Monday 25 April 2011

Around the garden


The bluebells have been fantastic
I have just planted some  chard (a French variety) and if you look carefully in the background, you will see the onions are coming up.
The cherries are looking good and we will be picking very soon.
The apples will be a while yet.
It is very early for the figs, but they are coming on!!
The medlar tree is in flower
The quince tree is loaded with small fruit
The Viburnam, 'snowball bush'  looks amazing

As for the peonies.....
They are stunning.
This strange character, on what I am led to believe is a type of ivy and which I showed you in a previous blog, seems to be spreading!!!  The photo is rather deceptive; each one of these bunches is at least 50mm across (about 2 inches).



This huge cedar at the bottom of our garden looks very unhappy. We are hoping that it is not dying, but it certainly looks that way.  We can only think the drought conditions that we are experiencing at the moment, are affecting it.  It must have been here for many years judging by its size, so we are quite worried about it and are hoping for some rain soon.
I have no idea what this little guy is, sitting on the Globe artichoke plant. Any ideas very welcome.!!
Thanks Noushka for the identification.  The caterpillar is that of a Knapweed Fritillary butterfly. For those interested see Here for further information and photos of the butterfly.

78 comments:

  1. Ah...one of the thing I love about spring and summer are all those lovely flowers blooming everywhere. Have a great week ahead :)

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  2. Your garden and flowers are weeks ahead of ours over here in Ohio. Some leaves are in the beginning stages and the peonies are just coming up but nothing in bloom yet.

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  3. Such beautiful photos, so glad all is well over there in your corner of France. Hope you had a lovely weekend. :-)

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  4. M.Kate, you are right the spring flowers are always so pretty. Hope you had a good Easter. Diane

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  5. Honest Abe, I have just looked at the atlas and I see you are in fact further South than we are so I wonder why it is so much colder there!! Diane

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  6. Thanks Froggy, Hope that you had a good weekend as well. Diane x

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  7. Quelle chance tu as d'avoir un aussi beau jardin.
    Ton potager va être magnifique et surtout plein de bonnes choses à manger.
    A très bientôt.

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  8. Merci Nadji, j'aime mon jardin. A très bientôt. Diane

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  9. Your garden looks to be more advanced than ours in France. Being an hour or so further south makes a difference.

    Lovely photographs, Diane.

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  10. Ah Diane your lovely photos make me want to be there, sitting on a deck chair in your lovely garden, watercolours at hand. So much beauty to capture and you have done well with your camera :) hope you've had a lovely Easter.

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  11. What a treasure your garden must be. I do hope the tree survives. Take care, Diane. Have a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

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  12. Hi Diane - the snowball bush is one of my favourites. Yours looks stunning. I also lobe peonies.. they are such an old fashioned type of flower.
    I envy you your cherries, I miss ours from our French garden when we lived in the Charente.

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  13. All your photos are lovely, but those peonies are to die for! I've never seen ones like that before, just the usual red or pink.

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  14. Your garden is stunning, Diane! I love how you have so many fruit trees. Hope the cedar does well!

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  15. You have the most amazing garden... lucky lady!

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  16. GaynorB, I think you are right, the little bit further South makes a huge difference. I just wish we could get some rain though, we have had nothing since the end of March. It is getting serious. Diane

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  17. Dolly you are welcome to pop over and sit in the chair and look at the garden and hear the birds singing. See you. Diane

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  18. Mary I also hope the tree survives it is a worry. It will be very sad if it is dying, but the we are also thinking of what it is going to cost to get it down apart from anything else. Our budget keeps getting caught out by unexpected expense!! Diane

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  19. Craig the snowball bush is one of my favourites also. Last year our cherries were at their best. Not only did the neighbours have as much as they wanted but we froze them, bottled them, jammed them, you name it and we did it and there were still cherries to spare!! Diane

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  20. Jan when we first moved here our neighbour was cutting the lawn for us and one day I said to him, what is that patch there that does not look like grass. He said he did not know but he just cut them. It was the peonies!!!! Diane

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  21. Wow... what is that weird ivy? can you eat the berries??

    The garden looks spectacular, I can't believe everything is so far along... we are months behind you!!!

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  22. One can tell how much you enjoy your garden. :-) All photos are beautiful, but I'm sorry about the cedar, hope you can 'fix' it.

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  23. It looks like springtime is in full swing. I love to see the gardens of my blogger friends. I have shown your photos to my family, and they said "Wow".

