Monday, March 14, 2011

SPRING

It’s nearly here. There are afternoons, in the sheltered part of the back garden when it feels warm enough to stretch with pleasure and imagine pulling out the lawn mower. There are tiny leaves on some of the hardiest of the bushes. And late, very late, my hellebores – the Christmas roses – are blooming.


They were one of the first things I planted in this garden when it was being reclaimed from a field. They fling their seeds far and wide and I now have their offspring planted beneath the silver birches in the little woodland garden behind the Snap & Scribble, along with the violets, primroses, ferns and Lords and Ladies.


My secateurs have migrated from their drawer to my pocket. A walk alongside the long raised bed at the side of the drive – usually on my way to the post box - results in a little pile of dead stuff as I tidy up.


Plants have been ordered. This year I’m going for those big blousy begonias in a big way. Last year I had two big troughs of them and while everything else gave up, they took whatever the horrible weather threw at them. (And we had some horrible weather). They shook it all off, were self-cleaning and bloomed through the first frosts, looking good until the snow finally did for them in December.


Of course, if I was any kind of a gardener, I’d have lifted the corms and put them somewhere dry and frost free to bring on again this year. Never mind. The garden centre will be pleased to see me.


And in the evening the knitting needles are getting busy again with a new woolly-pully for my grand-daughter (she of the seven teeth!). The Kindle is getting a good workout, too. I’m reading Susanna Kearsley’s, Mariana at the moment. I’ve also put in an advance order for To Marry a Prince by Sophie Page – better known to Harlequin Romance readers as Sophie Weston. Just the thing to get me in the mood for a royal wedding.


I will be giving some library workshops on writing a royal romance as part of Mills and Boon’s celebrations of the event.

5 comments:

Vince said...

Hi Liz:

Did you take that picture? The arrangement of the flowers is just perfect. I don’t think anyone loves a garden more than a Brit. I can remembering taking the train out of London and for miles every little townhouse had a garden in the back yard. This was in the city.

Is it just assumed there that you have a garden?

Vince

Lacey Devlin said...

I'm a big fan of begonias too :-) Happy gardening!

Liz Fielding said...

You spotted the garden catalogue picture, Vince. I did take a picture of my own hellebores, but they always look down, so it's difficult to do them justice. My "nigers" are also out, usually they're later than the Christmas roses.

And yes, a garden is something everyone wants and most houses have, except the old back-to-backs in the inner cities. Not sure how many of those there are left outside of Coronation Street (a soap opera that's been going for 50 years).

At the moment I'm looking for a house with a courtyard gardens. No grass. Just pots!

Nas said...

I love flowers and gardening.

Happy gardening, Liz.

Kaelee said...

Spring? not yet in Calgary.We still have lots of snow in our yard but it is disappearing from the countryside.
I don't think I've ever seen winter roses. I do love begonias but I don't like trying to keep them from year to year either. I've getting really antsy waiting for a time I can get my hands into the dirt. Happy gardening indeed.