Spring is Here...

As promised, here are some parting photos of Spring at Willowbrook. Peter and I are off to the UK for the month of October on an R&D Holiday, and have been asked to go to Rome to take the wedding of one of our close friends.

We shall probably share a few holiday posts whilst in Europe. Till then, I hope you enjoy the fruits of our labour as much as we do.

We will start with pictures of the park, and then some of the farm...

Above: The still bare Plane trees under planted with bulbs along either side of where the main drive will pass. The 2 urns in the background mark the entrance to the orchard.

Above: The Orchard Hedge in Spring

Below: The same view 3 months ago

A closer look at some of the bulbs under the plane trees...

Above: A Flaming Parrot Tulip, which starts budding as below...

and slowly progresses...

to a flower of striking colours...

Below: The more demure tulip 'Christmas' planted in lines around the potager. I wait patiently for the buxus to grow and hide the wooden edging...

The fantastic green and pink tulip 'air', growing in raised pots around the potager- Great for arrangements...

The subtle tulip 'spring green'...

Now some before and after pictures from behind the lake...

Above: Willoughby helping Jackie plant the Leiladii hedge 18 months ago.

Below: The same area now.

This area has also been planted with oaks, under-planted with the red tulip 'London'...





These are the Princess Irene Tulips, growing in pots in the Orangery area in the Orchard...




Then there are the Rococo Tulips in the Nymphaeum...





And the Spring Green Tulips planted between each of the Lime Trees in the Lime Walk...

For the last 2 weeks it has been mainly overcast a drizzling with strong equinoxual winds. Not the greatest days for photography, but I did catch this rainbow over the farm on my phone (2 photos poorly joined together)...

More before and after photos of the farm...

Above: Then

Below: Now

Although the grass is short and brownish now, by mid October it is usually luscious and green again.

The Orchard is starting to green up and come into blossom too...

And the veges in the potager beds are coming along nicely...

One last photo to finish - our Indian Runner ducks going AWOL! They frequently go through the fence, waddle off down the road for an hour or two, and then come back to their lake. I have no idea where they go - sometimes they disappear althogether!

Winter planting for Spring Bulbs..

Just in the nick of time, our bulb order arrived on the doorstep this morning, all ready for this weekend's bulb planting extravaganza (sounds better than admitting we have roped a few friends in to spend the day bending over planting thousands of little bulbs).

To ensure Willowbrook is a floral fantasy this spring, We are planting a huge variety of bulbs. Their placement has been meticulously planned on the garden maps. Firstly, we have the planting of the lakeside area with a variety of lillies, narcissi and irises...

Iris 'blue magic'...

Yellow Flag Iris...


Iris Versicolour...


and Iris Germanica...


Then we shall complete the Bluebell Walk with...

Bluebells (hyacinthoides ssp)


and Muscari ssp inc. 'Early Giant' and 'Americanum'...

Dotted around the Lake and Oak Grove will be various Freesias, including Cassis (pink), Yvonne (yellow), Ancona (purple), Oberon (red with yellow centre), and Argenta (white)...

We have a great many Narcissi species to plant as well. Under all the Tilia europea in The Lime Walk we shall plant Narcissus 'orangery' (split carona - below)...

Under the London Plane Trees up the drive we shall plant Narcissus 'rosy wonder' (both species below)...

and under all the Willows along the brook we shall plant...

Above: The early flowering Narcissus 'malvern city'

Below: The mid season flowering Narcissus 'carlton'

Below: The multiflowered Narcissus Erlicheer

By planting these species we should ensure a good long period of blooms.

We shall also under plant the woods with pockets of Croci...

Above: Crocus chrysanthus 'cream beauty'

Below: Crocus seiberi 'firefly'

Moving on to the flower border around the Potager garden, we shall plant...

Above: Hyacinthus orientalis 'Delft blue'

Below: Hyacinthus orientalis 'sky jacket'

and

Above: Hyacinthus orientalis 'Paul Herman'

Below: Hyacinthus orientalis 'pink surprise'

Around the potager and in the 8 standard bay pots we shall have a variety of 'flaming' and non flaming parrot tulips...

Below: The 'Air' Parrot Tulip - Pink with green edges

Below: 'Rococo' is a very dramatic red parrot with green frills.

The 'Super Parrot' - white and green. Very popular for bridal arrangements

Then there are the standard tulips. 'Spring Green' is another popular bridal option, with its similar colourings to the super parrot...


Below: The Standard Tulip 'London', is a great specimen of red tulip.

Below: 'Princess Irene' is an exceptional golden yellow specimen, a perfect seasonal compliment for One's Orange borders....

Some of the bulbs waiting to be planted...

I suspect it will take us a lot longer than one weekend to plant all the bulbs, but at least with a rotary hoe we won't have to prepare the soil manually like we did last weekend for all the buxus hedging. Whatever you are doing this weekend, I hope you have a colourful one.