335/365 First Frost

The St John's Wort was dusted with frost crystals this morning.

269/365 Nerine

These beautiful flowers are growing in a nearby garden. Jodie and I pass it when we walk to and from school. The other day the afternoon sun was catching the blooms but I couldn't go home for my camera without being late for Jodie,

and by the time we'd come home, the light had changed, so this afternoon (with permission of course) I spent some time on the owners' front lawn!

261/365 Tricyrtis 'Taipei Silk', Toad Lily

I often buy plants for my garden that I want to photograph and this is just such a plant. I saw it at Swarkestone Nursery on Thursday and had to get it. Hopefully I'll get to plant it (and about 6 or 8 other plants and shrubs) on Sunday. While the others were out on a short bike ride and the sun was starting to set, I was on the deck with camera with this little beauty. The bloom is about an inch across.

232/365 Verbena

Managed to catch these verbena blooms despite the wind blowing strongly today.

228/365 Ripening Blackberries

Every year we reclaim some of our garden from the brambles that grow there, but we never manage to remove them all.

215/365 Spiral

The ornamental gardens at Elvaston Castle are full of shapes and patterns. I met up with several photo-club members there this evening for a walk, followed by a drink at the Harrington Arms nearby. The cloud was low and grey so lack of light was a problem - I'll just have to go back on a brighter day! :0)

133/365 Tamarisk (Tamarix pentandra)

Our tamarisk tree is covered in a deep pink haze of tiny tight buds. This is Mark's favourite tree in the garden and its usually at its best late May/early June. When the buds open out the tree looks fluffy. I'll post another when its in full bloom.

131/365 How does my Garden grow?

The garden fork stands in the border, the sprinkler gracefully sprinkles, the wind whips at the leaves on the shrub, the sun shines making the water sparkle, and I'm doing what I enjoy most - capturing it all in pixels. :0) I had something of a field day with camera, tripod and the sprinkler this afternoon, right after getting everything on the To Do list done for today.

"If you water it and it dies, it's a plant. If you pull it out and it grows back, it's a weed." Gallagher.

126/365 Potentilla

The potentilla is in its first flush of flowers. We have two of these shrubs, both yellow, they were here when we moved in and we like them - another yellow flowering thing I realise. We have plenty of pink too. This was taken with a new lens I got yesterday. Well, new to me anyway - a member of the photo club upgraded to full frame, so EP & myself were happy to buy 2 Sigma lenses from him. This is the 28-300mm, 3.5-6.3 DG Macro and I love it. (My other Sigma was a budget purchase, and boy do I notice the difference now!) Sweet, real sweet :0) I must treat my hubby to a special dinner this weekend for letting me have this bargain... :0)

121/365 geranium (hardy)

So many flowers to choose from now spring is here! I thought today's shot was going to be a whitebell, but this shot is better.

117/365 Alchemilla Mollis after rain

Alchemilla Mollis leaves are covered in tiny hairs which is why the rainwater pools like this and I love it, it fascinates me. It looks like its been sprinkled with diamonds. The forecast was for rain and it has rained steadily although not heavily all day. We've had quite a good dry spell, some proper spring-like weather and have been gardening. I would prefer mainly dry tomorrow afternoon though - going on a photography walk!

74/365 Hellebore in bloom

This hellebore has surprised me this year by blooming beautifully for the first time since I planted it.

I had a little stroll round the garden, with camera of course, and lots of new shoots are breaking through. It was warm, the sun was shining, the wind had dropped since yesterday and I sent hubby out there after lunch to rake up all the twigs on the grass (can't call it a lawn really...!) and he did a little light pruning as well. So now I can add gardening to my 'to do' list, weather permitting, little and often, we get a little further on with it each year.

66/365 Boing! Spring is sprung as last

Jodie was glad to get on the trampoline today! The weather has warmed up enough to spend a little time outdoors, new shoots are breaking out all over the place and it's time to start tidying up the garden a little, but only when the sun is out! Both my kids like to spend time outside, we have a large conservatory with a deck around it, another deck at the end of the lawn with a pergola on it and which Jodie's playhouse overlooks, and beyond that is our wildlife garden. (That's another way of saying its overgrown!) We have plenty of room for sand pit/paddling pool (weather permitting) on the deck and we also have a slide; Oliver plays football in the garden sometimes - but sends the ball over the fence too often! We have made up some games to play on the trampoline, but its better when the tent is on it.

32/365 Dusting of snow

The forecast says there's more to come but this is what settled this afternoon. There's a severe weather warning for most of the UK for the next 24 hours, snow from Russia apparently. This is the view from my kitchen window. Roll on Spring.

28/365 After the rain

Back on track when the clouds lifted enough for a little winter sun to peer through. So I grabbed the camera and picked my way through the sodden grass to the St John's Wort (Hypericum) in my garden. We have 2 varieties and they were both bejewelled with raindrops, catching the light, such as it was. More shots from today in my Picasa album of the same name, link right. Only 3 days to go and month 1 of 12 is over!