The big race

It's that time of year when everything is growing rapidly, especially those plants that I don't want to grow - the weeds, and those plants which have become far more successful than I ever wanted them to be (eg the pink geranium).  And at this time of year I always get the sinking feeling that they will probably get away with it, because I won't have the time to deal with them.  With more time available this year, I hope to make more inroads into the general chaos than in the past, but the race between them and me is on.  With the help of a couple of bags of salt I have reduced the number of dandelions in the lawn, and regular patrols round the garden are keeping more or less on top of the flowering weeds (so far).

Tulips with Sweet Cicely and forget-me-nots

The new tulips ('Prinses Irene', 'Couleur Cardinal' and 'Havran') at the bottom of the garden are coming out nicely.  They're rather shorter than I expected but they're a great match for one another in size and shape of flower, they have good leaves and are a terrific colour combination; the Euphorbia characias and Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve' add to the fun (the latter is a particularly good companion).  On the subject of euphorbias, I had been assuming that all the big ones that come up in odd corners of the garden were the offspring of an E. characias I had years ago, but I've just noticed that one in the front garden has dark 'eyes' in the flowers, and looks more like E. wulfenii.  I wonder where that came from?

The centaurea is out, and so is the chaenomeles, although it's rather smothered by the honeysuckle so you can hardly see it.

The early potatoes ('Belle de Fontenay' and 'International Kidney') have gone in today; I'm still renovating the bed where the maincrops are to go.  The leeks are coming up along with the oriental greens (and a whole lot of weed seedlings!), and I've sown dill and coriander alongside the broad beans as that seemed to work well last year.  I need to start hardening off the lettuce and brassica seedlings in the greenhouse.

The weather has continued to be a mix of sunshine, dull periods and showers, though fewer of the latter than forecast.  A little cooler than normal but the sun is pleasant; warnings of overnight frosts haven't come to anything thus far.

On the wildlife front, the first baby birds (a blackbird and a thrush) have briefly broken cover.  The thrushes seem to be keeping mostly to the bottom of the garden; an adult has come once or twice to the patio for water, but they mostly seem to be down in the compost corner (which is where I startled the youngster the other day).  Still lots of (adult) sparrows, and several very frisky dunnocks; the robins are still feeding their brood.  The lame pigeon has been having some big fights with other male pigeons who feed underneath the seed feeder; he tolerates others, who I assume are the females, although he hasn't noticeably had any success in wooing them.

There is also some unidentified wildlife in the greenhouse; something has been eating my aster seedlings.  Grrr.

April showers

The dry weather has given way to sunshine and showers; in the past few days we've had a little hail and some thunder and lightning as well.  Cool, but no night frosts at least; the cold frame has been propped open during the day, and when one of the bubblewrap panels in the greenhouse fell off I didn't bother to put it back.  I suppose I ought to remove the rest of it, as (I hope) we shouldn't get any prolonged cold now.

One of the partridges - we still have a pair of them around daily, and occasionally a singleton as well - was inspecting the cold frame with great interest yesterday; I think it was considering whether it dared to go inside (but fortunately it didn't).  Luckily the greenhouse door was closed at the time as it seemed tempted to wander in there instead.

The greenhouse is filling up well, with seeds (tomatoes, aubergines, sweet william, larkspur, asters, scabious) pricked out and potted on, and the first round of freesia bulbs potted up.  The dahlias are throwing up shoots, and the courgettes and sunflowers are sprouting; there's a whole lot of brassicas and lettuces also in need of potting on.  The upside of the showery weather is that the greenhouse is a good place to be!  I have a nice crop of ipomoea, which have germinated well (and, dare I say it quietly so that they can't hear, there's no sign of damping off yet ...).  Unfortunately I had planned to pair it with the portulaca, which is resolutely refusing to germinate, even in the propagator.

