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!