You can lead a girl to a paint brush

But you can’t make her paint.   That potting shed is remaining a resolute undercoat white.   For another month.   It sits white and glaring in the early spring sunshine, instead of turning a lurk in the landscape brown.

I have gone through my picture folder and found a whole host of lovely things I managed to achieve while avoiding the paint brush this past trip. So here is another chunk of time spent avoiding the chore.

I’ve mulched like mad around the newly weeded fruit bushes.   Here is the two year old leaf mould that has been rotting quietly behind the stables on the orchard terrace. It does look fetching. And will continue to do so for another few weeks before the weeds wake up and realise it’s time to invade.

I have tucked in the weedproof fabric on the far edge of this sloping terrace, and covered it with mulch.

The grasses have all been reduced to stumps.   And I have added more pannicum squaws (or something at least pannicum esque to join the squaw I already have) to the strange little bed that sticks out at the end of the courtyard.

It looks mighty odd right now, but I have hopes that it will look less odd in a few months time.

What else? The best thing of course: the growing season has begun.   Small pots of small things growing on in the warmth of the new potting shed.

And seeds planted in the soon to warm up soil.

I have planted out heaps and heaps of cornflower and clary sage seedlings.   And with this bit of rain they will be even happier than gasping for water in the neglected potting shed. (Off tomorrow for yet another trip away from this lovely garden).

So not a bad month’s work.