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  24. lostpastremembered I would not like to try eating those berries, I think they look like they could put you in hospital :-( I am surprised that we are so far ahead of you but if we don't get rain soon everything will soon be dead!!! Diane

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  25. JM the cedar is very sad, I am still hoping, but all the promised rain over the last few days completely missed us!!! Diane

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  26. Olga if only we could get some rain then it might be Wow, but it is hard work at the moment and I wonder how long we can water before we get restrictions. I must say though the snowball bush and the peonies are showing off despite the dry weather. Diane

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  27. What a lovely blog, I'm so glad I found you! Your place in France looks wonderful, I'm going to enjoy visiting you again!
    Mary

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  28. Hi Mary, thanks for the visit. Love your blog I will be back to see what is going on in your kitchen. Diane

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  29. Everything your way looks beautiful! Your garden is way ahead of ours here in the Chicago area! My peonies are just peeking through the ground and no way can we grow figs here.

    I love your snowballs! The foliage in my bushes were great last year but very few snowballs. What's your secret to making them bloom so well? Are yours in full sun?

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  30. I hope your cedar tree picks up - maybe it's just sulking! love the bluebells and your cherries are going to be a treat in a clafoutis.
    Thanks Diane for the trip around your lovely garden. xx

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  31. Today is the first day our temperatures have gone above 70F. Much too cold for planting yet. We don't expect Peonies until somewhere between June 10th and 15th, so that's how far we are behind you! Funny, since we're around the same latitude. As for rain, well, we've had 6" in the past week, and I'll be happy to send some your way! Otherwise, I'm jealous of your beautiful flowers and chard.

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  32. Oh I envy you. Beautiful things live around you. I just showed my wife the bluebells and she always loves them.

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  33. Oh I adore everything you have there Diane.. But... not fond of squirmy wormy lol..

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  34. Such a lovely and diverse spring collection. Nice to see so much fruit coming on.

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  35. I would love to relax in this garden!

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  36. Lovely picture, Diane!
    I can see how happy you are to be back!
    Your caterpillar is that of a Knapweed Fritillary butterfly!
    http://1000-pattes.blogspot.com/2010/06/melitee-des-centaurees-et-sa-chenille.html
    Cherries already?
    I'll have to check my wild cherry trees!
    I am sorry you are experiencing such a drought, we are having quite a lot of rain to the point that I can't even go to the lake early morning to see if the dragons are hatching!
    Nothing one can do, unfortunately!
    Have a great day, cheers!

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  37. Pam my snowball bush is in full sun and it gets nothing done to it. It just grows and snowballs!! I never even water it and we are at the moment in the middle of the driest April we have seen here!!! Diane

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  38. Dianne we are still eating clafoutis from last years frozen cherries, it is hard to keep up with them!! I hope that you are right and the tree is just sulking but......... Diane

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  39. Marjie I also find it strange that we are around the same latitude and the weather is so different. I have a friend who is a bit further South of us who is complaining about the amount of rain while we are in drought conditions. Funny weather we all seem to be having!! Diane

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  40. Sailor the bluebells have been particularly beautiful this year. Diane

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  41. chubskulit; I am sure you will love the beautiful butterfly that the caterpillar will turn into. LOL Diane

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  42. Gaelyn I am still scared we are going to get a cold spell. I just hope the fruit is not affected!! Diane

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  43. Ola, when will I see you? Make sure the weather is good. Diane

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  44. Thanks Noushka for all the info. I have put a link on the website for all to see. Much appreciated. Diane

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  45. Your garden is oh so lovely Diane. It must bring you great joy. I can almost smell the Viburnam from here.
    Sam

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  46. It is so interesting comparing our gardens. At the moment we seem to be at the same stage with the plants at a similar stage, although I have no bluebells.

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  47. You said you are expecting gravel, sand and stones - wow - that's exciting to be getting ready to do a patio or something. Can't wait to see. Your caterpillar friend is always a good sign. You should see what my friend did to my cedar trees - cut the bottoms out so I can walk under them and the mower can get up close. I wished he'd cut them down but he wouldn't. Gorgeous peonies. You have a lot of stuff blooming now. It all looks so good.

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  48. Sam I have a rose just coming out which has the most amazing perfume. I wish I could post smells on my blog LOL Diane

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  49. Linda the bluebells have been a picture but they are already going over. It is sad that they do not last longer. There are though wild ones everywhere around here but they are much smaller than my English ones in the garden. Diane

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  50. Cuisine de Provence thank for the comment. Diane

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  51. Becca the gravel is to extend the patio. We cannot put down foundations or make it permanent as then it becomes a taxable area. Our tax is high enough now. The sand and the pavers are for a 'temporary' floor where the 'temporary' green house will go. It also cannot be permanent as it is also a taxable! Some laws are there to be bypassed!! Will keep you in touch. Diane x

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  52. What a beautiful garden you have Diane! Love your flowers. They are absolutely gorgeous! Can't wait to see your apple and figs when they mature. They are actually beautiful even now. I enjoy this post very much. Thanks for sharing!

