A Taste of Spring

We've been having the most delish weather lately so I'm making the most of it while it lasts. It's finally Spring and I'm loving it because it looks good, it smells good, it feels good and it tastes good too.

Last February I had sown a pot of mixed lettuce leaves and today I had my first taste of it and it was devine as nothing tastes as good as Spring does.

My Springflower meadow is a feast for all the senses and it's so cheery uppy! If this doesn't make you burst into a song and perform the Snoopy Dance of Joy, nothing will.

Is that the gnashing of your teeth I hear? Cheer up, envious reader, there is always next year. Be sure to buy an humongous amount of bulbs come Autumn, bung them in and then just wait until your very own Magic Spring Carpet unfolds before your very eyes.

If it all goes according to plan my Springflower carpet will have to be rolled up somewhere in May and then another feast will start: my wonderful world famous mobile wildflower meadow. I've just sown this years wildflower meadow, don't forget to sow yours!

 Tara (l) and Dolly

In the mean time we at Bliss will be working our cute widdle behinds off in the garden, what with the removal of that ugly bruiser of a Leylandii hedge (all 30 meters of it), creating a small woodland area  and simply enjoying Spring; the happiness the garden brings and the warmth of the sun.

We've Gone Bananas

And it's not what you think. It never is, because after all, this is Bliss, don't you know?

Before I show you the bananas thingy, first some gratuitous pics of the potager where yours truly has been working her widdle hot hiney off these past few weeks.

Looking good, wouldn't you say? I'm talking about the potager here, not Jeeves, handsome kittycat though he is.

Some irrefutable evidence that yours truly has indeed been working her bliddy socks off of late.

And now, without much further ado: we have gone bananas!

Drat, it's that Dutch Duck Decoy Dog that's stealing the show once more. Move over Tara!

So we have bought a banana tree, as you probably guessed, but with a difference, a vast difference. It was high time the Bliss Team got a new climbing and scratching tree as the old one was ever so slightly the worse for wear.

Kadootje looks rather woebegone in this pic, she is such a drama queen. I must say she perked up pretty quickly when the new tree arrived. And not only Kadootje was  a happy bunny, the rest of the Bliss Team was too. Of course the banana tree had to be subjected to a thorough investigation by the Bliss Team before the thumbs up was graciously bestowed.

Big boy Merlin tried out the snooze-worthiness of one of the baskets,

and gave the tree a good scratch as well.

Daredevil Dolly Daisy jumped for joy when she tested the new tree. All members of the Bliss Team love their spanking new banana leaf tree and use it on a daily basis. Often the banana tree is filled to the rafters with members of the Bliss Team. You can safely say we all have gone bananas chez Bliss in more ways than one.

I leave you with an update of my Springflower Meadow aka the Magic Spring Carpet

On a more personal note: my dad was diagnosed with cancer shortly before Christmas. Last week he got the results of his tests back and there are hardly any cancer cells to be found in his body which is very, very good news. So glad that his medication is working and that my dad is slowly, but surely, on the mend.

copyright 2011 Y.E.W. Heuzen

Rolling Out the Magic Spring Carpet

Those of you who visit Bliss regularly, know that I'm very keen on wildflower meadows. And frankly who wouldn't, as they are so incredibly beautiful. You have to be a real sourpuss indeed not to love them. A while ago I wrote a post about wildflower meadows and how Blissfully wonderful they are.

In that post of July 2008 I also demonstrated that anyone can have a gorgeous, bee-magnet wildflower meadow, even if you don't have a big garden or even a garden.

 And today it's time for another revelation: you can have a wildflower meadow in your garden in early Spring. With a bit of luck it will start to flower in February and will continue to do so until May. Which is very fortunate because that's when the other wildflowers (see pics above) will start to burst into bloom.

Yes, yes, I know, you are chomping at the bit to clap your hot widdle eyes on pics of my Spring wildflower meadow. Well, ladies and gents, let me roll out the Magic Spring Carpet for you:

Last Autumn I planted up a part of the lawn, right next to the garden path in front of the big border, with some 1600 bulbs: winter aconites, snowdrops, botanical crocus, several varieties of botanical tulips, frittilarias, bluebells, botanical narcissussusses, grape hyacinths, iris and more. I simply put all the bulbs in a big basket, gave them a good stir, rolled up the grass carpet, bunged the bulbs in the ground and rolled the grass carpet back. Easy!

And then the hard part started; the waiting to see if they would come up.

My Magic Spring Carpet started to unroll at the end of last February when the first crocus popped up. It could have been weeks earlier but we did have a rather nippy Winter. Since then quite a few spring bulbs have reared their pretty widdle heads. At the moment crocus, winter aconites, snowdrops and iris are in flower and soon, perhaps even later today the first botanical tulip will delight us with her pretty pink bloom.

Another star in the Magic Spring Carpet is the humble Daisy. Who would want to be without it? I certainly won't!

And yes, avid Bliss blog reader, I will provide you with regular updates on how my Magic Spring Carpet is progressing in the coming months as this is only the bashful beginning of it. Later on this Magic Spring Carpet will be bold as brass, I hope, and will not hesitate to hit you in the eye with its exuberant display of colour.

copyright 2011 Y.E.W. Heuzen