The sweet peas - all of them, including the Tutankhamuns - have been planted against the front wall in the hope that they'll clothe their beanpoles (buddleia prunings actually) well enough to distract the eye from the electricity substation across the road.  It means that they're growing in deep shade, but I'm hoping that they will be all the more inclined to climb towards the light.  The Old-fashioned Mixed ones, which I've grown for years, have done poorly again; this is about the third year that they've been disappointing.  I think I'll give up on them and maybe go for 'Cupani' instead next time.

Also in the front garden, the older camellia ('Donation') has flowered really well - about a dozen good blooms.  The other isn't going to flower, by the looks of it, though it seems happy enough.

The large red tulips will soon be out; the small ones have been doing well, and as usual make a good picture with the yellow doronicums and the honesty.  The erythroniums are also out, as is the anthemis in the patio pot (but not yet the one at the bottom of the garden), and the centaurea is showing its first flower.  The plum blossom is going over, but the pears are in flower and the apple cordons aren't far behind.

Down in the new(ish) bed at the bottom of the garden, plants are filling out nicely, although there are still big gaps.  There are some poppy seedlings coming up, and I'm hoping that some of them are the progeny of the nice purplish-red ones from last year.  There are also a lot of ferny seedlings that are almost certainly some sort of umbellifer - some of them are from the sweet cicely (which is good), but are the rest ammi or cow parsley?  I suspect the latter, but I'll let them fill out a bit before I decide whether to pull them up or not!

A buzzard was hunting over the field opposite us the other day; and we've seen a glimpse of a big raptor that might have been the red kite (but it was too quickly gone for us to be sure).  At the other end of the scale, this week's butterfly sighting was an orange-tip.

Nesting time

For some of our birds, nesting is well underway, with babies already being fed (blackbirds and robins are collecting food), but some others are still building.  The sparrows are digging up moss for their various homes in our roof (there are usually four) and possibly in the leylandii hedge, which I suspect is one big bird apartment block, as well.  The tits, who always nest a little later, are also building; some have been inspecting the nest box, but one has found a way into the front porch roof and is taking grass and moss in there.  There are usually more birds than humans in this house!

Doing some clearing up and (belated) rose-pruning in the village hall garden the other day, I looked down at a huge clump of pendulous sedge at my feet and realised that there was something in the middle of it.  The something was looking at me while trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible.  It was a hen pheasant, presumably sitting on eggs.  She was superbly camouflaged, and sat tight all the time I was working there; I hope she manages to raise her brood undisturbed.

Today my attention was caught by some vetch (the really nasty weeds are now starting to sprout strongly) moving vigorously in the border under the dining room window, as if something was pulling at it.  It wasn't a bird, as nothing flew out; I think I caught a glimpse of a furry grey-brown back that looked like a vole.  I hope it hasn't nested in the little rock bank I created there, as that border is going to be dug out later this year and I wouldn't want to disturb a nest.

I've seen two ladybirds so far this year - double what I saw in the whole of 2013 - and a cabbage white and a tortoiseshell butterfly.

The seeds are doing well so far.  In fact some of the sweet peas, still in the cold frame, are starting to flower, so I need to get them out soon (first I need to decide where to plant them ....).  The propagator is proving its worth; for the record, the following seeds have germinated in there: tomatoes, aubergines, ricinus, didiscus, cleome (well, one seed has sprouted anyway!) and mesembryanthemum.  Only the portulaca is refusing to do anything at all; I've grown it before, a long time ago, and don't recall it being difficult to germinate.

Out in the garden, the later tulips are showing buds; the erythroniums are out, the daffodils are mostly fading except for the very latest ones, and the hellebores are starting to go over.  I'm pleased with the amelanchier; it has been allowed to get very lanky, but last year I managed to cut back some of the top growth and this year it has produced a much better display of blossom.

The weather has been dry and mostly very sunny - warmish in the sunshine but cooler than you'd expect otherwise, and decidedly chilly at night and in the shade.  The forecast is for temperatures to stay slightly below normal, so I'm not hurrying to plant things out (except those sweet peas ....).

