It's true ! My garden is a mess. To a certain extent it is deliberate; it makes it like an urban wildlife sanctuary. But it's also because life is so busy I just don't get much time for gardening. So my approach is far too often one of "plant a thing, leave it alone, see how it does."
The plants in our garden are a mix of things that were here when we moved in, things I have planted because they are either edible or good for the bees and birds, and a few things with a sentimental attachment.
Unknown But Pretty Flowers
These strange flowers have been here since we moved in, and every year there are a few more of them. They are often the first thing to bloom each year, which really helps the bumblebee queens.
I've been told they are Snakehead Fritillaries, but I'm not sure because although the flowers look right, the leaves are different. I just love their resilience and understated beauty.
Snowdrops and Lords & Ladies
I have absolutely no idea where the snowdrops came from, I don't remember them being there last spring !
The thing with the big heart-shaped leaves is Lords & Ladies. I kind of like it, but we've got so much of it that it's getting to be a weed. In the autumn it makes spectacular upright stalks packed with orange-red berries. They are ridiculously poisonous so definitely not for eating ! If I ever start a poison garden, Lords & Ladies will be the first thing I grow there.
Also, yes, I really do need to sweep and scrub the wooden decking.
Primroses
We've got a couple of clumps of primroses in shady corners near the pond. This is one of them, which has recovered incredibly well after the tree surgeon's apprentice swept away every single leaf when he swept up the tree cuttings.
Another outcrop of Lords & Ladies is trying to encroach on them, but I pull up any that get too enthusiastic.
Mini Daffodils
This clump of daffodils live on the grass just in front of our house. Unfortunately, a careless delivery van parked on them and split the bunch, but they have recovered well.
There's a bit of a story attached to these daffodils. I originally planted them after visiting Devon over Easter several years ago. We took my grandmother to her local church and they gave everyone a daffodil in a pot, which I planted when we got home. My wife calls them "Tabby's Daffodils" because the cat we used to have loved to sit beside them and watch the children going past on their way home from school. They come up every year, and seem to do better each year.
You can also see some wild geraniums lurking in the grass. They are a bit of a weed, but the bees seem to like them so I don't pull them all up, just leave enough to keep them under control.
The Cherry Tree Blossoms
The cherry blossom this year is not quite as spectacular as last year, but it's still nice to see. It is probably my favourite plant in the whole garden, and is another one with a story.
When we first moved into the house about 10 years ago, we went to buy some furniture, and the industrial estate had an avenue of cherry trees that were in season. I ate a cherry, and it was the sweetest one I'd ever had. I was driving, so I threw the stone into the car's drinks holder.
A couple of weeks later, when I was cleaning the car out, I found it again. Instead of throwing it away, on a whim I put it in a small flowerpot, put it in the greenhouse, and forgot about it. The following spring, two little leaves popped up out of nowhere. So I watered and fed them, and soon had a couple of inch-tall sapling. It kept growing, so I re-potted it. Where it kept growing.
After two more re-pottings, it was getting a bit big for the greenhouse, so I put it into a planter on the patio. Amazingly, it made flowers. Then it grew a whole bunch more, so I planted it in the flowerbed. Now, it is about 30 feet tall and even makes cherries - I had expected it to be ornamental only, because I thought cherry trees need to be specially bred and grafted onto rootstock for that to happen. Of course, most years I only get about two cherries, the birds have the rest.
Talking of birds, the cherry tree is the favourite place for one of our robins. He is the head of the family, and by far the noisiest bird in the garden, as well as the bravest. He's quite a friend, and likes to follow me around when I am weeding just in case I turn up any juicy bugs for him. The photo is a bit blurry because he's very fast and it's hard to try to catch him staying syill for long enough for the camera to focus !
