The Sunshine Bed, planted up last Spring, has come to life and really is shining in all the wonderful sunshine we have had recently. Shining despite the lack of rain this month too… I think we had one afternoon of light showers early April! (And just a few spots this afternoon)
The creamy yellow tulip is Akebono, which featured in my tulip vase last week. It is quite blousy with pretty edges that sometimes turn slightly peachy. In the background the broom has started to flower. I love having this in the garden as it grows wild in our region and is also just starting to colour the roadsides. 😃 In the foreground is a small Alchemilla mollis… in the Butterfly Bed the Alchemilla are much bigger already, but this bed is more exposed to the cold nights and wind. I have had lots of Narcissi in this bed too, but they are all over now. And I am very happy to see the Californian Poppies I had last summer have spread and are already forming nice clumps.
From a slightly different angle the new larch forest, planted last year, is just visible.
Last autumn I suddenly decided I wanted to plant a larch forest. How many trees make a forest? I chose seven small trees, about 1.3 meters tall, and planted them in the rain one dreary December afternoon. It was dark by the time I was done, but what a great feeling! 😃
And now the beautiful fresh green of their new needles is creating a lovely focal point beyond the Sunshine Bed. My Man of Many Talents kindly mowed around it the other day…
Their spring colour is intense and yet soft, and the golden autumn colour is quite magical. Do you have larch trees in or near your garden?
I wonder what green you look forward to most in Spring… Larch green? Euphorbia green? Grass green?! Do share your thoughts! 😃
Thanks for reading. 🦋
Words and Herbs 
Oh your Sunshine Bed is looking most happy indeed Cathy and your forest holds oh so much promise for the future.There are sadly no larches in my vicinity. Like you we have had little rain this month but it has absolutely poured down since early afternoon and has still not stopped. The garden will be lapping it up 😄
Glad you have finally got some rain Anna. It is raining here too, but so lightly it is just enough to settle the pollen. Better than nothing though! 😉
By the end of winter I am looking for green of any shade and texture. Unfortunately Larches don’t grow here very good. Our summers are too hot and dry. I love Larches though. I love the soft needles and they are so sculptural sitting in the garden. Oh to have a small forest of them. Lucky lady.
Thanks Lisa. I saw a group of them last autumn while on our dog-walking route and they look so magical in their autumn colours too.
A larch forest is a splendid idea – pure inspiration! There is a wild larch grove in our town and it is a pretty sight (in all seasons)!
Mine will be a small grove, but once they put on growth it will be visible from the house too. 😃
No laerch near here that I know of, but I often used to see them when on holiday in this country. At last we have some rain, I think we are due to have quite a lot more today, the garden will be very pleased!
Good to hear you have rain Pauline! We are also getting just a little bit today. 😃
I had to look up larch trees and saw they get really big. You are going to have a nice forest. I look forward to my green rose blooming.
A green rose sounds intriguing. 😃 Yes, larches do get tall, but it will take a decade or two for them to get really big!
I’m looking forward to what goes in the center of the forest, I suspect someday something special!
The tulips look great. They are probably quite happy with the lack of rain.
Well, there have been some thoughts regarding the centre of the ring of larches but for now it will remain empty. 😉
Glad your getting some sunshine to enjoy the garden and the sunshine bed. The larch trees will be a beautiful backdrop for it. Amelia
Yes, I chose this spot as we will eventually be able to see them from the house too… once they have grown a bit! 😃
Larch green.
Not that I would know. They are very rare here, and are not really very happy. I see them more in the Pacific Northwest.
That soft spring green of the larches is perhaps more common further south from us as they do well in an alpine climate. Beautiful trees. 😃
Yes, I was impressed with them in Washington.
I have never heard of Larch green. Maybe it does not grow here, but now that I read the comment above, I realize my daughter was quite taken with them when she was in Washington state last fall at the National Parks. She showed me photos and they were yellow. Is that the color they turn in fall?
I like Euphorbia green myself. There is nothing here that quite compares to it.
Hi Cindy. Yes, a gorgeous golden yellow in autumn. They look as though they should be evergreen but do in fact drop all their needles and that is why the new growth in spring is so noticeable against our predominantly evergreen forests. 😃
Love that you planted a forest. No larches here.
That is a shame Susie. There are also beautiful dwarf varieties with weeping branches. 😃
I share your love of larch, Cathy. When we lived in Ireland I planted a mini larchwood in our field and all my cattle farming neighbours were totally disgusted at the waste of land. Would love to see them now. I hope you’ve had more rain – like us. I think my favourite green is on some tulips, the euphorbias – but most of all the young growth on box (before the caterpillars have emerged to eat it!) Your posts always make me smile!
🙂 Thanks Cathy. I admire your perseverance with the box trees. I hope they are spared this year! Your larchwood is no doubt beautiful now and I am pleased to say that many farmers here have a different attitude towards trees and they are valued. (Although there are strict regulations about changing fields from meadows into farming land or forestland.)
Oh dear, feel embarrassed in retrospect. We just bought an old farmhouse with a 2 acre field and to me, from the beginning, it was simply ‘my garden’. Nobody said anything – and our neighbours (all farmers) were just lovely. But I could tell what they thought of my ‘playing’!
D > Those with schooling and expertise in these matters say that trees should always be grouped in odd numbers, with 3, 5 or 7 being the most effective groups. To my mind, a forest is a group of trees that are so numerous that they are uncountable. That’s why at first, seeing your photo, I thought the huge trees in the background were what you were referring to!
Well, I may add to them and they will grow into a forest one day! 😉 The trees in the background are mostly pine, which are suffering terribly from the drought and bark beetle. Larch seem to cope better.
Most of all I think it is the soft yellow green of the maples when they first start to leaf out. Larches are pretty rare here, mostly I see them at the Botanic Garden.
Oh yes, maples are a lovely colour too. That yellowy green is so welcome in spring!