watchingthedaisies

My Donegal Garden – April 2020

The month of April has heralded glorious weather, with LOTS of new growth – a real tonic for Body, Mind and Soul.

I took more photographs than usual, so I have set up a little slideshow of views across my garden:

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Tulips

My tulip collection has grown over the last ten years, and includes a number of species.

Tulipa tarda is a low growing variety that seem happy alongside these purple heuchara, in a shady spot under my birch tree.

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Tulipa tarda and Heuchera

I have a large group of coral tulips – Van Eijk, Magic Van Eijk, and Toronto, gracing my front garden:

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Tulips Van Eijk, Magic Van Eijk, and Toronto

A group of double yellow tulips grow happily nearby, surrounded by blue forget-me-nots:

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Yellow Double Tulips with Forget-Me-Not

A vibrant celebration of colour smiles in pots at my back door, including tulips Negrita and Ballerina, alongside their friends muscari and dwarf narcissus:

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Tulips Ballerina and Negrita with Muscari and dwarf Narcissus

Tulip Shirley metamorphs from lime green to yellow, to cream and pale purple:

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Shade Loving Plants

Tulip Shirley grows at the edge of my shady border, which also includes pulmonaria and bleeding heart. Very soon, a host of aquilegia will be flowering around them in a rainbow of colours.

Pulmonaria
Bleeding Heart

Pulmonaria and Bleeding Heart

Wild Primrose gather in groups until my birch tree, and around my pond but a few babies have self seeded in my gravel paths:

Wild Primrose
Wild Primrose

Wild Primrose

I also have a growing collection of fritillaria meleagris thriving in the shade:

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Fritillaria meleagris

Apple Trees

My three apple trees are covered in pink blossom, and I look forward to enjoying their offspring in apple pies, crumbles and sauces…

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Apple Blossom

Sowing Seeds

I have been busy sowing seeds for the future including jacob’s ladder, zinnia, cosmos, sunflowers, nasturtiums, livingstone daisies…

Some little shoots of green are already emerging, and I look forward to nursing them into maturity:

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My Potting Bench

Daisies

The first of my daisy collection – Marguerites,  are opening out in the sunshine:

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Marguerite Daisies

I look forward to yet another year of growth.

Happy Gardening

If you enjoyed this post you might also like to view more of my monthly gardening posts.

Brigid P. Gallagher is a retired natural medicines therapist, passionate organic gardener and author of “Watching the Daisies- Life lessons on the Importance of Slow,” a holistic memoir dedicated to the art of mindfulness and healing from debilitating illness.

 

53 comments

  1. The best thing for us in south london is the unbelievably clean air! It can’t last sadly much as it should. And are the tulips amazing this year.
    Yours look beautiful. Ah and all that apple blossom makes the heart sing!!

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    • Thank you Geoff. I so hope the clean air and the clean rivers…around the world do not deteriorate again. The tulips have been terrific, and the alliums are opening up next. Hoping for a good crop of apples, and lots more heart singing.

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  4. Brigid, such a loving display of colour and thoughtful planting in your garden. 💕 I love the forget-me-nots nestling under your yellow tulips and the abundant apple blossom. Such a joy to visit your garden, thank you. Xxx

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  5. Your gardens are beautiful. Does your apple tree produce nice fruit. We have had problems with bugs and apple scab. This year I will be planting chives and nasturtiums around our apple trees to see if that helps. Happy gardening!!!

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  14. Oh Brigid, how your garden does grow, it looks amazing and I know that doesn’t happen without a lot of hard work. So pleased to hear you are keeping well and enjoying the outdoors. XX

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    • Thank you Jan. I have two more varieties of tulip to post, including one called Ice Cream. The pink chairs are a favourite. I have had expensive wooden chairs in the past but the pink plastic is very easy maintenance. Plus the pink has the feel good factor.

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  18. Such a beautiful garden. And so much preparation for you new seedlings.

    I had no clue bleeding heart needs shade. Mine has disappeared. I am broken hearted.

    The squirrel and birds are enjoying my garden. I am enjoying it too, even mum steps out too.

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  19. I always adore your garden, Brigid. So colourful and uplifting. The tulips are doing brilliantly and I love the daisies. There’s something very simple and joyful about daisies, don’t you think? And they remind me of my childhood when they used to be everywhere at school. Stay safe lovely xx

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  21. You garden is wonderful, Brigid. You have being doing such a fabulous job of spring planting you are making me a bit ashamed of my messy garden. I have been trying to squeeze a bit of weeding in each day, but it doesn’t seem to be making much of a difference.

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      • They do, we usually have someone in to do the weeding once a week but not at the moment. I don’t have much spare time during the day and weeding at night isn’t something I want to do – not yet anyhow – smile.

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