Heard but not seen

Today wasn't a day for spending much time out in the garden; the recent unsettled weather turned into a cool, wet and windy day.  But during a brief foray for some flowers to put in a vase (I'm trying to provide as many cut flowers for the house as I can), I picked up the first sounds this year of a baby blackbird, loudly demanding food.  There are at least two pairs of blackbirds about, one feeding nestlings and one probably still nest-building, and the two males were getting very territorial today - if one of them had youngsters out and about, he would be wanting to keep the rival well away.

The robins are also nest-building, as are the sparrows.  There's a lot of bathing going on, in the bird baths and in the pond (now cleared out a bit); a woodpigeon has had a couple of baths at the edge of the pond.  Nest-building is dirty work.  A blue-tit took a look at the nestbox the other day, so we might get activity there in due course.

Out and about, D saw a huge (100-plus) flock of fieldfares in a field on the edge of the village.  They must be preparing to fly north.

Despite the coolish and, lately, rather damp weather, other wildlife is also doing its spring thing, especially when the sun comes out.  A few more butterflies have been about: a brimstone last week, and a pair of peacocks were mating by the pond.  In the pond, which has been cleared of excess weed for the first time this year, there are little wriggly things that might be baby newts, and I also found a dragonfly larva; I didn't see any of those last year, so that's good news for me, if not for the newts (which are dragonfly larva food).   All the pondlife that I spotted was put back in the water, and the weed was left for a couple of days before going in the compost bin.  I well remember the time I didn't do this and the next day found a frog sitting in the compost bin looking very displeased.

Tulips and brunnera

Current vases of flowers indoors are scented daffodils, and early tulips with brunnera.  The osmanthus and Euphorbia characias are in bloom, the erythroniums and the older of my two potted camellias are in bud, and the plum tree is just starting to flower.  Less obviously, the gooseberries are also in bloom; although the flowers may not be very obvious to us, the bees have spotted them and are buzzing vigorously around them.  They're also enjoying the comfrey, the pulmonaria and the hellebores, all of which are still blooming away, and of course the daffs. 

We won an orchid in a raffle!

April seed-sowing has started: leeks with some mizuna and red mustard outside (well protected from the attentions of the two partridges), and brassicas, lettuces, squashes and sunflowers in the greenhouse.  The March seeds are mostly sprouting in there, and some of the autumn-sown seeds (bicoloured aquilegias for example) pricked out.  It's all getting a bit crowded as there isn't much bench space!

The forecast is for the weather to be drier for the next few days; I really need to get on with clearing the overgrown veg plot to make room for all these plants!  What am I going to do with 30 bicolored aquilegias anyway?

Seed sowing

Most of the March seeds have now been sown.  I've even set up the propagator for the more demanding ones, and am now waiting impatiently for results!  The overwintering hardy annuals have been booted out into the coldframe to make room, as I only have one shelf so far for seedlings and part of it has to make do as a potting bench.  The seeds that are already up - the Tutankhamun sweet peas and the ammi - are now down on the floor.  I'm resisting the temptation to start sowing the April seeds for a week or two as the temperatures are still quite chilly, and even with the heater on the greenhouse temperature has been dropping to low single figures overnight at times.  We've had several snow and hail showers over the past week and, while it has all melted on contact with the ground, overall it definitely feels still like March.

The mid-season daffodils are now out and, with the doronicums which have been in flower for a couple of weeks, the overall picture is yellow.  Also on the yellow theme, there are a few epimedium flowers over by the side hedge; they're on the edge of a big leafy clump, so I think some division will be needed to improve flowering next year.  The anemone blanda are coming out too, and the cream tulips under the dining room window are already showing buds.  Other plants are sticking their heads above the soil; the lily-of-the-valley, the new tulips and various things in pots.  The hosta has also started to shoot, but without the usual slug protection has had its tops nibbled off; need to do something there.

Somewhere a blackbird has a brood hatched; a parent was collecting worms the other day.  I'm not sure it's our pair, as the hen still seems to be on the eggs; she comes out for short periods to peck away at the apples left out for her before going back into the hedge.  The male blackbirds are starting to sing, quietly, unlike the robins who are very vocal now (with a few dunnocks and wrens chiming in from time to time).  Today we had a whole range of tits feeding on the seeds and peanuts, including a pair of coal tits and the marsh tit, and a very belligerent greenfinch and his mate.  We've also had a pair of goldfinches down, and the two partridges are still about.  There are signs that our lame pigeon has got himself a mate, which is good, although he has territorial competition from the other pair of pigeons, who are pushing ahead with their nest and leaving bits of discarded twig all over the place.

