Adding some spring colour

So our house is full of illness again. Honestly this year has been a year of bugs and to tell you the truth I am fed of talking about it. So I am not going to write about the horrendous cough that Monkey had and now poor LM has, or how I had to doze in a chair all night last night so she could sleep upright and stop coughing so hard she was sick every time she tried to go to sleep… no I am not writing about that. Instead I am looking outside and writing about the lovely spring colours in our garden. In the hopes that spring will bring less bugs… eventually!

What a difference a year makes. This time last year we were very much in the throes of Operation Garden Renovation and our garden was basically a mud pit at this point I think! It has since been well and truly transformed but is still very much a work in process. (Excuse the toddler toys but hey, it’s his garden as much as ours :))

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When we finished the main works last year, rather than buy all of our plants and do lots of planting in one go, we decided to spread it out throughout the year. Partly for financial reasons (plants are not cheap),  and partly to make sure the soil wasn’t so bad from all of the conifers that used to be there that nothing survived! The plants we planted last year seem to be doing ok for the most part and we have now added a couple of lovely trees to the garden too.

But, well, it is in need of some colour out there! So we popped off to a local garden centre this weekend to but some plants that are in flower now. In truth, when we decided to spread the planting out, we did discuss the idea of buying different plants at different seasons to try and get as much colour and variety out there at all times of year as possible – and we have sort of done that but a bit accidentally really! Monkey loves going to the garde centre, or him it is just a great excuse to run around, and he knows that we often stop in the cafe for a cup of tea and cake (not for us this time, only a cookie for him, we are being good!) so what’s not to love?

We are sticking to perennials that come back year after year, we may go for bedding plants at another time but at the moment it just seems too much effort for things that don’t last very long. We got some lovely plants and they are definitely brightening up the garden a bit :).

My favourite is this gorgeous alpine rock cress. I just love how vibrant it is

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The “candy tuft” (I kid you not) is quite sweet too,

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and I love the miniature Fiji Cherry, what’s not to love about a bit of blossom?

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Then we have a gorgeous rhododendron

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And a couple of teeny Forsythia which will hopefully give us a nice pop of yellow in years to come.

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We are hoping to be a bit more organised this year and plant some bulbs too, it would be lovely to have some crocuses and daffodils out here next spring too.

Linking up with:

How Does Your Garden Grow

and my word of the week this week, is colour 🙂

The Reading Residence

17 thoughts on “Adding some spring colour

  1. it looks so spring like already! lovely flowers and i had not heard of some of the names. and don’t even talk to me about illness…. our five year old is on her second dose of antibiotics. first strepp throat and now a nasty ear infection. ugh!

  2. Happy happy colours – and hopefully they’ll raise your spirits until the bugs have gone (and lets hope gone for good!) I do love how colourful your garden is – the fence colour is great. Lovely to see toys out in the garden, sign of a well loved and used garden!
    Thanks for joining in again 🙂

  3. Ahhhh it’s that time again where I get garden envy and wish I was green fingered! I can’t even keep a house plant alive, seriously I’m cursed!!

    Yours is looking fab hon, I remember you painting the fence last year, such a pretty colour. Great photos xxx

  4. Gorgeous flowers hun and your garden has been transformed! The bugs will go…spring is nearly here. Happy Easter and enjoy some family time (hope they all better soon and you can sleep) xxx #wordoftheweek

  5. Love your choice of flowers! So beautiful and indeed, colourful. Our garden is still looking a bit sad. We haven’t made any plans yet to buy plants, since our dog is still at that digging-up the pots stage. We thought he’s outgrown it. But at 18 months, apparently not. Sigh. #wotw.

  6. Like you I’m trying to stick to perennials and not spend so much on bedding plants – it’s hard isn’t it! I’m still going to grow some annuals from seed though as a sort-of compromise. The kids are growing Candytuft from seed for the first time this year too – lovely to see what we might end up with!

    I like seeing the toys in your photo, I think gardens are at their best when you can tell they are being used and enjoyed by the whole family 🙂

  7. Sorry to hear you have all been ill. I have been ill this week and have tried to keep away form the children as much as possible, that isn’t easy! I love the colour in your garden. It looks like it is really changing shape. We only have grass in our garden and we can;t even get that right lol x

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