Ghosts in the garden

Blossom time is here at last! The leader of the pack is my dwarf almond, Garden Prince. He has these lovely pink flowers and, since we are not nearly out of the frosty woods yet, I have to be super vigilant with the frost cloth.

I stuck some stakes in his pot, and then it's just a matter of wrapping a couple of lengths of cloth around and securing it to the stakes with wooden clothes pegs. Leave a bit of overhang at the top, and clip together to make a roof.

Here is the ghostly spectacle. I'm also watching out for my peach Rose Chiffon. She hasn't burst her blossoms quite yet, but she's not far behind.

Now, don't forget to remove these covers when it's windy, or they will catch the wind and sail your pots right over to the ground, where they will deposit quite a few of their unopened buds. Yeah, ask me how I know this.

Saturday morning dawned sunny and even... warm? I didn't stop to ponder it, but quickly grabbed my paintbrush and got stuck into that job that for some reason I'd been looking forward to all week... painting my potting corner.

Above you can see my collection of unearthed glassware, sitting on a shelf I "built". Building the shelf consisted of cutting an old fence paling to size, and nailing it on top of the support beam that was already there. This fence was recently put up by our back neighbour, and we have the "wrong" side of it. Since it's in this little corner I figured it would be of most use if it had shelves to hold my pots and et ceteras. So I nailed boards over all the support beams, I figure a coat of paint will mostly unify it and once it's holding pots and things you won't really notice that it's a bit wonky. Right?

Anyway, here it is after it's first coat. (May I just say, painting trellis is a joy and a delight.) Another coat to go, then I can start arranging the compost bins! Can't wait!