Friday, April 09, 2010

Visiting Michelle

My latest post is over here, at Michelle's blog, A Mid-Atlantic English. Go read that post and then come back!

In many ways, Michelle's my counterpart in the UK. She's been over there about as long as I've been over here, and we often seem to have similar opinions, issues and interests. (Before I ever visited her blog, I would sometimes refer to my accent as 'mid-Atlantic' - not entirely English, not entirely American. Of course that confused Americans who think mid-Atlantic refers to somewhere on the east coast of the US. Anyway, I was glad when I saw her blog to see that someone else describes their English the same way!) We're both having a bit of a think about gardening right now. Well, it's that time of year isn't it?

When I wrote my post, I didn't have any photos to send her of my wonderfully boring 'garden' as nothing is really growing yet. Here's what the perennial border looked like last week:


This flower bed contains hostas, daylilies and daisies, but as you can see, there's little sign of anything yet.

After a couple of days of 90˚F weather, there are finally some real signs of spring around:



This is a star magnolia. We have another magnolia but it's not due to bloom for another month. My parents bought us a gift certificate to the local garden center when they visited almost three years ago, and it took us until last September before DH and I could finally agree on exactly what kind of magnolias to buy, and more importantly where they would be planted so they wouldn't make his job of mowing the lawn more difficult (!)

7 comments:

Stella Jones said...

Those magnolias are just gorgeous. I remember starting my garden over in England. There was absolutely nothing in it at first, save one Feverfew plant. You should just see it now! Everything starts somewhere.
Blessings, Star

Expat mum said...

My front garden is being paved at the moment and looks terrible. It feels like it will never blossom. It would help if I actually planted a few things though!

Da Mom said...

Plop on a few crocuses or daffodils and you would have something blooming now.

Yes the garden centers carry mostly the same stuff, but if you know where to look there are some amazing mail order catalogs that would get you lots of outstanding choices.

A

Almost American said...

Star - I was very sad to look at the star magnolia this morning and see that it has dropped half its petals already :-( Ah well, the Jane magnolia will flower in a few weeks!

Expat mum - I'm sure it will look great when it's done! (Tho' if you're paving it over completely, what will there be to bloom?)

Da Mom - do rabbits or deer like crocuses? We've tried tulips, and the deer eat them. We do have some daffodils, but they've been pathetic the last couple of years - clearly need more food/sun/something.

Michelloui said...

That magnolia is incredible! I love it. Shame the petals are going already.

I had a chuckle when I saw the photo of your perennial border--its what my borders all look like as well.

Thanks again for guesting on my blog!

nappy valley girl said...

Lovely magnolia. There are some beautiful ones around here at the moment, and some stunning cherry blossom. Spring seems to work really well here I must say - it all seems to come at once, unlike in the UK where you might get daffodils in March, then a bit of blossom in April, then other flowers a month later... or maybe I am mis-remembering!

LHA said...

That magnolia is stunning!

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