Garden Wonders

Following a long spell of quite dry weather, the rains finally came and the garden has taken on a much fresher, brighter visage with a variety of flowers coming into bloom everywhere. As a frog, and in between watching over my progeny that are beginning to learn all about their new world in the pond, I have been enjoying what the spring weather has given birth to around the garden.

The Bumble and Honey Bees are busily flitting between the masses of tiny pink blooms on the Flowering Currant (Ribes). They also gather their pollen from what remains of the Goat Willow (Salix) blossoms, and the delightful Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria) that carpets one small corner of my home. The bright blue flowers of the Forget-Me-Not (Myosotis) lighten those horribly dark corners under the shrubbery, while the golden flowers of the Forsythia (F x Intermedia) are like a beacon to a variety of small insects. (Juicy titbits to someone like me!) Ribbit!!! Then similarly, there is the Kerria (K Japonica), another golden lantern which brightens up even the darkest of garden spaces.

Bob, who you all know quite well by now, has been adding a few flowers of his own. If anything can be trusted to put on a good display almost all year round, it's the Viola family. I find their amazing variety of colours to be quite striking, added to the fact that they seem to live forever. (Which is a lot more than I can say about the human species!) Croak!!! The Violas are an excellent place to hunt around for big fat juicy slugs. They think they can hide away from me under the dense carpet of leaves, but I've got news for them little blighters, it doesn't work! I've also seen a few scattered Speedwell (Veronica) here and there too, though their flowers are incredibly tiny when compared to most of the flowers I've spoken about so far. The pinkish white flowers of the winter flowering Viburnum (V x Bodnantense) are still very attractive, or at least that's what Bob says, and who am I to argue with him?

Boring Facts of the week: Do you want to know something that I find of interest? No! Well I'm going to tell you anyway, so there... One flower that often invokes a gardeners rage more than it should, is the bright golden Dandelion. I know what you're thinking, the Frog has gone off his rocker! Listen up and let me impart some interesting facts about the common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). Did you know that although this family very nearly all look the same, (bit like you humans, and there are billions of you!) there are approximately 229 microssp of Dandelion in this fair land.

Another fascinating fact is that there are many different scents given off by Dandelion flower heads. Some, and I can let you know from personal experience, smell very strongly of honey, yes, honey! Some have what you humans would call, a fragrant floral smell, which I might add at this point, is quite unlike the smell of a wet furball. Ugh! Croak!!! Yes, some actually smell as bad as a wet cat, but I won't go into this... There again, some have absolutely no scent at all, which is another thing that you may find strange, but it's true.. Honest, Frog's honour! Dib! Dib!

A few other flowering plants in the garden include: The Heathers (Calluna vulgaris and Erica x Darleyensis) are putting in a good display with their mix of white and pink blooms. Then there is Broom, one of the pale yellow flowered (Cytisus family) is just now just coming into flower on its arching branches.

As a frog, one tends to view everything from a different perspective, very low down, to those of you who don't know what the hell I'm talking about. Anyway, I'm at a level where one can enjoy gardens to their fullest, and I truly do I can assure you. Well, that's about it for this time around. I wanted to get through this blog without resorting to political issues. Let's face it, I don't think that you need me go harping on about it every week, despite that it seems to get you lot worked up into a frenzy! Ribbit!!!

Well, I've got to go now. Stay happy and I'll see you all again real soon. Ribbit!!!

Froggy