Sunday was a soft grey day, with intermittent showers but not enough to really dampen the soil. Allowing myself to be distracted by watching the magpies outside my office window, my gaze rested once again on the remains of the tree fern. The once green and shady area now reminiscent of TS Elliot’s Wasteland even though it is now early May and autumn.

April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring 
dull roots with spring rain.

After trimming the ivy hedge behind the tree fern and temporarily draping the cuttings on and around the trunk to create an illusion of greenery, I decided to visit the garden centre for some other ideas. I did think about getting some stagferns  to attach, but remembered that we already have one at home. Another consideration was to buy some interesting groundcovers, but the violets are already in residence and starting to flower.
In the end I bought a Gelsemium creeper – perhaps I will be able to make my own homeopathic flu remedy from that one day, and some interesting texture plants that are drought tolerant. 
I also couldn’t resist some pansies for colour.  On arriving home, I discovered that the tree fern had been chopped down and was now residing in the green waste bin! An opportunity to create a new garden canvas …. 

The bed has been tilled and weeded, the new plants have been placed and there is still space for a lilac….