Gifts from the garden

It was while planting an Osmanthus burkwoodii between the remaining bit of privet and the now-rather-large Buxus that the large bit of blue-and-white appeared (19th century?). The plant has been removed from its 5-litre pot and put in the ground, and its companion (the two were delivered this morning) is now destined for the other side of that bit of privet, rather than needing to be transported (it's a metre tall) by train to Tony's garden. It was while I was digging the second hole, having cut back a binful of ivy, that the second shard appeared (20th century?). Thank you, garden!

Removing all that ivy has made hardly any difference, but has revealed a thick stem: now dead, formerly a privet bush ... they gave up the ghost quite a few years ago, and the ivy just grew and spread, as has the box hedge, which consisted of two 10" plants when I moved here 20 years ago. The old plants are enjoying the new soil in the raised bed, and I'm enjoying putting plants in it. I even planted some big pots, which at the moment hold the pots that all the other plants came out of, but soon will hold changing displays (that sounds rather grand!) of potted plants in flower ... in case the slugs and snails make a meal of everything else.

A few days ago it looked like this (note the refulgent ivy) -

We have our very own manhole, thanks to a lot of drainage problems, which took nearly a year to resolve. Finally the new pipes are in place under the neighbouring garden as well; the rubble has been removed, the paving to the bike shed laid, and I can finally plant things. Seed packets of zinnia, viola, nasturtium are on hand to fill in those empty spaces. It doesn't look like a lot of plants, but they amount to 27 species.

The pink parrot tulips, planted in two of the big pots about five years ago, are again in flower; the low-growing thyme is starting to creep onto the paving slabs (must get some more...), and the forget-me-nots will be seeding themselves everywhere any moment now.

And once the man with the saw removes that thick, dead stem, the other Osmanthus can go into its freshly-dug hole.