Garden Pictures - How Does Your Garden Grow?

While life has been manic one post that I have missed writing is my How Does Your Garden Grow post. The posts kind of got put to one side while I concentrated more on my food. But I have missed them. 

I have decided to start making the time again to go out and photograph nature again. I recently had a down fall with my depression getting worse and I stopped doing things which I loved to do before. Photography was one of them. Now my moods have balanced out again thanks to a new dose of medication I am gradually rediscovering "me" again.

I have decided to restart my How Does Your Garden posts again. But this time I will not be writing about the goings on in the garden. That is the hubby's area and if I am honest I did get stuck for things to write. So this time I am going to share pictures that I have taken in our garden.

There is nothing like a new toy to reignite my love of photographing nature. When I ordered my iPhone 6 a few weeks ago I also added an Olloclip lens to my basket. This will enable me to capture macro shots without lugging my camera around. This week I am sharing some of the shots that I captured in our garden over the last week.

This is how our garden has grown...

How Does Your Garden Grow? Week 18

This last week we have seen all sorts of weather. It has be gloriously sunny and hot one day then cold and wet the next. We have even had a couple of frosty mornings!

The garden certainly did need the rain and I love the seeing the plants glistening with water droplets. Plus it gave me the perfect excuse to grab my camera and capture their beauty.

Our garden is full of colour from the various wallflowers that the hubby planted last year. We are amazed by the size of some of them, they are doing so well. The Allium Purple Sensations are in bud and as these are a favourite I cannot wait to see them open up! Last year we bought a couple of reduced Clematis to grow up the front of the house. This year one is still small but the other one is covered in buds and is starting to open. Many of the plants in our garden are ones that we bought from the reduced section and we have shown that with a little TLC these plants can thrive.

This is how our garden has grown this week...

How Does Your Garden Grow? Week 16

This is a post that I have been longing to write.

At last colour has returned to the garden. After all of the lovely weather and sunshine that we have had everything is shooting up and starting to bloom.

Last year the hubby planted a lot of wall flowers which have added flashes of colour to both the front and back garden. The Camellia which had a bout of black leaf and needed to be drastically cut back did not do much last year. But this year we have enjoyed seeing numerous buds grow and finally they opened. I just wish I had captured a picture before the puppies of anarchy knocked them all off! Now all of my attention is on the peony. We have some in the back and the front garden and I adore the huge red flowers so I am eagerly watching the buds grow!

At last our cherry trees have come into blossom and are looking stunning up close.

Here is how our garden has grown...

How Does Your Garden Grow? - Normanby Hall in Spring Time

Last weekend we decided to go for an over due visit to Normanby Hall. It has been a couple of months since our last visit so we were looking forward to seeing the signs of spring.

The walled garden, where the fruit and vegetables are grown, was bare except for some remaining artichokes. It will be good to see how it changes over the year and fills up again. We took a walk into the greenhouse and saw some beautiful flowers. One of my favourite flowers, the Bird of Paradise, was in full bloom.

We walked down one of the greenhouse corridors and were greeted by a lovely sweet smell and pretty pink flowers. After further investigation we were amazed to see that they were nectarine trees. I am looking forward to seeing how they progress.

While we were walking around this time we realised that it is the first time that the twins have walked around on their own without reins. Yes we did still have to dash after them when they decided to go in the opposite way but it was fun and they loved the extra freedom!

Here is Normanby Hall at the beginning of spring...

How Does Your Garden Grow - Week 13

At last there are true signs of spring and colour in the garden.

When I look out of the front window I can see blossom starting to bloom on trees. It is such a delight to have some colour return. Colour is the one thing that I miss seeing over the winter.

We now have a mass of yellow flowers from the forsythia and daffodils that are continuing to open up and buds are forming on the shrubs and fruit trees. Some of our plants seem to be behind others. I have seen pictures of magnolias and camellias flowering but ours are still tight in bud. However I know that soon they will be gracing us with their beauty and colour will be everywhere!

This is how our garden has grown this week...

How Does Your Garden Grow - Week 12

This week has seen the hubby dead heading the hydrangea. I love hydrangeas and even as they are dying off they have a beauty about them. Therefore I feel sad seeing it cut back but I welcome the beautiful, green new growth that is shooting through. As the hydrangeas were cut back we were able to see the new peony growth coming through. I always love the front of our house in the summer and this year I will love seeing it develop even more. Last year we added a lot of plants that were from the bargain section so they didn't do much, but this year they should bloom. We also moved my beloved magnolia to the front. At the moment it is still tightly in bud but it is covered in buds so it should be full of flowers when the time comes.

