Greenery-Yallery

[callmemadam]

You’d think I’d seen enough springs not to be surprised by another one but it still amazes me the way the whole landscape seems suddenly to change overnight, in spite of the cold. Looking at the view from the upstairs windows I see green where only last week there was brown with, in the middle distance, a large patch of yellow. This is oilseed rape, from which swarms of tiny black pollen beetles will later fly, to land on my sweet peas. In the garden, green and yellow dominate. Bright yellow leaves on the golden philadelphus, Philadelphius coronarius 'Aureus'. Next to it, fat yellow buds on Paeonia lutea, just about to open. A solid dome of chrome from Euphorbia polychroma. Rippling ribbons of Euphorbia cyparissias running through the borders with the self sown forget-me-nots. Yet another euphorbia, E. robbiae, is rampant under a hedge. My lovely orange-y Ballerina tulips highlight the brown flowers clustering among the bright leaves of Euphorbia mellifera. The flowers really are brown and they do smell of honey. Later in the season, if you’re lucky enough to be sitting outside in the sun, you will hear an occasional ‘pop’ as the seeds explode. Bare earth is disappearing under cushions of green as perennial plants like hardy geraniums and Tellima grandiflora start mounding themselves up ready to flower. Foggy now, but full of promise.

Johnnie Walker is celebrating 1966, the year he started out in pirate radio. Great year.

Comments

[minniemoll.livejournal.com]

I get those little black beetles too, I hadn't realised that they were associated with oilseed rape. I really hate them, I pick flowers, think I've got them all off, bring them in, and an hour later the windows are covered in them.

When I was young, a friend and I used to walk along the side of the golf course near us, and there was some plants which had seed pods which exploded when you touched them, I'd forgotten them until I read this. I wonder what they were? They were quite tall, about our height - probably about 5' at a guess. They were great fun.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

The beetles are a nuisance: they get all over the washing. I give the flowers a good shake but never get them all off. The recommended method is to put the flowers in a dark shed with a light in the corner, and all the beetles leave the flowers. I don't know how they dream these things up.

Could the popping plants have been Policeman’s Helmet?

[minniemoll.livejournal.com]

I'd heard the dark shed idea too. But then I'd have a shed full of little black beetles.

The popping plants could well have been Policeman's Helmet, they look familiar. You are now my official gardening guru :)

guru

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

How flattering!

Re: guru

[gghost.livejournal.com]

Your garden sounds like an absolute paradise!

Re: guru

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

It's the way I tell it! It does look nice at this time of year; I have a lot of cottage garden and woodland plants which do well in shade, and they tend to flower in spring. Later on in the year it gets dry and I fall out of love with it.