More May Flowers

From the garden, more dead plants to cull from the plant spreadsheet.

• armeria juniperifolia, sea pinks
• a Pink Azalea

Current Blooms:

 Clematis, 'Nellie Moser'

 Lilly of the Vally, all over the place.

Dianthus subacaulis

Erigeron linarfolia This one from Wrightman Alpines in New Brunswick Canada. Purchased it at the 2014 Alpine Plant Sale at Stonecrop Gardens, just about 1.5 hours from out little patch of heaven, a nice garden to visit and the drive isn't too bad.

Estate Staff Update:
Gina earned her wages today, getting us home from the beach with as few shifts as possible. Our first inkling that something was amiss was Gina rolling through a stop sign, it's not in her nature to break the law, fragrantly anyway. She took local roads and managed with her newly acquired local knowledge (she has a vast map collection) to cover the 6 miles stopping only 3 times, at stoplights. We decided against keeping track of the traffic violations she accrued, but if she triggered any traffic cameras we'll just deduct it from her pay. Her guess is that either the clutch master or slave cylinder of the Land Rover needs to be rebuilt. She said she will look to see if there are any adjustment first and asked to borrow the repair manuals.

Have a lead on a Gamekeeper, goes by the name Duncan MacLoughty and comes along with this little summer cottage in Scotland. A bargain at 1,350,000 GBP. The floor plan is not the best, but we'd only be there for a few weeks at the start of Grouse season. Check it out here, while it lasts.

I believe he is a member of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association and The National Gamekeepers Organization and has given a bob or two to the  Gamekeepers Welfare Trust . Gamekeepers maintain the properties of an estate, the fields, woods and hedgerows and they keep down the populations of pests of all kinds, the first Gamekeepers would have dealt with poachers(aka Pests) in the Royal Hunting Forests. They participate in muirburning to promote biodiversity, but no longer officially hunt down poachers with their bull-mastiffs.

Some further reading on the Muirburn (Scotland) or heather burning (England) here, at The Heather Trust.

Mid-May Flowers

Keep finding more plants that didn't come up, it's quite discouraging.
Two Erodium from last year didn't survive and I even planted them in the ground.
An Edelweiss from Edelweiss Perennials, Leontopodium discolor did not make it either. Still have lots of things blooming about the estate.

Current Blooms:

 Lewisia, cotyledon "sunset strain"

 A weed as yet unidentified by me

 Star of Bethlehem, Ornithogalum umbellatum L., in the East Foundation Garden, can be invasive and some consider it a weed. The USDA lists this plant as a noxious weed by the states of Alabama and Connecticut.

 It is pretty though.

 Creepy phlox.

 A new Azalea

 Spanish Bluebells

Sweet Woodruff, shares 2 gardens with the Peri-vinkle and is getting elbowed out. I probably should segregate the two, would hate to lose more plants.

Beers in the Fridge:
Sapporo, it's Japanese and they have a Museum in Sapporo on the Island of Hokkaido in Japan. Sapporo is about 10 hours from Tokyo by train or a 16 hour direct sleeper which a few websites say is short lived. A flight takes about 1.5 hours.

Paulaner Hefe-Weizen wheat beer.

May Flowers

First grass cutting of the season this weekend, reminds me that I need to get a gardener. And I need to add a house maid to the staff roster I've been told. And the web says I can start sentences with a conjunction.

Current Blooms:
Gentiana

 These 2 photos of Gentiana angustifolia

 Gentiana acaulla hybrid Holzmann

 Primula, in the last posting it wasn't in bloom

Lewisia
Lilac are also in bloom and grape hyacinths too.


Beers in the Fridge:
From Trader Joe, brewed by Greene King in Bury St. Edmunds, UK. Greene King have  Brewery Tours in summer. Travel time about an hour and 40 minutes from London. Bury St Edmunds known for its floral displays, has an Abbey ruin with gardens, a Cathedral,  interesting building and a few small museums. The tourism website is here. Nearby is Kentwell Hall, a moated Tudor mansion and also close by (3 miles) is Ickworth, a Georgian Italianate Palace. One wing of the house is a hotel.

Did I mention that I was not fond of the brew? I wouldn't get it again.

Bought more Sixpoint Sweet Action ale though, like it a lot.

Quandary of the Week:
If you see your neighbor put what could a body in his trunk, should you mention it to someone?