The yellow phase

The yellow tulips

While the garden continues to put on its new green clothes, it's entering the phase of predominantly yellow flowers: daffodils, yellow tulips, Doronicums, cowslips, Epimediums, and the Erythroniums due to open soon.  Also celandines, which I tolerate, and dandelions, which I don't.  There are also patches of blue (Brunnera, self-sown forget-me-nots, grape hyacinths) and white (the later daffs, Osmanthus and still some winter honeysuckle flowers).  The first red tulips are showing, and the hellebores are still going strong, bless them - they've done well this year.
 

Rather wind-blown daffodils, mostly yellow

As far as the dandelions are concerned, my annual dandelion patrol has started, digging up or at least de-heading those that I spot.  I'm also coming down hard on bittercress this year, while continuing to pounce on any willowherb I see.  Last year's vigilance has reduced the latter considerably, but there were a few that were hidden in long grass or under other plants and seeded away happily.  I'm pleased with the lack of weeds in the new border at the bottom of the garden, however; leaving it mostly bare last year to aid identification and removal of weeds seems to have paid off.  I can get planting in there when I can find the time.

Brunnera 'Jack Frost'

As well as some general tidying-up, this weekend saw some progress in the vegetable garden.  The first broad bean plants are showing, and the second lot were sown with some dill and coriander in between; also Calendulas and Nasturtiums to provide some colour.  I also sowed my leeks and shallots (I'm trying them from seed this year), and planted the potatoes; and one of the little alpine strawberry beds was re-made, as the plants  had been ignored for rather a long time and were looking very tired.  I also put in some oregano, specially for the bees, since they loved it so much last year.

The weather has taken one step backwards; it's dry mostly, and often sunny, but the wind went back to the north and east and it has been chilly.  Yesterday was better, with a westerly wind that was milder, and a sun that had warmth in it when the wind dropped.

The first baby bird of the year has appeared: a blackbird, following its dad on to the patio in search of food.  There are signs of others around in the hedge.  The robin is still taking food away, and a female greater spotted woodpecker has been coming to the peanuts, presumably for a quick snack between hatching or feeding young. A racing pigeon also turned up for a refuelling pit-stop yesterday, The pheasant hasn't been about the garden, but he was down in the field yesterday lording it over five females, so presumably he has other things on his mind than hanging about under the seed feeder or dust-bathing in the vegetable beds.

Gradually green

Things continue on the up.  The trees are still bare, but shrubs and perennials are gradually greening, and more flowers are coming: mostly daffodils but also cowslips, grape hyacinths and more Brunnera.  The gooseberries have buds and the Osmanthuses are coming out.  The wind-scorched Viburnum tinus has been left alone for the time being; there's a bird's nest in there, which may be old but looks in good condition and I don't want to disturb it just in case.  I'm considering the fate of the yellow Potentilla in the lawn; it appears to be mostly dead, and I've been looking for an excuse to remove it for a while, but this weekend I had other things to do.  The Garden Society Plant Sale is next weekend and a lot of potting up had to be done!

While scouting around the garden for Plant Sale candidates I found a layering of the winter jasmine, and on a whim decided to try it against the fence at the bottom of the garden.  After the east winds of the last few months I want some sort of windbreak down there for next year; a winter jasmine grew on an exposed fence in the garden I grew up in, so it's worth a try.  I don't want anything so solid as to block the view, so this could be the answer if it works.  I also dug up and moved the Pulmonaria that had self-seeded at the back of the garage; as this area is soon to become greenhouse, I wanted to salvage them.  They're now ensconsed under the winter honeysuckle where I hope they'll settle in.

The weather has been kinder, though we had gales last week that knocked the daffodils around a bit.  Saturday was almost warm, with a very pleasant sun; we had a mug of tea out on the bench in the afternoon.  Sunday was cooler and there's a sharpish wind today, but the forecast continues to be encouraging.

The birds are coming in two by two: two coal tits, two marsh tits, two goldfinches.  Lots of sparrows, squabbling, mating and nesting.  The robins and blackbirds taking away food for nestlings.  A heap of feathers to one side of the garden suggests that the pheasant now only has two ladies (and that the sparrowhawk has been about), although he has been very assiduously courting at least one of the remaining ladies.  And a tit has been staking out the nestbox on the summerhouse.

