What with other things going on in my life recently (such as income tax), I have become disconnected from my garden. Today I finally spent some time in it, edge-clipping and weeding, noting in the process that some of the blue poppies have rapidly developing buds. Also notable…

These bergenias in the front garden got to the blooming stage because I covered them with a chicken-wire Bucky barrier. It’s a good thing I took this picture, however, because once I removed the barrier, three of them were prematurely deadheaded, most likely by Bucky. He hasn’t been visiting the back garden much lately, though…

because of this simple barrier — nearly invisible lightweight plastic mesh attached to two long stakes. The orange rope and reflective ribbons are there to make the fence visible to deer at night, and also to deter birds from flying into it. Since we put this up in Bucky’s favourite entry spot to the back garden, he hasn’t returned. I admit I feel a bit guilty, because he must have found the pond a convenient watering hole. The trouble was that he didn’t stop at getting a drink and loafing on the lawn.

These rather gaudy parrot tulips look ridiculous in their chicken-wire cage, but they are in bloom. It’s funny how valuable something seems if you think you’ve saved it from disaster.

In the meantime…

With the new growth of ferns and perennials, and blue-flowering plants such as this rosemary and the ubiquitous bluebells, there is sometimes a blue-and-gold look to parts of the garden.

This is a good example of a “borrowed view.” My garden looks much bigger from this perspective, but the shrubs behind the big Euphorbia “Humpty-Dumpty” (yes, that’s really the name of this variety) belong to my neighbour.