back and finally relocated them to this border.  They just take it all in their stride!  They add a bright splash of colour at this time of year.

The is the second year that the cowslip above has been in the garden and it is looking so pretty.  Another welcome splash of colour, too.

I absolutely adore auricula primulas!  It's my ambition to one day have an auricula theatre.  I wonder how well they would grow up in Orkney.....

The lily bulbs are sending up shoots.  I love lillies, too ~ to be honest, I love most plants and flowers 😊

This birch tree has only been in the garden a couple of years, too, but already it is showing the lovely silver and peeling bark.

This fern is in a large planter near the house at the moment, but will be moved into the new border when it is finished.  

I love the way the leaves are so tightly curled, then gradually unfurl to show off pretty new leaves.

I was afraid that I had lost the mint over winter but here it is, starting to fill the pot.  It makes me smile to see all those shoots round the edge of the pot, trying to make a bid for freedom to take over the garden LOL

These narcissi are finished now but they were so pretty whilst in bloom.

I've been raiding the old pond bed to fill gaps in the border I was working on last weekend.  I expect that I shall take more plants out of here to put in the new border.....then I can have fun buying new plants for this bed 😉

The hostas are coming through.  Fingers crossed that the slugs leave them alone again this year!

Forget-me-nots are pretty little plants, too.  I love that they spring up in places where they weren't planted LOL

This narcissus is in the old pond bed, too.  I couldn't resist taking a close-up photo.  Isn't nature wonderful!