The shade garden bank in spring

Yes that really is the colour of the garden. No need for any filters on the digital camera.

All I needed to do was keep on weeding until 830pm.

This absurd rainfall we have had this month means everything is very, very fluffy

Dare I show you the before shot?

Yep. Fluffy. There is a path in there. Somewhere.

I only managed to get round to weeding late as I was painting the rill and removing every weed in the courtyard first.

Fastidious old job. And with yet more rain forecast in the next week it will feel an absurdly Sisyphean one.

And what a contrast to the bare beach of white stone and grey rill to this exuberance.

Jungle more like.

I need to spend more time in the very middle of this bank pulling out the rogue black oat grass.

But I have no time.  There are huge areas of the garden which need a fast go with a kneeler, a pair of gloves and a determination not to get a face full of poisonous euphorbia sap as I reach in to try and pull out yet one more weed.

And you still haven’t seen my gorgeous potagers.  Ooh the thrills never cease.

A rumbling tum and a strong yearning for a cool beer took me to the potting shed to down tools and head back indoors.

But when you stand in front of the potting shed looking down the path there is the glorious project of all these shrubs that need urgent attention. I have been avoiding them by hunting lily beetles on the lilies that are hidden in here among the shrubs.

It’s amazing what huge elephant in the rooms you can avoid.

Fluffy beyond control. I need to get in with the secateurs as quickly as I can. By my calculations that won’t be until next week – house guests from Australia this weekend. Yippee. No gardening for a bit.