Dahlias for Mr France.

When we were young and bought our first house in 1965.

it was a new build  on a small estate, in the north of England.

At that time, when the builders had finished building,
the garden was not landscaped ready for the new owner.

 We had a lot of preparation to do, before it even resembled a garden.

We were both very young and didn't know much about gardening then.

Then one day, my husbands father who didn't visit us very often,

arrived with a big brown paper bag full of Dahlias.
I wasn't  familiar with the different varieties.
So didn't know what to expect.
I must admit they grew quickly, but those huge flowers 

which were mainly the big blousey cactus type,
were not to my liking, and since then I've never planted them again.

There are not many flowers I don't like.
but these are not one of my favourite flowers.
~~~~~~~~~~

I'll let you into a little secret.

Until a few years ago Mr France didn't know a weed from a cultivated flower.

However he's now started to take an interest in the garden.
and during that time he'd asked me several times
' What was the name of the flowers my Dad planted in our first garden '
and because I didn't like them, I told him ' I couldn't remember'



But I've been caught out.
as he now comes with me to the garden centers,
He saw the bags of Dahlia tubers with the image stapled to the bag,
and said 'these are the flowers I mean'
~~~~~~~~~~
After all these years, I've only just told him I knew
what they were. but as I didn't like them I said
' I couldn't remember what flowers he meant.'

We made a compromise and chose another variety.
So he's happy.
These are the variety we chose and we both like them.

 Dahlias Collerette

I quite like the look of these.
( Looks like a nice flower to paint in my Garden journal )

He immediately put two bags into the trolley.

Back to my first garden.
Looking at the old photos we had lots of colour from the 'Nemesia'
but my planting left a lot to be desired.
I can also see some other plants there
that's NOT on my list of favourites  'Gladiola'
I think that's because it's tall and spiky and only has one flower stem.

As I've shown some photos of our first dog, 'Ricky'
I thought I'd tell you a little about him.
He was a miniature poodle and I may add nothing like a posh poodle.
 At that time Mr France worked shifts and thought it would be a good idea
for me to have a dog for company, as he worked late hours
and sometimes during the night.

 When we arrived at the kennel to choose our new puppy
he was a bit surprised when he saw the breed of dog I had set my heart on,
 Something small and as we thought would be easy to look after.
 But who could resist a little ball of black fluff.

But he was nothing like a poodle in character.
As he grew he liked nothing better than to roll in anything that smelt nasty.
which was usually just after he'd been to the poodle parlour.
So we soon put a stop to that, and he only ever went to have a quick trim
around his face and feet  as we couldn't manage that ourselves,
and we trimmed the rest and shampooed him.

I hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane.

and you forgive me for keeping my secret from Mr France.

He's looking forward to summer, to see the Dahlias growing 

in the big stone pots we have on our sun deck.

Do you keep harmless secrets from your husband ?

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

1st Splash of Colour

I know Spring has well and truly arrived

when the garden is popping with yellows and purple.

The back of our house has sun all day and is sheltered 

from the severe frost we've had this winter.

Even when it's cold if the sun is shining this is where we sit.

Making plans for what we need to do in the garden.

The garden was neglected last year due to my back problems and 

now Mr France has recently had surgery on one of his knees

we make sure we both stop for a rest.

Mr France and I have been busy in the garden today.

We knew that the arbour needed a repair job. However when 

we cut back the old Honeysuckle, we found it was past repair. 

So it's gone and will be replaced with a new one.

I'll show you later when the new one is in and we have been to 

our local ' pépiniériste '  and chosen some new climbers. 

I've managed to save a few long strands of Honeysuckle. I'm hoping 

they will throw out some new shoots & will mix in with the new climbers.

Not sure yet what to replace the old ones with.

I think I'll take a look at my rose book.

Any ideas Shane you are a rose expert, if you don't know Shane 

take a look a her lovely blog, her Roses are beautiful.

I've tidied up my potting bench.

and added a few more hanging baskets planted with miniature daffodils.

I have three hanging baskets full of dwarf daffodils.

All of these bulbs had been stored in a box in the shed 

 for two years and forgotten about. 

I planted them in this basket to see if they would flower

and they are as good as the new ones.

I cut a few flowers and brought some inside.

No fancy arrangement just popped them in a small glass tumbler

and placed them on the dining table,

I know they won't last long, but they look pretty.

These other Daffodils have been in the grass for a long time.

I notice over the past few years, there are fewer blooms.

We have an abundance of voles so I think they must be eating the bulbs.

After a beautiful weekend of warm sun,

this is the first pale yellow one to come out in bloom this afternoon. 

I don't know variety, but the trumpet has a frilly look about it.

 These are new bulbs planted in Autumn under an old apple tree

 by Mr France , he planted the whole bag in a small area.

  so they will look much nicer in a few more days, when they are all in bloom.

In Autumn I planted a few  Crocus bulbs in a basket,take a look here

Now I can move it around to give a splash of colour where I want it.

By mid morning the flowers have opened 

and

 the Bumble Bees have already been visiting. 

Another Bumble Bee  collecting pollen.

My grandson took this photo on his phone yesterday.

and sent it to me last night.

I hope you enjoyed your time in my garden.

This is where I'll be spending my time.

Come back again soon

there will be lots more to see .

Thank you for visiting 

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

Guess what I'm Waiting for ....?









 

 

Yes  Spring.

A few days more of sunshine and we should have some more signs of Spring.

 





 

I love the formation of the petals on pansies.

When I first started  watercolour painting I enjoyed learning the technic



of  wet on wet watercolour painting and painted several pictures of pansies.

