Seven daisies

According to an old saying, you know that spring has come when you can fit seven daisies under your foot.  There’s at least one clump of daisies in the lawn that fits the bill, and indeed we have all the other signs of spring here – plants growing, birds nesting and the usual unpredictable spring weather.

Snowy April morning

March ended with a couple of days of warmth – T-shirts for working in the garden! – which extended into the first day or so of April, but it has been downhill since then.  Chilly temperatures by day, despite often blue skies, and the odd frost by night, cold wind from the north and occasional showers of snow or hail, culminating in a thin layer of lying wet snow on Tuesday evening and night.  It is only early April, after all.  The forecast is for below-average temperatures for another week or two at least.

Spring flowers: Doronicum caucasicum

The spring flowers are blooming in spite of the cold: lots of daffodils, with the doronicums and brunnera adding more colour.  In the grass verge just outside our garden is a cheerful little patch of snowdrops (now past), cowslips and primulas; I planted the snowdrops there many years ago but the others have come of their own accord, and very welcome too.

Flowers in the verge

The warm weather brought out the first butterflies – a male brimstone, a peacock and a small tortoiseshell.  The cold will have been a shock to them.  The birds seem to be able to go with the flow at this time of year, even when they have little ones.  The blackbirds nesting in the long hedge are feeding at least one fledgling (there may only be the one as both parents seem to be giving it their full attention), and there have been other cheeping sounds coming from the hedge, so I think some of the sparrows may have hatched too.  A pair of bluetits have been showing interest in the nestbox.  A variety of birds have been coming to the pond to bathe and drink, although the water level is very low (it has been a dry winter and spring here, and I’ve had to water all the pots recently); besides the usual garden residents we’ve had a pair of coal tits, goldfinches and, pleasingly, a greenfinch, which used to be common here before the outbreak of trichomonosis that killed so many of them, and we haven’t seen one for two or three years.  Other unusual sightings the other day were of three red kites having an aerial standoff, and a heron flying low over the garden on Sunday (checking out the neighbours’ pond?).  And one day the local woodpigeons held a convention in the field behind us; I counted 60 before they spotted me and flew off.

Other wildlife is also active: the first hedgehog droppings have appeared on the lawn, and a fox seems to have called by.  I found a dead pheasant (such are the delights of country living) tucked neatly between the wall by the gas tank and the semi-wild shrubs growing there; pheasants don’t normally keel over so tidily by themselves, and I guessed that this was the result of a fox’s successful hunting expedition (too much shopping to carry home all at once?).  Usually I would attempt to bury dead wildlife found in the garden, but digging a hole deep enough for a pheasant wasn’t going to be easy, so I left it where it was.  And next morning it had gone; I assume the fox had come back for his shopping.

Given the cold, I won’t be doing any outdoor sowing or planting for a few days at least.  There are plenty of seeds sown in the greenhouse and cold frame, plus the really tender ones indoors germinating on the radiators and growing on on the windowsills: aubergines and peppers, with tomatoes newly germinated and courgettes sown yesterday.

Spring is also a time for new perspectives, and last week’s hard landscaping work has given me scope for re-thinking some planting ideas.  The newly re-laid patio and its adjacent paths, together with the clearing of some of the plant and weed growth alongside, give much clearer lines to that part of the garden, and I can see why gardeners are advised to sort out their hard landscaping before thinking about planting; I’m already considering new planting ideas (a clump of daffodils at that corner?  Some low-growing geraniums along that edge?). 

Newly re-laid patio

The garden birdlife was less sure about the work, although the blackbird enjoyed the digging.  All the plant pots had to be moved (and have not yet been put back), as well as the birdbaths, which were left unfilled (and no breakfast crumbs left out either).  Once it was all complete, the birds appeared a little suspicious of the new arrangement and hesitant about returning; Lefty the lame woodpigeon seemed to miss the terracotta shell which holds drinking water, his favourite drinking spot, but once it was reinstated he deigned to come back to feed.  The cold weather and the resumption of food put out on the patio will have encouraged them to overcome their disapproval!