How does your garden grow?

You may remember some of the dramaz I've had in the garden. That was only the first implement that succumbed... Anyway, this is what it all looked like at about May time. A flowerbed of reeds and spent primroses. A haymeadow of dandelion clocks underlaid with moss surrounded by various late-middle-age shrubs and seeded saplings.

A riot of ground elder in the corner.

Flowerbeds on a serious slide held back with sandstone rocks.

Ah, the rocks. How many did I dig up?

(bags of small rocks, pebbles, stone, housebricks, guttering, drainage pipe, bolts...)

But The Man, being smashing, decided to get me a landscape gardener for the day for my birthday. In fact it turned out to be two - Italian brothers, who of course were referred to as the Super Mario brothers. ('When are the Super Mario Brothers coming?' 'Have you sorted a day for the Super Mario Brothers to come?' 'Shall I write a list for the Super Mario Brothers?') They weren't quite Italian stallions in the end but they were very nice, and as well as grubbing up loads of dead bushes and seeded trees, took away the lawn.

And then some other nice men came from The Man's work and laid the turf.

Mmm, grass. With an edge.

All these plants from the garden centre were waiting desperately for a flowerbed to become clear for them.

Some nine hours of digging and two wheelybins full of reeds and ivy roots later...

Some were presents from The Man's mum. Aw.

Is this peony (which was supposed to be white according to the label) ever going to open? It's been a bud for 6 weeks, I swear!

Nereide lilies from bulb.

First tomatillo flower! And the tomatoes are getting big too. (I still have no idea what a tomatillo is going to be like.)

Foxgloves. I love the little faces on the buds before they open, all squished up eyes and grumpy looking.

Buds everywhere...

And the best bit, the monster BBQ. Love it! It's already been used a lot, including a lunch for 10 of the family.

Next year hopefully we'll have more plants in the new spaces, and some fruit and veggies. So exciting! Can't wait to have a real harvest. Clare has given me two courgette plants so if I don't kill them, we can have some Real Food from the garden. Perhaps even a ratatouille from courgettes and tomatoes and tomatilloes. Who knows?!

I am perhaps a little overexcited by all this. Sorry. :)