The weather's seemed a little cooler of late. Never-the-less, the dance of spring marches inexorably on and the garden has quickly become bushy with fresh green growth. Primroses, forget-me-nots, and lilac add their colours, and garlic mustard is already tall. This native hedgerow flower is the food plant of the orange-tip caterpillar, and it self-seeds prolifically in our garden. Further back, around the base of the old apple tree, the new red campian and alkanet plants I added in the autumn have already begun to bloom.
Chasing the rush of spring colour bees, hoverflies and other insects have filled our garden with their buzz. Speckled-wood butterflies have also appeared often seen spiralling upwards together in pairs, whilst amidst the broad green foliage of comfrey the brightly coloured catapillars of Scarlet tiger moth are growing fat.
Around the edges of the pond masses of tadpoles can be seen wriggling away. The spindly water-measurer has made a welcome return, and a few of the pale green hawker dragonfly larvae have also appeared sunning themselves motionless atop the masses of surface weed. With the intensity of the sun's rays strengthening the first pair of yellow-fringed water lilly leaves have reached the pool's surface and the yellow flag iris is over a foot tall. The marsh marigold remains a glorious sight.
Recently we've been watching a female blackbird collecting huge beakfuls of moss from around the margins of the pond. To our delight we saw her fly repeatedly into the heights of the tall bay tree at the edge of the garden. So exciting to have them nest here; we just hope the local cats will leave them in peace.