Dolce Rosso Tomatoes?

We had some wonderfully sweet little tomatoes while in England last month. They were Dolce Rosso tomatoes from Morrison's grocery store. A quick search for seeds has been fruitless. Will look again when I have more time. Someone on a UK gardening board mentioned they'd had nice plants grown from the seeds of the store bought tomatoes. Wondering if "dolce rosso" is a supermarket name? Are they known by something else?

Sweet Peas at Easton Walled Gardens

Easton Walled Gardens (Easton, Lincolnshire, UK) is a wonderful find. The large estate house was torn down after WWII and the grounds and garden left to go wild. In recent years the family have begun the restoration of the grounds and gardens - a mammoth undertaking. But with wonderful results.

Though the whole estate is quite impressive, I was really taken with the rows and rows of sweet peas. I've never been able to grow them in my hot, dry, sandy soil. This was definitely sweet pea heaven! And I love how this picture came out with the gray clouds above.

We only had an hour or so to visit, but we'll be back. Do visit - it's well worth it! http://www.eastonwalledgardens.co.uk/

First daylily of the season

Daylily,
originally uploaded by pollyalida.

This is the first daylily that I noticed in the garden. Turns out there were some small ones hidden among the masses of coreopsis out front. But this one was the first I saw and it was prettier as well. Can't wait to see what colors all the other plants are. I planted about 30 daylilies last summer - all from a White Flower Farm bargain bag. Which means I won't have names for any of them. Names would be nice, but I'll enjoy them just as much without the names.

Lovely Blue Columbine

Columbine,
originally uploaded by pollyalida.

What a wonderful color. I planted these 2 years ago. I bough them with a gift card that my cousin gave me as a wedding gift. So they're in the "Nancie Sue" corner of the garden. They didn't do well last summer. Thought they'd fried in the heat. But here they are back in force. Though I love the blue, you can't see it from across the garden. White or yellow might be better, but this is a nice surprise when you get close to the garden.

Tulips

Tulips,
originally uploaded by pollyalida.

My tulips were lovely this year. I didn't plant too many, the deer have devoured them in the past. This year they nibbled down the first bits of foliage. But then I sprayed them with a deer repellant and the deer actually left them alone!

I also spread a lot of Milorganite around the garden. It's an organic fertilizer that has the added benefit of keeping the deer away. The neighbor said the deer ate all of her daylilies, mine are intact. Fingers crossed that they stay away for the summer!

First crocus of spring

First crocus of spring,
originally uploaded by pollyalida.

Finally a crocus in bloom! Spring can't be too far behind.

crocs

crocs,
originally uploaded by pollyalida.

New purple crocs ready to go. The snow is melting. A couple of crocuses have bloomed. And my new crocs are ready for a workout. They're already getting lots of use walking around the muddy yard looking for new life. Bring it on!

Weird weather

January? 60 degrees and rainy? Odd. But not unheard of. Still this is a record high for the day. Noticed that my chrysanthemums are growing again. One rather long stem of 3-4 inches and lots of shorter growth. I watered them yesterday. I figured, why not. This might be one of those winters that they manage to live through. I wonder if I bury the window boxes in the top of the compost heap if they'll stay warmer? An interesting experiment to try.

Landscape master plan

In November, I contacted the Land Design Office in Wynantsill to draw up a plan for our garden. They did a wonderful job! John Kelly, the owner, came over and met with us to find out what we wanted to do with the garden and hardscape around the house. This was supposed to be a Christmas surprise for my husband, but I didn't plan carefully enough, he was still home when the landscaper arrived. Oh well, he got to put his 2 cents in as well!

John took lots of notes and returned later in the week to take pictures. A month later he presented us with a plan. He'd re-arranged lots of the shrubs and trees that we already have and re-grouped the perennials into better groupings. A number of plants that I've wanted to try were also incorporated.

The plan included hardscaping - a deck, patio area, new walkways, a spot for a small water feature and some good ideas for improving drainage near the house. There's also a raised bed area around the shed for my veggies and herbs. A major issue was to fill in the edge of our property with some shrubs and trees to create a border that will look good from our side and the neighbor's, yet give our garden a bit more privacy and hopefully deter the deer from eating my veggies! We like our neighbors too much to put in a tall fence. Though I must say, the tall hedges of England with very private back gardens really appeal, regardless of how friendly the neighbors are.

The plan looks terrific. He did a great job. We have a large scale architectural type drawing to work from, a small one for easy reference. Shopping lists for new trees and shrubs, a list of plants (new and old) with pictures and growing info. And tons more stuff on the CD that he gave us. My father had some fun going over the plans when we visited last week. I left one of the big drawings and the planting list for him to examine in more detail.

Now we just have to do the work! They are a design-only company, which is just what we wanted. We can make the changes ourselves over the next few years. First step - the new deck and pation. Hopefully this spring.