Dicentra and Hazel

Back from a pleasant stay with my parents (including a trip to the Leyburn-based food fair, which was excellent), we had three new dicentra to plant. They have darker flowers than the common pink-and-white form; more magenta-like, and I think they're prettier than the pink-and-white variety. They also go nicely with the white-flowered D. spectabilis 'Alba' we already have. Anyway; all four are now planted in the corner of what will be the 'woodland' area of the garden.

We also finished digging the holes for the Pearsons' Prolific hazel, and half the willow arch that will lead from water garden to games lawn. The number of stones in this area has made it a time-consuming job! The bed that will lie between the pond and the septic tank cover is just as slow. Still; at least these three plants are in. We also planted a few patches of alliums, a pot of sparaxis, and five cactus dahlia that we were sent with another order, and put plastic-bottle cloches over half the beetroot, which are struggling to get going in the chilly weather. No, it's not a controlled experiment, we only had enough bottles for half of them.