Summer is so close...

Taking a breather...

There is nothing like reading a good book in the sunshine, surround by Nature's bounty. Such moments are priceless and, sometimes, beyond words.

A Mighty Borage

The biggest gardening surprise of Spring 2022 has to be this immense Borage plant. We've been growing Borage for years but we've never had a Borage anywhere near the size of this plant!

Look at the size of those meaty stems!

A cluster of Borage flower heads:

And here it is - my Borage money shot lol!

I'm definitely going to try and collect some seed from this beast of a plant 🙂

Cool Leaves

I am loving the way these leaves look when back-lit!

 

Roman Soldier

Can anyone else see a Roman soldier in this jumble of broken garden rubble?

 

Crassula ovata "Skinny Fingers"

A Trip To Trago Mills

Mrs MG and my good self took a trip out to Trago Mills, in Merthyr, the other day. The place is mad, in a very good way, and is a bit of an eye-opener when it first bursts upon your senses.

Castle Trego Mill bursting upon my senses

The place is basically a MASSIVE warehouse, housed within a gleaming fairy tale castle facade. The place is so huge, I still haven't navigated the numerous sections of its various goods and wears after two visits to the place. That said, apart from a quick sourjon to the snacks section, both Mrs MG and myself had made this journey for one, and one reason only - Trago Mill's legendary garden centre!

Racing through the front doors, we made a bee-line for the plants, where I was stopped at its entrance to the garden centre by a large cactus stand! What's even more delightful is that they were nearly all at real bargain prices! And within less than a minute of being in the store, I scored the two and only two plants that were to accompany me home that afternoon.

I followed Mrs MG around the rest of the garden centre then as she shopped for more plants. Along the way, I procured myself a few cool plants pots, again at pretty decent prices :)

Trolley full, its time to buy some refreshments

And here they are, two new members of our house plant community:

The plants both settled nicely into our home. Lovely things they are too. Here they are, sandwiching the grandiose Euphorbia cactus :)

On the drive home, Mrs MG said she had heard one of the staff say they were expecting brand new plants the following morning! I already can't wait for my third visit to Trago Mills...

Crassula Cutting

This Jade cutting shows a lot of potential. Admittedly. there isn't much to see just yet, just a largish Crassula ovata laid on its side. But watch this space. I have high hopes for this one...

Cat Queue

I made the mistake of removing the protective cage around the catnip plant. This sped-up video covers just 30 minutes in the magickal garden! Suffice to say, the guard is now back in place lol.

 

Aquilegia

Game of Gnomes

 Sitting trenchant.

See you next autumn...

As spring quickly blends with the coming summer, it is not only our early flowers that are beginning to disappear:

 See you next autumn faery-folk...

Tulips

Our tulips have been a spectacular success in the magickal garden this year. They are starting to fade now but I am already looking forward to to seeing their their splendour blooms again next spring...

Anyway, here are the last few shots of our remaining 2022 tulip flowers:

The Most Dramatic Plant in Our Garden...

The most dramatic plant for the last week or so has to be the Wisteria. Strangely though, the plant has proved difficult to photograph well. Here are my best tries though:

 

The Sun - A Waiting Game

Slightly damaged, this old terracotta sun has been begging for attention lately. And I do have plans for it. I really do. I just need to grab some dangly air plants from somewhere first...

ChickChack

One of our two elderly chickchacks:

Guardians of the Garden.

Watching that all is well with our little world

Market Stalls, Swansea Botanical Gardens

I quite enjoyed our half hour or so walk around the local botanical garden's plant sale. We had to park a good ten minute walk away from the gardens. But the nice people at the tills allowed me to wait with our trolley full of plants at the entrance whilst Mrs MG fetched the car and drove through the park to stop for a quick pick up 🙂

Our chosen plant waiting for pick up

Most of the plants were Mrs MG's.
Here are mine: a wormwood
& dragon fruit plant

Welsh Poppies

The two colours common in Welsh Poppies growing side by side in the magickal garden. My favourites are the bright yellow ones on the right of the photograph:

Japanese Acer

There are not many trees as stunning as red Japanese Acers!

 

Bluebells

At last - we have wild Bluebells in the magickal garden :o)

Unfurling

Black Tulips

These black tulip beauties are a real eye-catcher in the magickal garden at the moment.

Genetian Speedwell

Unfurling

Good Morning from the Magickal Garden

 Good morning from the magickal garden :) And what a beautiful morning it is!