"If you have a garden and a library.....

....you have everything you need".

  Marcus Tullius Cicero 

With the construction of the Jurassic garden almost complete the group have spent the  past week or so doing repairs and gardening proper.  The Aeolian wind organ had been looking a little tired since being installed just after the Olympic celebrations and it was time for a refresh.  The wood itself was staining with the weather and it was decided to put a touch of Japan in the garden by painting them bright signal red.  The result provided a stunning impact in the garden.

The refreshed bamboos

 The school competition to name the Pteranodon resulted in the name 'Terry' being declared the winner with the casting vote being given to the members of the garden group.  Below 'Terry' we have now varnished the eggs to try to repel the weather and planted  several ferns which will enhance the area

The ferns have been specially chosen as they will spread quickly and cover the ground. They will enjoy the semi-shade which will be improved as the Spring slides into Summer.

Frog Spawn becoming tadpoles

In the pond the masses of frog spawn are now developing into tadpoles.  The tadpoles will have  a struggle to survive as there are many things living in the pond which will prey on them. Newts and dragonfly larvae are very partial to the tadpoles and are adapted to catch them. Even birds will take them and the innocent Blackbird would not turn away such an easy meal.

Both the Borage and the Alkanet have started to flower and this will result in some of the early bee species being recorded.  Both plants are very good for bee species at his time of year.

Alkanet

Borage

The winter pansies which have struggled with the cold nights have finally got going.  The leaves which were tarnished by the cold nights have now greened up and the flowers are appearing.  Unfortunately the pigeons are eating the flowers. They are also eating the daffodils. Beak marks are very obvious on them!

Winter pansies doing well

In the corner which was tidied up by the tool shed the new' Stumpery' is taking shape. Various shaped stumps have been positioned and amongst them have been planted an interesting variety of ferns.  Included with them has been a couple of delicately white flowered Vinca 'gertrude jekyll' plants which will over time enhance the area.

The 'Stumpery' taking shape.

As day ended the night sky appeared.  The Moon with Venus showed itself in the West.

The day draws to a close!

The working party in the garden will be held on Saturday 11th April. All are welcome.  Old friends and new.  There is much to do to get the garden ready for the summer.

"You cannot open a book....

...without learning something"

A quote from Confucius

The garden group has been busy making some purpose built compost bins.  The plastic ones did not seem to work that well so we decided to make some traditional bins.  It will enable us to turn the compost regularly and get it back onto the plots

The compost bins will be finished next weekend. We have used decking planks as they hopefully will last for many years.

Elsewhere we have start planting up ready for the Jurassic garden ferns and trees.  The first plants to go in were the Fatsias and the Corsican Hellabore.

Next weekend we will plant out the Banana plants and some of the smaller ferns.

Spring continues in the garden with many flowers now showing.  The Pulmonarias are useful at this time of the year for early bees.

Pulmonaria

The first Cellandine of the year

Anemone blanda - delightful flowers!

Buff-tailed Bumblebee basking in the sun

Saxifrage

One of the clumps of Primroses

Finally viewing of the eclipse over Weymouth was hindered by cloud cover but now and again the sun did shine through. A couple of quick 'grab shots' were taken at one of these brief showings

Details of the proposed Easter holiday working party will be posted next time.  Come along and enjoy the birdsong, the butterflies and the bees!

"Beware of the man who does not talk...

..and the dog that does not bark"

Cheyenne Indian Proverb

With fine weather forecast for the weekend it was decided to order the fine limestone aggregate to finish off the paths in the Jurassic Garden.  Portland Stone delivered the 3 cubic metres of stone at 10.00 and by 13.30 it had all been wheel-barrowed into the garden and made good with the wacker plate.

By early afternoon the task had been completed

Raking level and the vibrating plate making good the surface

The view from our eco-loo

The finished piece!

The masses of frogspawn

The frogspawn was laid exactly one week later than last year.  At one point during the day 37 frogs were counted together at the shallow end of the pond, but there were more swimming about so a realistic total of 50 is quite likely

The crocuses are attracting early bees and several species have been seen in the garden this week.  Some small andrena types and along with the more familiar Buff-tailed Bumblebee a queen Tree Bumblebee was spotted flying around the garden probably looking for  a nest site.

Tree Bumblebee

Some time was spent in the WW2 garden and by the end of the afternoon it had been tidied up ready for planting.

The smaller minature daffodils are now appearing across the garden.  They, too, were attracting insects

The final job of the weekend was to start work on the new composting area.  We are making three large compost 'bins' which should make things easier in the garden and allow us to turn the maturing compost regularly and get it back on the ground quicker.  The holes were dug and the posts cemented in.  Next week we can hopefully finish the task.

The new composting area

Finally, further proof that Spring is nearby the first Hoverfly of the year was spotted sunning itself on the garden sign.  A common species, Eristalis pertinax, is one of the first to emerge. The front and middle legs are yellow.

The first Hoverfly of the year

We are hoping to organise a working party over the Easter holidays.  Details will appear on the blog later.