As for the back garden, well what can I say, Opie and Jax, the puppies of anarchy, have well and truly taken over. They have recently discovered that they can dig. Thankfully at the moment they are digging in the area where we are going to be extending but we do not want them to carry on. We have found a lovely holistic dog trainer who has been to see us and she has given us a lot of tips for how to stop this so fingers crossed they will stop. Failing that the hubby will be building them a sand pit!

Anyway, this is how our garden has grown this week...

As always I am sharing how our garden has grown with the lovely Annie from Mammasaurus.

How Does Your Garden Grow? Week 11

At the beginning of the week I looked out into the garden and wondered what I could post for this weeks How Does Your Garden Grow? Then we had a rainy spring day that left the garden looking so pretty. So I grabbed my camera and captured rain drops on the plants.

The path has now been finished and looks great. The twins even have their own personal path leading to their playhouse. We have recently found that the puppies have discovered gaps in the bottom of the conifers so they have been escaping into the vegetable patch and even our next door neighbour's back garden. So the hubby has a task of blocking up the gaps. Next week I will be able to show you the results. The fruit cage is now ready for the netting to be added and all of the delicious soft fruit that will grow in there. The big jobs that needed doing have been done so now it will be time to get the seeds sown for our vegetables. It is great getting things ticked off the to do list!

I saw the beautiful tulips at the end reduced to clear so treated myself to a couple of bunches. They have added some lovely colour to my kitchen window.

Here is our week in pictures...

As always I am sharing how our garden has grown with the lovely Annie at Mammasaurus.

How Does Your Garden Grow? Week 10

This post really should be titled How Does Your Garden Change?

We have seen our garden gradually change over the last couple of weeks. There have been so many changes. Plans and ideas that we have spoken about all winter are becoming a reality. It is lovely to see everything come together.

The path and fruit cage is not the only area that we are changing. We are also creating a wildlife area in the vegetable patch. We now have a lovely Ladybird Tower. Ladybirds are important to have in the garden as they will make a meal out of any unwanted aphids. This home will not only be a haven for the ladybirds during the summer but will also give them a place to escape the cold over winter. This is just the first feature of our new wildlife garden. We are planning to create a bug hotel with scrap bits of wood drilled with holes for the bugs to use. We have found that our garden attracts a lot of bumble bees and butterflies during the summer and with our wildlife garden we are hoping to attract even more and do our bit for wildlife.

Here is how our garden has changed over the week...

The first flower casualty of the year!
The twins picked it for meand said "look, pretty flower for mummy!"
which was lovely but we have tried to explain that they are to make
the garden look pretty so we will see how many more remain intact!

As always I am sharing with the lovely Annie from Mammasaurus - Happy Birthday lovely lady! x

Disclosure: I was sent the Ladybird Tower for our garden. No payment was received. All views and opinions are my own and 100% honest.

How Does Your Garden Grow? Week 9

Last week I wrote about all of the changes that were happening in the vegetable plot. This week the changes continue.

We now have a second shed up and the hubby has started to build a soft fruit cage. Last year we grew strawberries, raspberries and gooseberries but as soon as the fruit came the birds had them. We put some netting over the strawberries which did save the majority. This year we are wanting to grow more soft fruit. We love eating the soft fruits but I also enjoy using them for baking and making jams. We had looked at fruit cages but could not find one that was big enough, within budget and exactly what we wanted. So the hubby is building one.

So far he has built the frame and shelving. Next will be the door. We plan to have strawberries on the shelves, raspberries along the side then gooseberry, tayberry, blackcurrant and redcurrants under the shelving. The frame should be finished at the weekend then we will look forward to planting and reaping, or should I say tasting, the benefits from the frame.

We are also planning to make changes to the main children's area of the garden. Since we moved here we have noticed that during the winter and wet months the centre of the garden become so muddy and boggy. This winter it has been a mud path leading to the vegetable plot. To make walking down the garden easier and safer the hubby is planning to create a gravel path leading down the centre.

This week has seen many changes and I can guarantee that there will be many more changes to come!

This is how our garden has grown this week...

Two new beds have been dug
and shrubs have been planted

 The fruit cage being built

A second shed has been put up

We have glimpses of colour returning to the garden

As always I am sharing how our garden has grown with the lovely Annie from Mammasaurus