Gifts in Bloom

From time to time when asked what I would like for Mother's Day or other occasions, I will name a plant that I'd like. The following are gifts from The Man of the Place. The first is this little maple, Acer pseudoplatanus brilliantissimum. It is not the smaller more delicate Japanese maple. Those don't thrive all that well here, though they are beautiful. This one is about 10 years old. I'm thinking that the grasses around my tree need to be tackled. Don't the leaves look beautiful on this rainy spring morning? They are pink when they first come out in the spring. They turn to a light green later on. It was a Christmas present.The next is this cherry tree. The blossom is almost finished but it's still pretty. Its a sour cherry tree. I think the variety is Stella. I've never been able to cook with these cherries as the birds get them all before they're ripe. Net would be good.

When we first moved to Whitelees, the front garden was all raised vegetable beds. They were all pretty weedy and the wood used to make them wasn't treated properly. I had planted this cherry tree in amongst some blackcurrant bushes. It all got a bit too much for us so we flattened the lot, saving this tree and reverted the whole front garden back to lawn. Not only did it cut down the weeding by 99/100ths it gave the boys a home football pitch. I do miss the blackcurrant bushes. I may plant some again someday.
The last is this delicate little azalea. It lives in a pot by our back door. It is misshapen because once a young girl visited on the back of her pony. While I was in the house getting the pony a carrot or apple, the pony started to eat my little azalea. I love it anyway. The flowers are such a shocking and garish pink. I've had this one for about 11 years. In fact, the pot it is in was a housewarming gift from our friends Anne and Raymond Blackburn who live in London. That's how I remember how long I've had it.