Today's job was to thin the two hazel trees at the far end of the veg plot, to minimise the shade that they cast on the vegetables and to take out crossing branches.  They haven't had much attention in years, so it was a rather overdue task.  I've now got lots of twiggy stuff as pea sticks, and some of it will be useful to deter the partridges and other birds from interfering with my seeds once they're in place!

Tea on the bench

My benchmark - more or less literally - for warm weather is whether I can sit outside on the bench, usually with a mug of tea or some lunch.  Last weekend I managed the first mug of tea outside (and without wearing a jacket).  The warm weekend has given way to something more typical for March, however; still dry, apart from some rain yesterday morning (but more is forecast), chillier temperatures and a brisk wind.  The soil is probably still quite warm for the time of year, though; today I spotted the two partridges luxuriating (there's no other word for it) in an extended dust-bath which they had excavated for themselves in the seedbed prepared for the leeks but fortunately not yet sown.  One of them, and I'm guessing it was the female as the other bird was being the lookout, was rolling on her side, leg kicking away as she dug herself further into the sun-warmed ground.  There's a trench of garden compost buried underneath - I wonder if that's providing added warmth?  Anyway I now know that I'll need to protect the leeks, and anything else sown outside.

Red sky at night

I did wonder briefly whether I should take the bubblewrap down in the greenhouse - temperatures reached well into the upper 20s in there when the sun was out, even with the roof vents open - but some night frosts are forecast for next week, so I've left it there for the time being.  The new dahlias have been potted up but seed sowing hasn't started in earnest yet; it seemed a pity to be inside when the weather was so good.  The cooler temperatures and the wind will probably see me in there in the next few days.  I did some tidying up of the overwintering plants.  While pulling dead leaves off the blue echeveria I was startled by something flying out at me; it must have been hibernating under the top rosette.  It was a big flying insect, making a clattering sound and clearly not pleased; could it have been a hawkmoth?  It disappeared and I haven't found where it has hidden itself.


There has been a pleasing number of bumblebees around, and, while I haven't seen the tortoiseshell butterfly again, there was a brimstone about the other day.  On the bird front, sparrows are collecting nesting material and there's a pigeon building a nest in the holly tree; a song thrush came for a bath one day, and a wren has been about in the bottom hedge.

The big daffodils and the very small ones are in full flower (the slightly smaller ones in the shady borders are yet to open), as is the pulmonaria; the muscari (those that haven't been dug out) are just starting.  A few dandelion buds have started to show, so I've begun the annual round of trying to dig them out or at least pick the buds off before they can open.  We managed to cut the grass for the first time today, so they're a bit more visible - but so too is the moss, which seems to get deeper every year!

A butterfly on the snowdrops

Rather more settled weather recently, with a sunny and mild weekend over the last few days; very pleasant weather for March, but now returning to something chillier and more seasonable, though still dry.  At least I know that the automatic vents on the greenhouse work when the temperature rises!  The warmth brought out the insect life - several bumblebees were working the crocuses and winter honeysuckle, and a tortoiseshell butterfly was looking for nectar on the snowdrops (surely an unusual pairing?).

The bullfinches have been around quite a lot, as has the wren; the woodpecker (gt spotted) has visited, and a pair of partridges have also been about.  The large number of blackbirds that were in the garden in early winter has diminished to a single pair, who may be nesting.

Bergenia, brunnera, comfrey and winter jasmine

The Tete-a-tete daffodils in the windowbox and big pot are in flower, and the big daffodils are now starting to open.  The crocuses and bergenia are in full flower, and the brunneras are beginning to put out a few tentative sprays of bloom.  The snowdrops are fading.  It's definitely early spring rather than late winter!