Tree Following With Lucy: April


My photo is a little out of synch with Lucy's Tree Following day as I take mine on the 23rd of the month, the day anniversary of when the rest of the tree came crashing down in our garden last December. However, I went out in the rain to inspect my ash tree yesterday and can confirm nothing's changed in the intervening time. Whether the same can be said for April/May remains to be seen.

This time Mr and Mrs pigeon have indeed paired up for the season as I thought they might last month. It's unusual to see them acting as kind of bookends on the tree as they're usually much closer. We've observed pigeon pairs being quite devoted to each other and these two are proving to be no different.

The tree's also been host to some rare visitors to our garden since last month. We don't usually see bullfinches,* but we've had four of them parading around the garden lately - one proud and very fat male plus 3 females. I've tried to find out if bullfinch males have more than one mate, but to no avail. I suspect he was sussing out his 3, to see which one finally took his fancy.

Quite a few of the trees in our neighbourhood are sporting their first of their spring green fuzziness this week. My ash is still resolutely in winter mode; it's large black buds are yet to burst free and I need to check its progress for the annual tree race - my ash versus the oak up at the allotment. More on that next month.

* = unlike my dear friend Threadspider when she lived at the top of the hill - I was convinced she had our share of them as well as her own.

Comments

  1. CJ7 April 2014 at 09:13

    Lucky you having bullfinches, they're so pretty. It's so nice to see the trees starting to come alive at this time of year. I especially like those first buds on new bare root plants. They're not just dead sticks, hurray!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP7 April 2014 at 09:52

      Hi CJ, yes I always have a fear I've bought a bundle of sticks when I buy bare rooted plants. In fact I always manage to convince myself all my plants have died over the winter and I'm pathetically grateful when they stir back into life at this time of the year :)

      Delete
  2. Sue Garrett7 April 2014 at 09:33

    We get occasional bullfinches which fortunately seem to stay around the bird table rather than fruit trees.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP7 April 2014 at 09:54

      It surprised me Sue - we have plenty of fruit trees around here, yet it was the ash tree plus the birch at the bottom of the garden which were getting all their attention. I even had a couple of nectarines in flower at the time, but they left them well alone.

      Delete
  3. Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax!7 April 2014 at 09:48

    I'm disappointed to read you think he was merely checking out the talent. I'd built up an image of a proud-chested bullfinch, possibly wearing a waistcoat, marching round with a harem in tow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP7 April 2014 at 09:50

      Well Lucy, that's exactly how he looked! It's why I tried to find out if bullfinches have more than one mate. He was puffing his chest out like mad and all the females were all paying him a lot of attention!

      Delete
  4. Anonymous7 April 2014 at 09:59

    Oh lucky you. Bullfinches are some of my favourite birds. In winter they often seem to hang out in groups, one male and several females, or lots of males and even more females. Once they start choosing a partner they only partner with one bird and sticks with that one during mating and bringing up the young. Whether they actually stay with the same partner year after year is not quite proven yet.

    Helle (Helen)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP13 April 2014 at 07:53

      Excellent information Helle, thank you :-)

      Delete
  5. Anonymous7 April 2014 at 10:08

    Nice post. Lucky indeed, I've never seen any bullfinches. Flighty xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP13 April 2014 at 07:55

      It's a privilege having them in the garden :-)

      Delete
  6. Crafty Green Poet7 April 2014 at 14:33

    All the birds are pairing up just now, I'm sure your bullfinch male will have made his decision by now!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Pauline7 April 2014 at 14:42

    We have bullfinches regularly in the garden. I eventually dug up a forsythia as they stripped all the flower buds every year, then they stripped my amelanchier, but since then, they come for the sunflower hearts that they find on the bird table and the amelanchier is left alone thank goodness! As for the pigeons, He just won't leave Her alone, poor thing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP13 April 2014 at 07:56

      Our pigeon pair are exactly the same Pauline

      Delete
  8. chloris7 April 2014 at 16:31

    Well let's hope your oak will be out before your ash so that we will only get a splash.
    I haven't seen bullfinches here for ages. Lucky you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP13 April 2014 at 07:58

      Wel, the ash was out before the oak, so I'll be seeing if the saying's true...

      Delete
  9. HELENE7 April 2014 at 19:20

    Lovely photo of lovely birds, I guess the tree is just taking its time to unfurl the leaves.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous9 April 2014 at 12:51

    No growth on the tree I'm following either, still a bit to early in my part of the world. Nice to see bullfinches, hope they stay around.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP13 April 2014 at 08:01

      Lots of bird activity lately Linda, but no bullfinches. I'm sure they'll be back :-)

      Delete
  11. Janet/Plantaliscious20 April 2014 at 06:29

    I've not seen any bullfinches here so far, but then again I don't put out bird feed - I envy you the sight, and rather like the thought that the three females might turn up their beaks at the male and look for someone better, he sounds a tad arrogant ;-) Interesting that elms come in to leaf late, I am still learning my way round the sequence in this garden, the sycamores are just starting to leaf up, the willows are well under way, but the beeches are still bare.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP20 April 2014 at 13:10

      I don't put out bird feed either Janet because we've had such problems with the local squirrel population. We're lucky in that out garden borders on public land with plenty of trees + the nearby stream has plenty of trees along it. We seem to be an extension of the resultant wildlife corridor :) We've had owls hooting lately...

      Delete
    2. Janet/Plantaliscious20 April 2014 at 13:38

      How magical, only thing better than hearing owls is seeing them, with that wonderful near-silent glide. I am hoping for bats this year.

      Delete

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you and welcome thoughtful conversations :)

Comments aiming to link back and give credence to commercial websites will be composted!

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter,
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi
Read more