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  53. A garden to be proud of ! Enjoy !!
    http://whatisbelgium.blogspot.com

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  54. Thanks michelangelo, I also love my garden but if we don't get rain soon it is going to be looking very sad!! Diane

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  55. Anni, thanks so much for your visit and the comment. Much appreciated. Diane

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  56. It looks wonderful. We have a really warm weather here were I live in Sweden. Warmer that usual. I love that. Hugs Stina

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  57. Stina, the weather has been exceptional which worries me as I am sure we are going to suddenly get a cold spell!! We also need rain urgently we are very dry. Diane x

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  58. I have no idea about the little guy either. In our garden we have wild animals like(frog, lizard:) and we keep them too. And almost in our kitchen my wife has a friend a golden frog who hides somewhere and she tells that it is a lucky frog. We have a small yard and our dogs go some times hunting for these wild animals :) It is so hard to protect them sometimes from our vicious dogs.

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  59. Sailor a golden frog sounds interesting! Maybe you will have lots of little golden frogs and be worth a fortune LOL. We also have frogs, lizards, rabbits, the occasional snake, and there are foxes and sanglier (wild boar) all around us. The latter can be huge and very bad tempered if you should get in their way! Diane

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  60. Everything is lovely in your French garden. It seems the garden grows very quickly in France :-)

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  61. Your garden looks fabulous! So jealous of your bounty of fruits!

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  62. Tout reprend vie dans votre beau jardin.Espérons que le cèdre se remettra de la sécheresse. La chenille de la Mélitée est magnifique!
    Il y a beaucoup de beaux insectes que l'on ne voit pas toujours!
    Bonne continuation , je crois que la pluie va aider les plantes!

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  63. Merci Lucie. Nous avons eu de 2 mm pluie hier soir, mais nous avons besoin de plus ! Diane

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  64. Joyful, the garden grows well so long as I water. It is very dry at the moment and everything will die if we do not get rain soon. We had a little last night but not nearly enough!! Diane

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  65. Peggy if we do not get rain soon the fruit is not going to be very big or it will just fall off. We are getting worried!! Diane

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  66. Lovely blog ...I've really enjoyed reading it. Your spring is quite a way ahead of ours but, like you, it's very dry here - the driest spring for almost 70 years, so I can understand your concerns about your trees and fruit. I've never had to water this much this early!

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  67. What a gorgeous place you have there! I was noticing how big the figs are here already. I think we'll be enjoying a bumper crop thanks to all this early spring warm weather.

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  68. Oh, your garden is looking so pretty! I do so hope that cedar tree will live... It's always so sad to say good-bye to glorious trees. At least you have a good excuse to have been missing from the blogging world for awhile!! I have been busy working and away.
    Enjoy spring!
    Ann
    PS I'll be posting that St. Nicholas church real soon! I'll let you know!

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  69. Nutty Gnome thanks for your visit and comments. The lack of water is worrying but there is no way I can water the huge trees, so we just have to hope. The fruit trees are loaded with fruit but they are all going to drop if there is no rain soon. Diane

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  70. Chez Loulou I am worried about my fruit trees, we desperately need rain!!! Diane

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  71. Ann I really hope the tree will survive but it does not look good! Looking forward to the St Nicholas post. Diane

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  72. What a beautiful spring..Ours hasn't really started yet..I can't complain, compared to the tornadoes the south is having..Awful..We have our garden tilled and will start with lettuce/snow peas..they can take the cool weather..then we go from there, as it warms up.
    Have a happy day..xoCarolyn

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  73. Carolyn, yes the tornadoes are terrible we have had a lot on the news about them. I have planted peppers, cucumbers and aubergines today but I think I may still be a bit early!! Diane

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  74. Wow! Everything looks so wonderful. I am green with envy at all the fruit you have. It will be a fun time working with it and making it into lovely dishes.

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  75. Spring flowers are always so pretty. Love the pictures. Thanks so much for sharing. Love your blog.

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  76. Christine I am sad the bluebells have now gone over they were so pretty. Diane

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  77. I didn't get the bumper crop of cherries I was expecting this year, but I'm eating what's there as soon as they are ripe, lovely. I had to rescue them from a lot of caterpillars, fortunately they had settled on one branch, apparently they eat the leaves of cherry trees which contain arsenic, they then vomit it up, this keeps its predators at bay.

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  78. Half Acre Farm - Interesting that the leaves contain arsenic, I did not know that. Our cherries are looking pretty good though perhaps a little smaller than normal due to the drought. I am also already picking. Diane

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