With the weather remaining mild and sunny with occasional showers of rain, the garden has become lush and green, and sprinkled with early colour. Powder blue patches of forget-me-nots dominate the garden with a mass of lovely primroses still flowering close to the pond. Here and there white comfrey blooms, already proving a hit with passing bumblebees. Garlic mustard has also begun to bloom, whilst around the back of the pond the big marsh marigold and it's two self sown seedlings have begun to share their dazzling yellow flowers. In the paler light of early evening they almost appear to glow. Daintier, yet no less bright, lesser celandine blooms in places, whilst the lawn and pond-side margins are carpeted with daisies and dandelions.
Amidst the borders grape hyacinth, daffodils, and rosemary flower surrounded by carpets of nigella seedlings and the odd native common poppy. All of the wildflowers planted last autumn seem to have done well with the teasels, meadowsweet and ragged robin all sending up spires of new shoots. After all that hard work last autumn the juvenile native meadow is slowly greening up, and amongst the thinly sown wild grasses several species of wild flowers seem to have germinated too. It wont really come into it's full glory till next year and should get better and better from then on.
On sunny days the garden is already alive with bees of various types, and a few days ago we spotted our first anthora plumipes of the year. Under the lid of the compost heap the slow worms have also made a welcome reappearance.
On sunny days the garden is already alive with bees of various types, and a few days ago we spotted our first anthora plumipes of the year. Under the lid of the compost heap the slow worms have also made a welcome reappearance.