Saturday saw the first butterfly of the year - a brimstone.  One butterfly doesn't make a summer, but it's a start!

Normal service is resumed

That's more like it.  After a damp weekend, we are now getting double-figure temperatures during the day; we're having a windy week, but the wind is from the south-west and the weather drying up again, with a good forecast for the coming weekend.  The gloves have gone back in the drawer, the scarves are staying in the wardrobe and a jacket is not absolutely required when working outside!

At last the daffodils are coming out properly; other plants that had been knocked back by the cold, such as the Bergenia and Brunnera, are tentatively putting out flowers again.  It's interesting comparing where we were this time last year (admittedly after an exceptionally warm March), when the plum tree was showing flower buds! - there's no sign of that yet, but things are finally moving in the right direction.  The first clump of tulips, the cream ones under the dining room window, are in bud, and so are the Erythroniums; a grape hyacinth or two are also showing colour, and the cowslips in the lawn are not far behind.

On the down side, the damage caused by the cold weather is becoming apparent.  I've noticed that plants often seem to be sailing happily through a cold spell, only to shrivel and die once the weather has warmed up.  The Penstemon 'Sour Grapes' is a case in point.  The plant in a big pot on the patio, snugly up against the south-facing house wall, is fine (and working well with the purple Heuchera, which matches 'SG's purplish new shoots and metallic sheen); the plants that were in the big pot last summer and that were potted up and left by the back door are in a very poor way, although at least one of them has actually survived.  I suppose they were more exposed to the wind; something to remember for next year.  One of my two big Viburnum tinus is also looking badly scorched around the edges; I'm not sure whether the wind is to blame for that, since the worst damage is on the west side (the rest being protected by adjacent shrubs).

The bowsaw and loppers came out again on Sunday, this time to tackle Rosa altaica.  A lot of dead and living-but-old wood came out; there's still more for another year, and a tangle of small growth near the top that needs sorting out, but let's not give it too much of a shock at once!  It has exposed a lot of bare growth at the back of the Senecio.  I can see potential for quite a lot of remodelling in that part of the garden; the shrubs in there are now very mature, and a good overhaul may be needed.

Seed-sowing, put off because of the freezing weather, was done on Saturday, and the first seedlings (Statice and Cosmos) are already up!

The birds are definitely in spring mode.  The sparrows are getting frisky, while the hen blackbird has been seen gathering food - her brood must be hatching.  The robin has also been taking suet pellets away, although whether for nestlings (suet pellets seem rather too big?) or as a present for his mate isn't clear.  Two partridges come through the garden from time to time, and the pheasant now has three ladies as well as a rival who skulks furtively around the patio.

And today I saw a bee.  It seems bizarre that that should be the first I've seen this year, but it is.

Bowsaw massacre, phase 1

Both the weather and the garden are improving very, very slowly.  Temperatures are still way too low, especially when that east wind returns, but at the weekend we had some early-spring sunshine, which wasn't exactly warm but was encouraging.  The nights have continued to be frosty; this morning we had a few snow flurries, but rain is forecast for tomorrow, which will be welcome for the garden.

Crocus 'Whitewell Purple' enjoying the sun

The sun brought out the crocuses, and the first daffodils - the little Tete-a-tete ones in the west-facing windowbox - have finally opened.  There are also a couple of big daffs opening up gradually, and a couple of Anemone blanda.  We also did the first cut of the lawn this year, which always makes things look tidier.

Tete-a-tete, just opening

Given the slight improvement in the temperatures, I risked a little rose pruning; but most of the weekend's work was more destruction.  The dead Mahonia 'Charity' has been cut down, and the dead branches taken out of the Viburnum carlcephalum.  One branch of that is still alive and has flower and leaf buds, but its days are numbered: the same tell-tale brown lesions are at the base as showed on the other branches before they died off.  I'll let it flower and then cut it down.  Not sure how I'll get the stump out, though (ditto for the Mahonia).  I also tackled the Winter Honeysuckle, removing the dead bits and some of the older wood; there's more to do but I'll leave that for another year rather than stressing the plant unduly.  It has produced a layered plant in front of it, unfortunately rather too close to the lawn edge to be left there but a potential candidate for digging up and relocating.  It might just be a possibility for the space created by the loss of the Mahonia and Viburnum.  I've also been eyeing up the Philadelphus that needs taking out, and the Rosa altaica that badly needs thinning, but time didn't permit.  As it was I produced lots of prunings for the wildlife-friendly wood piles at the bottom of the garden (though the diseased bits of the Viburnum went in the bin).

