After the snowy landscape of Norway, where we’ve been these past weeks, the garden looks green and springlike, even though the weather is still very variable. In the past few days we’ve had sun, rain, hail and wind; on the one sunny day there was a little warmth in the air, but otherwise the wind is keeping things rather chilly. However it’s still only March, and this is all par for the course. Spring is on the way.
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| Not quite so little daffodils |
The car headlights, on our return, lit up the display of daffodils in the hedgerow opposite the house – a bit of guerilla gardening on my part a few years back, and now bearing fruit (or more precisely flowers). The daffodils in the sunny areas of the garden are out, as are the mixed little daffs in the two old patio tubs – the latter seem taller than in past years, I wonder why? Tulips are in bud, and the violets at the bottom of the garden are making a fine and scented carpet.
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| A violet carpet |
There’s also more insect activity than when we left; several bees buzzing around, especially on the pulmonaria flowers in the weedy areas by the wall. A blackbird has been singing very quietly somewhere, just trying out his voice before mating begins in earnest.
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| Pulmonaria (with bees) |
So it’s back to all the March jobs that need doing. The hotbin, which runs cold over winter and doesn’t like being left unattended while we’re away, has been emptied, cleaned out and a fresh start made with a load of Allium triquetrum leaves (sheared over in the hope of keeping on top of the plants). A start has been made on pruning the buddleja, and to accommodate all the trimmings, one of the dalek compost bins has been cleared out. The old, half-composted contents of the hotbin and dalek have been used to clear a weedy bed in the veg patch that needs reclaiming, with cardboard and a covering of black plastic; I hope that bed will be usable by next year.
The dahlia tubers have been taken out of the garage, picked
over, dusted down and potted up in the greenhouse, to get them started for late
summer colour. The broad bean seedlings from
the cold frame have gone into the veg plot, and some maincrop bean seeds sown in
the cold frame for succession; a few lettuce seeds have also been started. The main seed-sowing business can wait a week
or two until temperatures are a little more clement!
