February seems to be ending on some sunny days which make a welcome relief after the recent gray and cold. It was a delight today to potter in the garden without having to wear a coat. As you can see from the state of the grass path it has been very wet here and the path is looking muddy. It does take a lot of wear and I keep wondering about replacing it with a gravel path, a bark one doesn’t appeal. However, my cat loves the grass – she sunbathes here and if often seen leaping around on it chasing some leaf or twig. She doesn’t really like my gravel paths choosing instead to creep along the stone edges so I think it will remain but I may lift it and level it.
The border alongside the steps has seen the most work this last month and although it looks rather bare there are lots of plants emerging. I have also been adding some geraniums and boykinia along the stone edge to try to soften it. I love the watsonia leaves with the sun shining through them at the bottom of the obelisk it is such a useful plant and really should be grown more.
There is still little to see in the woodland border although I have spotted some narcissus coming through and hopefully the epimediums will start to flower soon. Once plants start to emerge I want to work on improving this area. It needs more cohesion and really being a woodland border it should have lots of hellebores, erythroniums and spring bulbs right now – something I will need to address.
The other end of the woodland border looking very bare and dull also. More work to do but also so much potential for plant buying! I have been doing some on-line shopping so hopefully these purchases will have an impact this time next year. I should add some snowdrops and eranthis here too or maybe some crocus and some ferns and possibly digitalis but I would also like some late summer/autumn interest.
Another view across the grass path and there has been a change since last month as I have moved a Cotinus into the foreground. I wonder how useful this view is as the grass path seems to be featuring too much. Maybe I will find a spot to take a better shoot of the old bog border from for next month.
So there we are at the end of February. It is looking generally tidy, there are splashes of color from hellebores and bulbs and so much beginning to emerge through the soil. I have started to implement some of my planting plans and have other ideas up my sleeve including painting the shed and hopefully over the next couple of months with lighter evenings and possibly more favourable weather I might be able to really make some progress.
Anyone is welcome to join in with the End of Month meme and you can use it as you wish. We post on the last day of the month, or thereabouts, and some of us show the same shots of the garden every month, whilst others give a more general tour. All I ask is that you leave a link to your post in the comment box below and link to this post in your blog post – that way we can all find each other and come for a visit.