I gave each one as gifts to friends and family. At that time I didn't take photos of my paintings.

 



 

A few little spring flowers in an eggcup.

 

 

After last weeks cold frosty mornings it was a pleasure

to walk around  the garden today in the sunshine

it thrilled me to see lots of new growth,

This vintage egg basket is full of cones with Sedum growing through them.
 

 

Bright red shoots on the Photinia ( Red Robin )

 

 

and the catkins or what we call lambs tails on the Hazel trees.

 





  .

The birds are flitting about singing their courting songs.

Then I found a discarded blackbirds nest from last year.

 



 

 These Sempervivums always survive the cold frosts.
Some will die off but I always manage to keep enough to

 replant them in small terracotta pots. Then I can move them around

to fill in an empty space while waiting for plants to resurface after the winter.

 

 

 

I see lots of my followers are still having snow storms.
How are you feeling ?
You must be more impatient waiting for Spring.
 

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

 

 

Grow Your Blog

Hello to my regular followers
and
If this is the first time you have visited my blog

Welcome.

Open the gate and step inside.

It's that time of the year again when Vicki who hosts  Grow Your Blog

does such a wonderful job doing exactly what it says.

If you are here to grow your blog  I hope you'll enjoy what you see.

and have fun checking out many of the other blogs taking part..

This is my second time of joining.Grow your blog.
If you would like to find out more about me take a look here
from when I joined the 2014 Grow your Blog Party.

I live in rural France so I show a lot of photos I take of interesting buildings
and also the beautiful countryside near where I live.

We often walk along this pathway, it used to be the old railway line.
There are lots of walking groups I could join, but I prefer to walk with my husband,
who I affectionately refer to as Mr France, he appears from time to time in my posts.

I spend lots of time watching the birds that come to feed
from the many bird feeders in our garden.

My favourite walk, winter or summer is only 15 mins..from my home.

Maybe you are like me and dabble in watercolour painting.

I try to remember ( I must admit I often forget ) to take my pocket camera
with me on my walks. Then later I can paint  the wild flowers I see.

I'm not an artist but I do enjoy watercolour sketching.

One of my early sketches in a journal with brown paper,

 it's easier for sketching than to paint on,

I share lots of pictures of my garden throughout the different seasons.

I love my garden, but don't make myself a slave to it.

It's certainly not a sculptured garden all neat and tidy

.I leave a lot of the wild flowers to grow, like these wild Foxgloves 

which adds colour and fills in a bare space.

During the summer months I like to have plenty of hanging baskets around our home
 and the holiday cottage. Mainly I use the simple Pelargonium which grow well here in France.
They don't need to be watered everyday and withstands the heat. 

As I live in France it wouldn't seem right if I didn't show the vines,
which are not too far from my home.
We plan to take more short trips away this year. now that I am back in good health.
We are planning be visit Denmark again
and if we can fit it in, a trip back to England to catch up with family and old friends.
so there will be lots of photos taken for you to see.

I took this photo last October on one of our short trips away.

During the summer months we have fields and fields of sunflowers around where we live,

so I couldn't resist showing this lonely sunflower growing on the edge of the road.

There will be a Give Away gift as a thank you
The give away will be open to everyone who leaves a comment on this post. 

The winner will be announced on the 15th February.

So look out for your name it might be you.

I'm looking forward to seeing lots of new blogs.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my Grow your blog post.
Thank you Vicki and all those who volunteered  to help.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

Sunlit-Sunday from rural France.

This is my 1st time on Sunlit Sunday.

I couldn't have chosen a more un-sunny day.

I don't think we'll be sitting here for coffee this morning.

A few mins. before I took this photo, the sun was shining through the window
onto this orange plant. That's photography for you, 

patience is needed and that's something I admit I don't have !

Sunday in our house is when the ornamental Orange tree gets it's weekly feed. 

Mr France looks after this and has taken it outside for a little sun.

 Yes I did say sun, as since I started this post the sun has come out again.

Just thought I'd check on the Romarin / Rosemary.

Since my trip to Denmark, I haven't looked at the garden very much as we've had so much rain.

The sun was shining on it ,so that's good as it needs some warmth.

The sun has now crept around to the front of the house.

and it's now beginning to show a lot more blue.

I then went to the front of the house to take a photo of my new view. During the past few months someone has been cutting down a lot a trees. We are surrounded by trees and this should have been done many years ago. I'll be watching to see what starts to grow now the ground is open to the sun . 

Notice the sun has gone again

That's how my Sunlit Sunday has been this morning

If I understand there are some rules I must follow. I'm sure they can be broken a bit,
So I hope if I do show a few photos from another day it will be allowed.
This being my first time to join this link ALL my photos have been taken this morning.
Maybe it's made me have a little more patience than usual .
That's a good lesson for me.
Also it's the first time I've ever joined in anything which requires links.
If you read my blog you will know I'm not very technical when it involves
computer know how. I did panic a bit after I'd gone to all this effort
and I couldn't find my instructions on how to link.
Yes, I need to follow step by step instructions each time I want to show a link.
My blogging friend Daphne from Ivy Phyllis and Me. kindly sent them to me.
Daphne you are always in my thoughts and especially now when I'm linking..

In the sunlit window, is my new Orchid house plant. 

It was given to me by the Commune Floral Committee

 My last photo showing my new view taken through the kitchen window .

I've enjoyed participating in this and I hope you have too
 hope I'll have the time to join in every Sunday

Today I'm linking with Sunlit Sunday.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian