Early April at Great Dixter

I have returned from my adventures at Great Dixter and hit the ground running here in Vermont. With an early, dry spring here there has been a lot to do out in the gardens. It has felt great to be back with my month at Great Dixter at my back and I seem to be bursting with ideas. This week the rain came, finally, giving the plants and soil a much needed soak and driving me indoors. It has been nice to take a few moments to look back on my month...

Above: Spirea thunbergii with Tulip 'World's Favorite'- a very good tulip with a name that doesn't quite do it justice!

This might be one of the least exciting photographs except for the fact that Rachael and I cut the edge of the kitchen drive after weeks of construction work was being done in this area. Maybe this one needs a 'before' shot?!

Opposite the kitchen drive garden, looking up into the peacock garden. The Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' is still standing strong and a remaining teasel (Dipsacus fullonum).

The kitchen drive garden looking glorious with the purple Aubrieta (in the Brassica family, who knew?) blooming with the vibrant yellows of the various Euphorbias.

Tulip 'Daydream' is an all time favorite and one that Fergus Garrett was particularly fond of. In its early stages the flower is a  rich, buttercup yellow but as it ages it turns to a creamy orange.

Here is 'Daydream' in its orange phase, slightly bent over after chilling temperatures the night before.

Tulip 'Negrita' seen in flower at the top of the Long Border.

The High Garden remains my favorite place (I think...), especially in the morning light.

This is a very nice cross cut view of the orchard garden and seen from a slightly unusual angle..

This was the project Fergus put Rachael and I on in my final hours of work. We had to make three trips for three different ladders (this beauty is about 20 feet tall) before we managed to get it right. Ilex x altaclarensis 'Golden King' is a stately thing, seen from many angles of the garden and house, it catches the morning and evening sun, creating a vertical pillar of a shining golden light. Rachael and I, after a month of working together, pulled it off. We looked at this shrub from all angles and managed to both work on opposite sides, meeting at the top. Phew!