We know Spring has Arrived in the Hollow when...

We know Spring has Arrived in the Hollow when:

 you need a  really good perch to be on the lookout for  "the CRANE".

  and when the Mistress turns you loose in the strawberry beds

 leaving you to cultivate the earth to a fine, granulated and perfect soil.

.

In fact, everyone on the farm is cultivating.

 You know spring has arrived when Mathilda tries for the umpteenth time to hatch the dozen or so eggs for whom she has so carefully prepared an ivy nest .

(I Hope, this time, they hatch for you sweetheart!)

 In early Spring

the Wisteria is incredibly laden with blooms and the hypnotic buzzing of the bees,

as the heady fragrance fills the garden.

 It took 8 years for the Wisteria to bloom like this.

This plant was the reason the Lord of the Manor built the huge Pergola.  It worked!

Spring  HAS arrived  when the seed packets overwhelm me.... How can I plant all this stuff?

 WILL I plant all this stuff?

Well, Spring MUST be here for sure, "the CRANE" has arrived!

  SEE??!

How do you recognize Spring at your place?

Before and after Garden beds and the winner of the Bird print...

Garden vignettes in May

 Isn't it amazing the difference a month can make in your garden?!

Below is the little garden bed as it looked when I filmed it 3 weeks ago..

And here we see how it has grown in a few weeks.

 I told you it would fill in with lush growth, and it did.

 Here is a before shot of a bed I worked on in early April.

 It is bursting at the seams and the yellow primrose hasn't even bloomed yet, nor the bee balm,or foxglove.

 When your growth is this thick, you needn't worry about mulching. The plants will take care of sneaky weeds AND help to keep in moisture .

Here it is a week later...

 This wild rose bush below was just a little 10 inch squirt when I "liberated" it from the woods last year. It has fragrant white flowers, behind it is a climbing rose.

This is what it means to make your native plants work for you.

Now that rambling wild rose is traveling up and over the cedar arbor with joyous exuberance. 

Wild and Crazy is my garden style.

Why do I have wire everywhere? Well, you know that I have gardening chickens, right? I remove the wire protectors after the gardens fill in and the  black soil can no longer tempt chicken folk to cultivate with their claws.

Before.....

And  after, this bed has filled in so much, that the peahen nesting behind the Bee Box is scarcely visible. Of course, none of these plants have reached their proper height as yet. The VERONICA in the center will get about 3 ft tall.

.

Can you see Hettie? She is sitting on 4 eggs.

I am in love with my gardens, truly I am. Don't you love yours too?

 Do you talk to yourself in the garden? I do, all the time... I may be a bit bats, because I talk to the plants too. Yesterday, I pet a bee!

He loves the Penstemon as much as I do.

I've been filming many short videos with my humble garden tips for beginners, but I honestly do not know if anyone is interested in this. Let me know. If you are I will continue the Hopalong Hollowscaping series.

WINNER OF THE BIRD PRINT IS:
 Martha Ellen! Martha, email me with your address here:
jeri@hopalonggreetings.com

We three blonds!

Anne of Green Gables lamented that " It's so difficult finding a kindred spirit these days"

 Poor Anne! If only she'd had a blog! I have been privileged to meet two of those  aforementioned "kindreds" this last weekend. Isn't it the best of the best when your penpals turn out to be just as wonderful in person as they are in print?!!

We three blonds.

Our Mary ( the blond with the brilliant smile), me, Jeri (the dishwater, greying blond in the middle), and Christie (  the statuesque, pretty blond on the end)

This weekend my husband and I participated in an Art Festival in lovely Historic  Franklin,Tennessee. I was looking especially forward to this because we had plans to meet up with these 2 great ladies from  blog land, who live in this area.

Christie of "Grammys house, a quaint Victorian Cottage" was going to escort James and I to the home of Our Mary, ( that is our pet name for her) of "Heritage Stitchery", for an evening of good food and a LOT of conversation.

Mary is the most gracious hostess of all time, in her foyer AND on the dining table, she created a beautiful vignette of bunnies and florals,( in honor of  my " Hopalong Jack" via my "Hopalong Hollow" book series, thank you Mary!)

 She served us an elegant meal..

starting with this...

"Carrots and peas,

Beneath the trees,

 And jolly good company, 

If you please!"

Even the plates beneath the food were gorgeous... 

The  main course and DESSERT were scrumptious too,(ice cream, pound cake with tangerines and cream puffs!) but I found myself so lost in conversation and overwhelmed with delight in my new friends, that I don't think I cleared my plate. I wish I had more photos to show you, but my batteries in camera were dead, what an idiot. I am. ( Christie shared these pictures with me.)

 It is such a joy to meet your kindred's. You know them from their blogs, comments and emails, but there is something so special about meeting in person, giving a sisterly hug and visiting the homes in which they dwell.

 Mary is a magnificent needleworker with a heart of gold, and her walls are covered with Samplers and Heritage Stitchery beyond compare.

  ( this is where you must imagine a photograph of some fabulous embroidery work)

If you have ever gotten an "Anonymous" comment from Mary on your blog, YOU are a lucky person, for she always leaves the most interesting messages, ( it's like receiving  a poem, written just for you)

She gave me this little bun "topiary".. green, my favorite color.

I popped him into my impatiens as soon as I got home.

        Christie's home is just what she claims it to be, a quaint Victorian Cottage, each corner filled with every imaginable tiny  teapot and bit of filigree, antiques and romantic floral furniture, and 12 foot ceilings

(photo courtesy of Christies blog).

Christie is also the creator of a new series of books, cards, patterns and recipe cards with her imprint of "Rosewater Cottage Press"

 

Her stories are of "ELIZA" a wee cloth mouse, that lives in her house. Visit her blog to see what it's all about. http://christiegrammyshouse.blogspot.com/

I told Christie that her artwork feels so comforting.. like a sugar cookie fresh from the oven, and it's true!

  Each book is made with thick, high quality paper, classy, but with a homespun look.

 So, we had a most wonderful weekend, and to top things off, our 3 husbands, got along very nicely, talked politics and exchanged stories,

 and left we 3 blonds alone to chatter away the night.

When we got home, 

I was pleasantly greeted by Miss Merryweather, first time mother of 3 baby chicklets!  She clucked and cackled in pride.

 I was so happy to see that one of the chicks favored it's daddy, MONET, 

who was put into a casserole by that dastardly fox  last month!

 I found that my strawberry bed had not been decimated by the Peacocks,

.

 AND, my gardens had grown even bigger in the last 4 days!

  

My Potager is full, herbs, roses, lavender, oxeye daisy the arbor is covered with wisteria.

This front yard garden is blooming with dozens of varieties of bearded Iris. This used to be lawn, now it is completed as a long flower border. I will show some before and afters next week.

Ground cover roses and bitty little viola faces are in full throttle and

the delphiniums are blooming.

AND

My favorite flower of all time,

 the FOXGLOVE, has returned>

For years I have tried to grow these.

 I have finally got a nice bed growing in perpetuity.

 So all is well, here in Hopalong Hollow.