Larches in Spring

I think that the Larches are only surpassed by Maples in the splendour of their spring foliage.  A few shots from today to capture the moment.

Korean Hornbeam just coming into leaf

This Korean Hornbeam is looking much happier this year.  It had suffered from the bad winter three years ago, so I had potted it into a larger pot and given it free growth for the last two years in order to allow it to regain some vigour.  Here it is now,thoroughly pruned to rebuild the ramification of the branches, and back in a smaller pot.

Tony Remington Bonsai pots

I am a big fan of Tony's bonsai pots.  The colours and textures he produces are just amazing. I will have to get a few more of those.  His website is at http://www.bonsaipotsuk.com/ , well worth a visit.

Here are the few I own, shame my trees and photographic skills don't do the pots the justice they deserve.

Nice to see some trees back on the benches

How good to get some Bonsai back on the display benches.  Only ones still under cover are any recently repotted trees and the Maples. I'd hate to get a late frost on those new delicate leaves.

Greenhouse finally cleared and cleaned

Spent the last two days getting the small Greenhouse (otherwise known as the Tardis) cleared and cleaned in order to make space for the this years seedlings and cuttings.  It always amazes me how much stuff can be overwintered in a 6 foot x 8 foot space. Believe it or not, all of the plants (plus quite a few more that are now back on the display benches) in these pictures were in there for the last four months.

Some random photos of my smallest trees

The sun was out for a few hours this morning, so I took just a couple of random shots of the spring foliage emerging on some of my smallest trees.  Enjoy!

Sliver Birch - betula pendula

Chinese Elm - ulmus parvifolia

English Elm - ulmus minor

Things are finally starting to move

Temperatures are finally rising (if still slowly) and some of the deciduous trees are starting to leaf out.

My maple has been in a cold greenhouse over the winter.  I felt I should give it a bit of TLC after the rubbish summer we had last year.  It has been swelling the buds for a few weeks now, but a couple of days of sunshine has finally done the trick.  This is a bog standard Acer palmatum, but I love the colour when the leaves first appear in the spring.