We always look forward to the viburnum display in spring - spectacular though short-lived. The viburnum stands tall in what we call our Green Bed - where most of the planting is green or white. We have an old Christmas tree in here along with lupins, ferns, fatsia and hostas. The soil here remains rather moist from all the shade and the plants seem to happily co-exist. 
Elsewhere, alliums, aquilegia and wiegela bring a touch of purple and pink. I love aquilegia, has beautiful foliage as well as well as delicately formed flowers, and like the mint, it seems to have self-propogated.
We were away recently, driving down the coast in the Abruzzo region of Italy, when we pulled our car in front of the home of an Italian mama gardening in her front yard. She came over to the fence and told us it was okay to park our car there while we hopped to the beach across the road. Before we drove away, Mr Macaron asked if we could have her picture. Here she is, her pitch fork in hand! Bless her! We simply cannot postpone the dig for the veggie bed any longer. The beans and courgettes have outgrown their little pots and desperately seek space and stakes. The hanging baskets look set to bloom shortly too. And the potted rhododendron, which has remain inert for ages, has gorgeous little pink buds. More on all this next week!
