The Earth Laughs in Flowers

1. jonquil honey, 2. Skagit valley daffodils, 3. A Jonquil Morning, 4. Jonquils!, 5. narcissus, 6. Min Daffodil, 7. Jonquils, 8. daffodils, 9. Pastel Jonquils

With a little help from Out Back and The Burtonesque Garden, I am fairly certain that the pretty little flowers that pop-up in my garden each July - August are Jonquils, also known as Bunch-Flowered Narcissus.

I've been doing a bit of reading on Jonquils ever since, and Yates' Garden Guide has, once again, been a faithful little reference for all my gardening needs. I want to dig up the bulbs and relocate, as at the moment there is no organisation to them. I've learnt that I need to wait for the stems to die off naturally after flowering before I attempt to move them, and the best time to plant is in Autumn (10cm deep and 10cm apart).

Google and FlickR have provided stunning examples of how great Jonquils look when in bloom, whether they are on lawns, grassy slopes, in rock gardens, or in clumps around other plants. I've also discovered that they come in a number of colours, although the most common are cream or white blooms with a yellow centre (the ones found in my garden), or an orange-red centre surrounded by gold petals.

I must admit that there is not much sweeter than to walk out into the garden in the middle of a frost-bitten Winter and see these gorgeous bulbs in bloom.

In the Garden 23.07.10

Can anyone tell me what bulb this flower belongs to? They pop up all over our yard during Winter, and I've no idea what they are, but they're so pretty.

Parsley

Carrot and leek

Leek

Broccoli

I've spent a little time in the garden these past two days: Fertilising, mulching, watering and weeding.

I'm pleasantly surprised by how well most of the vegetables I planted are surviving the cold weather and frosts we've been having: We have broccoli and cauliflower in the ground, and carrots, leek, parsley and thyme in pots. The biggest challenge at the moment appears not to be the freezing cold weather, but rather snails and slugs - they are everywhere! We are regularly having to lay snail-bait but the slimy little buggers are turning out to be incredibly resilient.

A lot of the non-veggie plants have suffered the frost worst, especially the palegonias and geraniums, known to be fairly hardy plants but I guess even they are finding the inch-thick frosts we've had over the past month a little too much to bear.

I'm hopeful of picking a bunch of cauliflower, broccoli, carrot and leek in the coming weeks, as long as the weather doesnt do anything too drastic to spoil my plans!

Darcy & Anne by Judith Brocklehurst

Title: Darcy & Anne
Author: Judith Brocklehurst
Category: Regency Fiction (Jane Austen inspired)

Jane Austen Reading Challenge 2010

Darcy & Anne is a "sequel" to Jane Austen's classic Pride & Prejudice, focusing on Darcy's cousin, Anne de Bourgh.

After Darcy's marriage to the lovely Elizabeth Bennet, Catherine de Bourgh is anxious to find her daughter, Anne, a suitable husband - "suitable" being a gentleman who would not only raise Anne's status in society, but also that of her elitist mother. When no suitors can be found in their locality, Catherine de Bourgh makes the decision to take Anne to Pemberley and have her nephew, Darcy, and his new wife find a husband for her daughter instead.

After a fortunate series of events, Anne ends up staying in Pemberley with her cousin and his wife much longer than anticipated, and grows more and more independant of her mother and others as each week passes, eventually working up the courage to follow her heart's desire, and not be a part of her mother's controlling schemes.

This was a good "sequel" to Austen's P&P. Brocklehurst has used a relatively minor character from Austen's novel, working a storyline that incorporates P&P's Darcy & Elizabeth without deviating from the original story. A clever interpretation that works well and is most enjoyable.

3 out of 5 stars.