This cold weather is having an interesting effect on my thinking about spring colour.  My favourite crocus 'Blue Pearl' is looking rather washed out, and I'm thinking more favourably about swathes of bright yellow daffodils, which I've been finding a bit too garish in previous years.  I think what I need is a good dose of colour; the more subdued flowers feel just too tasteful at the moment.

The birds have also been noticeably focusing a little less on food (though my morning offerings are still gratefully received, and indeed expected, by the robin and blackbirds) and more on nesting.  Sparrows have been seen picking up feathers, and this morning a song thrush was gathering muddy plant debris from the edge of the pond.  The two thrushes have been about and a pair of goldfinches also turned up.  While I haven't caught any thrush song this year yet, one of the blackbirds has taken up the traditional position on next door's roof and has been singing quietly from time to time.  Maybe spring is finally on the way?

Doing destruction

April's here, but the garden is still doing February: snowdrops, aconites, cyclamen, crocuses, bergenia.  Still no daffodils, though some of the miniatures are trying hard.  There are very small signs of progress if you look hard - tulip shoots starting to poke up, erythroniums too, one cowslip bud down in the lawn grass, a few daisies - but otherwise we're still in late winter.

The weather is still cold; daytime temperatures gradually rising to about 5 degrees on the better days, and some bright and encouraging sunshine, but freezing at nights; and the east wind is still there, keeping the ambient temperatures down low.  The snow has mostly gone, but there are still patches and lines of it in corners where the sun doesn't reach.  It has been dry, which is something.  This year I have finally remembered to water the pots, though only when I noticed that the potted chrysanthemum had shrivelled.  This was a bargain impulse-buy last autumn - £5 for a large plant, in full bloom with dark red flowers; it was hideously pot-bound, but I took some root cuttings (now doing well indoors) and the main plant provided some good late colour on the patio for several weeks.  It was surviving well until the latest setback.  So: dry is good for the gardener, but less good for the garden.  The forecast is for the cold, dry weather to continue for another week or two, then we get warmer and wet.  You can't win.

The new bed down by the fence is looking bare and blasted.  Nothing much is coming up, and what is there is taking the brunt of the cold winds.  The only plant looking tolerable is the one I thought would do least well in that position, a Euphorbia characias seedling that I established in front of the ash tree trunk to hide the twiggy growth at the bottom of the tree; it's obviously sheltered by the tree, and isn't showing any obvious damage.

Not good planting weather, nor good for pruning (still need to do those roses!), but fine for destruction, such as weeding and digging out things I don't want.  The raspberry canes that were mounting a take-over attempt in the veg garden got ripped out, which has allowed access to the back of the gooseberry bushes; these can now be pruned properly once the weather gets a touch milder.  I also did some moss-raking in the lawn, covering a minuscule proportion of the grass but removing armfuls of moss (a lot more to do some other day!).  Some other useful digging was also done, removing for example a wild rose that had established itself by the pond and was proving a nuisance.  All the sort of work that is rather mundane but ultimately quite satisfying - you can see that you've achieved something, however minor.

The birds have appreciated the food we've been putting out, with the robin in particular regularly waiting for his breakfast in the morning.  Even the marsh tit has been down, and a wren has been around quite a bit; it found my digging in the fruit patch very interesting.  The pheasant has found a favourite place to stand, to the lee of a pile of twigs and other wood-debris down by the fence which  I've left as a home for insects and small furry things; he's nicely sheltered from the east wind there, but can still keep an eye on the seed container so that he can pick up what the small birds drop.  He now has two lady pheasants visiting, and is being very attentive to them.