My Garden - Part I

Tabby looking through the Raspberry/Blackberry stalks

The Sunny Side

The sunny side of the garden backs onto the kitchen and living room windows which are full length and more like glass doors, so it is handy going in and out. It's the sunny side because we have full sun from morning at 09.00 a.m. until at least 06.00 in the evening - during the Summer months even longer. It is not a house, but a ground floor flat or appartment or whatever you call it in your country. This is why we have two gardens - one at the back and one at the front. The flats on the higher floors have balconies. That was the introduction and now to the main part.

These photos show more or less the beginning of my garden season with the remainders from last year that survived the Winter. This year we had a very mild Winter - night temperatures were below freezing, but the sensitive plants were covered up and with more luck than common sense sometimes the unexpected happens and in March you notice the survivors. The chives are quite good survivors and my pot does have some nice oniony smelling stalks that will (I hope) increase as the year goes on. I always have a passion flower and usually buy one every year. I had a nice suprise this year when I noticed last week that it had started sprouting in all directions.

The pictures above show the seeds that I planted in March. As we have had some wonderful warm Spring weather during the last month the new plants are already showing themselves. I hope to be able to plant them in the garden at the beginning of May (and also hope we do not have any hail storms by then).

This shows part of the garden opposite the kitchen window. At the back towards the building I have a small herb garden. Nothing spectacular and at the moment the plants are still fresh from the earth. I was pleased to see that even my rosemary survived the Winter months and at the moment has even started to flower, something very rare in the cold Winter temperatures of Switzerland. There is also a bed of orignano, which was once a small bed and has tried to take over the garden every year. I had to replace the sage this year as it did not get through the Winter. The thyme is looking a bit sparse at the moment, but it can only get better. I have lemon thyme and normal. Otherwise the remains of Spring can be seen by the tulips and daffodils which are still flowering. When they are finished I usually remove them and put them in the lawn. At the very front of this patch the reeds have started poking through. By late Summer they are about 3 meters high. The hedge at the side is just a plain old privet that I trained to grow high and make a good boundary to the garden.

These photos show the front edge of the garden. The bare long patch of earth is actually filled with seeds of cosmea and garden lupins. I need higher plants in this part as I do not see them otherwise when the pampas grass starts climbing high. In front of these bare patch you can see the daffodils that I have planted over the last 10 years that we have been living here. To the left of the daffodils I have the raspberries and blackberries - a josta berry has joined them this year - a present from a gardening colleague of mine. On the furthest edge of this patch I have planted buddleia (butterfly bushes) in dark mauve, pink, violet and light blue. I like to see the butterflies in my garden through the Summer months and they make a thankful show of colour.

This is now on the lefthand side of the garden opposite to the living room windows. The seed trays have been planted and everything going well the plants will be big enough to put into the garden. On one side this part is bordered by the berry plants and on the other by our privet which has once again been trained to grow high. Just behind the seed trays I have a large box planted with a clematis which is at the moment flowering, and have trained a wandering rose from the garden to onto the trellis work in the back ground.

I am quite proud of my apple tree in the lefthand corner (my cat Nera's favourite resting place). It was the first plant I put into the garden before it started. We have quite a show of apples in the Autumn. I now have a second apple tree growin which I planted myself from seed 3 years ago. It is now about a meter high and I hope one day we might have some apples.

I have some large white daisies growing on this part which I planted from seed and which come up every year. there are also about 5 hibiscus bushes which I planted last year from the seedlings I got from my hibiscus bush in the other garden. I don't know whether they will flower, but can always hope. I have reserved some of this part of the garden for my Zucchini and cucumbers later one. I used to have tomatoes, but it is really too much work. I dô not have a greenhouse and tomatoes are not supposed to get rain on them. I was very lucky the first year but afterwards the harvest decreased year for year. Eventually I started growing them in pots, but that got too much work and now I have given up. My neighbour always has a lovely show and gives me the surplus. I also have a hollyhock somewhere which grows nicely every year.

Just a few words to my "lawn" growing in between. I am not a lawn person. I don't try to be one and am very happy to see the daisies growing in between the grass stalks. Now and again the clover shows its face and over the last couple of years have had an invasion of shamrock. No I am not Irish. I have even now planted cat grass in one corner to keep my pets happy. In one part of this garden there is some catnip which seems to keep all the cats happy living around us (about 12).

Not wanting to get on peoples nerves with this part of the garden (there is more to come) I will now come to a close. Enjoy the photos. I have been typing this blog sitting on the porch listening to the birds singing and watching the grass grow.

Nera with the daffodils