Friday 31 March 2017

Finance Fridays – End of tax year checklist


The Month Ahead – April 2017



Thursday 30 March 2017

Hardwick Hall Gardens in Spring

The seasons and their plants come and go so quickly in Britain that you have to grab every opportunity you can to see the flowers when they appear. I do think that is one of the benefits of living in this country that nature provides us with ever changing varieties of flowers. Despite daffodils being in abundance at the moment and my trip to Renishaw Hall Gardens last week I still wanted more. I hadn't been to Hardwick Hall since Christmas so I decided a visit was overdue.
The best display of the daffodils are the end of the gardens. The long border provides the perfect stretch to show off the mass of golden trumpets.
When you see so many daffodils about it seems strange that within weeks they will all be gone and something else will have sprung up in their place.
One of favourite areas is always the Herb Gardens. It is looking smart and tidy with some early signs of the new season coming through.
One delightful addition to the gardens this year is turning the Ornamental Orchard into a wildflower haven. The grass has been cut in order to allow the wild flower seeds to be spread.
Other wildflowers have already been transplanted in this area so there are now cowslips of various colours plus snake's head fritillaries.
The grass was being freshly cut in the other orchard. It has produced some very smart lawn stripes.
Another welcome sight in the gardens was a bee. It wasn't the first I have seen this year but all the ones I have seen have been huge. This one was obviously attracted by the brightness of the pink of the flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum).
I somehow resisted the goodies on offer at the nursery shop. Maybe I'll save them for another visit.

Thursday 9 March 2017