Pink bleeding heart and blue alkanet flowers growing by the branching trunk of a dogwood.

Spring rolls on: Bleeding heart, alkanet, new leaves on oakleaf hydrangea next to a dogwood. #Garden2026

#Garden2026

The seedlings are growing, but I need to get them into some potting mix with food this week. Pics after. 😬

This lovely tulip is doing something splashy soon. 🌷

I think this crocus shoot might just be in it for the energy this year. We shall see…

Purple wisteria flower buds.

English bluebell flowers opening.

Purple wisteria buds get bigger every day. This is on the south-facing vegetable garden gate. All four clumps of transplanted English bluebells have greatly increased in size and are putting out flower stalks. #Garden2026

Very young carrot seedlings sprout next to a tiny white stone.

Blue-gloved hand holding a bright orange carrot in front of raspberry canes.

"Also Sprach Zarathustra" 🎶

Behold: The first carrots are emerging! (Dime-sized white pebble placed so I can find them.) Variety is 'Rodelika' -- same as last year (photo) #Garden2026

Groundcover with many small blue flowers at the base of a rose next to a black metal lattice. Daylily foliage to the left.

Creeping veronica is a carpet of small blue flowers at the base of 'Strawberry Hill' pink rose, now starting to leaf out. A daylily grows vigorously to the left. #Garden2026

White double-flowered magnolia blossoms.

Magnolia flowers in the sun. #Garden2026

Bright yellow five-petalled flowers on a still-leafless shrub.

The yellow deciduous azalea is waking up. #Garden2026

Small lavender flowers on branches of rosemary.

Flowers on the rosemary. #Garden2026

Cherry and Asian pear blossoms.

Blossoms of cherry (foreground) and Asian pear (background). #Garden2026

#Garden2026

The seedling gauntlet has commenced.

Baby snapdragons, moss roses, and bodacious hybrids.

Dang tomatoes get leggy so fast. The first 3 came up and I put them 4” under my brightest lamp. Next three came up under the light and got leggy in the 8 hours that the timer was off. 😳🙃

Today we're rebuilding the big corn-raspberry raised bed. Mr. K4O does the carpentry and heavy digging. I transplanted canes and helped measure. Buds on English bluebells! Yellow azalea opening! Alkanet, magnolia, creeping veronica, muscari still going strong. Birds singing. #Garden2026

Young onion starts planted in a raised bed with black plastic weed barrier.

Asian pear blossoms opening up.

Signs of spring: Supervised by a chickadee, who made many observations, I have planted 45 'Ruby Ring' red onion starts. To the left will go winter squashes. A grape on the right is just budding. The Asian pear is flowering. #Garden2026

A packet of spinach seeds

Today? Today or tomorrow definitely. First seeds in the ground. Under row cover, sure. Maybe with heat tape in there too. But it’s on. #Garden2026

1st day of #BritishSummerTime
💨🌧️

At least it's stopped hailing

#Garden2026

Melon-orange rose 'Lady of Shalott' glittering with raindrops with a red cardinal climber flower on the side. My photo.

'Lady of Shalott' rose spangled with rain in a past garden. This year's new leaves are already growing well. #Garden2026 #RoseWednesday

Crocus (I think) shoot.

Early tulip. I think she comes up early bc she’s buried so deep in this bed. From a prior tenant.

Dwarf lilac buds.

Rhododendron buds

#Garden2026

Outdoors: A little bit of activity with a crocus shoot, early tulip, and buds on the lilac and rhododendron.

Glowing orange and gold sunflower.

Bumblebee enjoys a good meal on purple toadflax.

'Speckled Hound' pumpkin ready to harvest from its raised bed.

Double dahlias -- a dark wine-red and several yellow with red streaks.

Counting down the days! Might plant onion starts in April. All seeds will be sown in May. #Garden2026

First afternoon in the garden.
Started with 2 straightforward areas.
Firstly the fruit trees. I added to the weed- suppressant cardboard and topped up the soil in the planters. Not sure if the grape vine survived but the kiwi has
Then I tidied the strawberry planters.

#Garden2026

#Garden2026 continues with harvesting some purple flowering broccoli
It originally flowered in October 🤷‍♀️ but luckily has flowered again when it should do.
A saxifrage is flowering in the alpine pots and my wood anemone has made an appearance. I keep it in a pot so I don't dig it up when it dies back

Computer issues mean I'm not here much lately. But I sowed the carrot seeds (double-sown in case of low emergence). Should see sprouts in about three weeks. Two months until all seeds are started. Buds on pruned grapes and raspberries show a trace of green. Roses have new little leaves. #Garden2026

The start of #Garden2026

It's our 22nd wedding anniversary next week and the hellebore he bought me for it a few years back is back into flower 🩷

It's in a pot on our stairs so I can get to admire the owners every time I walk up

I'll be growing some things like this in #Garden2026. (Not the possum, the possums self-sow without my intervention.) :)

it begins…

#garden2026 #gardening

Took my walk. Grape hyacinth flowers are emerging everywhere in the borders. Asian pear buds are getting big. Think I'll finish the rose pruning tomorrow before the rain comes back. Then I'll prep the raised bed where onions will grow alongside winter squashes on a tunnel. #Garden2026

Pruned another rose. French tarragon and chives are sprouting. Magnolia is blossoming. #Garden2026

Took my walk and pruned another rose before the rain started pattering. Chives and French tarragon are sprouting. The magnolia is blossoming. #Garden2026

Finished pruning the raspberries. Pruned two of five roses. Tasks made much easier by our new garden seat/kneeler -- depending on which side it's flipped too, it's a little cushioned bench or a kneeling pad with handles you can use to push yourself up. Very nice for the tired back. #Garden2026

First of nine raised beds and the carrot barrels are fully prepped. Will sow in a few days when the predicted rain starts. Fed the sprouting herbs. #Garden2026

From the 2025 garden: A nice 'Rodelika' carrot on a green plate with a dinner fork for scale. I'm growing the same variety this year. The seeds are pelleted, which makes them very easy to handle.

Cleaned up one of the three 6x6' raised beds. Now ready for soil amending and fresh weed barrier. Also cleaned up two carrot half-barrels and harvested the last five carrots. I'll prepare their conical planting holes filled with soft seed starter mix and sow in March, which is soon! #Garden2026

Quick shopping expedition for weed barrier, compost, seed starting mix, and worm castings. Up next: preparing the tomatillo bed. #Garden2026