Busy bee in the garden

I have been beavering  away in the garden this week  - most days.  Doing lots of weeding and pruning shrubs that did survive the harsh winter - and of course lots of digging.  (Click on the photos to enlarge)

 Tackling the long raised bed was a real effort and took me three hours over two days

 Forget me nots, snuggled between arum metallicum pictum and lupins

 But snuggled underneath were lots and lots of dandelions, their runners having taken root everywhere

 More 'Lords and Ladies' great for flower arrangements, needing very few flowers to go with them

 Cranesbill - perennial hardy geraniums and delphiniums are hidden in this bunch

 At last, a nice clump of alliums - grown from a few seeds years ago

 The promise of lovely clematis and hardy fuschias

This end was just a carpet of dandelions - and took an hour to dig out but I am sure there are more lurking under the miniature rose bush!

 My top priority was to freshen up Kath's Garden which is around my garden room

The ground was rock hard after the harsh winter and some of the perennials had perished.

So I spent happy hours on my hands and knees with a trowel and fork digging it over and weeding.

New fresh growth is now emerging and it's going to be absolutely glorious again this year.

I added lots of compost and dug it in - and handsful of those 'Chicken Pellets' - being very generous with them so I am expecting a very colourful reward this summer

The first blossom flowers ever on this little apple tree bought very cheaply in a bargain store a few years ago,  I had almost given up on it and was very tempted to dig it up over the winter - glad I didn't

The usual view down the garden with my dearest Aussie friend Maxine's garden in the foreground
All the forget me knots came from seeds from her garden before she died and they have now spread all around my gardens at the back and the front - a wonderful reminder of her in the early spring.

I bought some rather expensive Alstromeria roots a number of years ago - in glorious hot colours - to remind me of hot sunny days spent with her in years past - they absolutely fill her garden now

 The hostas have survived the 4ft of snow they had in the winter

 and are thrusting through eagerly with an explosion of life.

All my plants in the beds and pots got a reward of lots of Rooster Booster pellets as a for coming back to life after the dreadful winter we had

Yet another crop of rhubarb - this will be my third picking this year from this plant and Mary's been tucking into the leaves again too!

More photos tomorrow of the rest of my gardening endeavours