Free plants time!!

Hi Friends,
Well, even waking up with tonsils like razor blades (I surely cannot be lergyfied again?!), has not stopped me getting out into this fabulous Spring sunshine today. I've been round the whole garden with the wheelbarrow & 'grabber' collecting up detritus that had blown in, stray brassica collars, cane toppers, plant ties, etc, & generally having a damn good tidy-up. It reminded me a bit of being sent to litter-pick as a punishment for forgetting my PE kit at school. Actually, I always saw that as a result, as I much preferred picking up litter to the utter time-waste of pretending to play netball! It didn't do to try this too often though, or one could find oneself NOT on litter-picking, but instead, having to wear some hideous BO-impregnated PE outfit from the 'spare kit' box <shudders>.....

After a good tidy-up this morning, I got down to one of my favourite Spring jobs - Looking for FREE PLANTS!! As someone who used to spend really quite eye-watering amounts of money in garden centres across the East Midlands, these are now my favourite kind! And here is today's haul:

Theyr'e not all here, as I've already transplanted some, but in total, my free plant hunt yielded these self-seeded lovelies: 1 buddleja, 6 aquilegias, 1 alchemilla mollis, 4 primroses, 3 clumps of forget-me-nots, 2 mauve poppies (well, I think they will be mauve, but that's the beauty of the free plant hunt, they could be anything, including a new colour), 2 golden feverfew, 5 foxgloves, 2 tellima, 1 lemon balm & an oregano. Not bad for Round 1. There will be more as I continue to clear the rest of my big flower beds over the next couple of weeks.

I also have another 'treasure' this Spring. I have never been able to grow any hellebores except the native stinking kind (Hellebore foetida). While I quite like its lime green flowers among other early Spring colour, I get a bit of a grump on when I visit gardens for Snowdrop Walks & see all the other lovely hellebore varieties. In 2010, I tried for a final time. I bought a hellebore from the market stall of a local nurseryman. My thinking was that if it's been gown & raised here in the locality, it will do fine in my soil. Yeah, right! Here was the result of my clever thinking.....
2010 - Didn't flower, but the grower said it wouldn't the 1st year, so that was ok.
2011 - 3 leaves.
2012 - 2 leaves
2013 - 2 leaves
2014 - 2 leaves
Are you getting the picture?
2015 - Nothing!
2016 - 2 leaves
2017 - Oooooooooh! Look!!

Finally my patience (for 'patience', read lots of sweary moaning!) has been rewarded with 3 lovely dark red blooms. My photo doesn't really do them justice, but you get the idea. 
So that was today.......lots of planty freebies & at last, a non-stinking hellebore to enjoy.
Hope you're all enjoying at least a bit of this sunshine.
Till next time,
C x