Groundhog Day - again

kitchen window daffs

February has started with washing-flapping, door-banging, rubbish-flying wind - and sunshine for the morning of Candlemas/Groundhog Day. Supposedly this is a bad sign for weather watchers, meaning there's six weeks of cold wintriness before Spring really appears.

early daffs battered by wind

good to have more to follow

It doesn't seem believable today though as Spring seems well advanced already -   snowdrops starting to take over the rockery, daffodils in flower (I'm sure this is the earliest I've seen that!), crocuses, polyanthus, even a single grape hyacinth encouraged by the oddly mild winter...

and sheltering in the greenhouse I found a really early anemone in flower. This normally stays in a pot outside but as it was already in bud I moved it inside a couple of weeks ago when we had a short spell of snow and frosts.

Easter

 Easter weather turned out rather gorgeous - two days of feeling like summer had arrived!

The front flower beds are filled with daffodils, while forsythia and bergenia are making a bright splash in the back garden

There are buds on the apple tree and blossom on the peach next to the kitchen wall

 Polyanthus still flowering, in all shades

 grape hyacinths/muscaria

 flowers on the self-set flowering currant

huge patch of bergenia

hyacinths

April flowers

April Fools Day was lovely and sunny - and fooled me into believing the rest of the month might be the same but it's already back to gloomy and cold.
Still the garden's flowers are brightening things up a bit.
















There's still lots of daffodils about but some later flowers appearing too.

















dwarf Red Riding Hood tulips in flower






and the larger Appeldoorn variety in bud




















flowering currant hiding the fence






wallflowers spilling across the patio

grape hyacinths/muscaria in pots

pale pink hyacinths

a riot of polyanthus flowers

forget me nots

and the first flower from the 'rescued' pansies

A Sunny Saturday

A beautiful sunny day with forsythia and daffodils in full flower, the first dwarf tulips appearing and some muscaria and hyacinths

As well as a lot of hours at the allotment, we've been pottering about in the garden this week, moving bricks and slabs.The re-design is going well. Brick dividers to mark 'flower' and 'veg' zones are now in place and the plants moved last year starting to show signs of life.

I'm particularly pleased to see these two forsythias coming into flower. Both were split from the old one in the middle of the garden. This one is intended to hide the back fence..

...and I hope this one will hide the compost bin in a year or so.

April in the garden - flowers

Still have lots of daffodils flowering but heading towards tulip time with small Red Riding Hoods, a tiny yellow Tarda and the first of the tall Appeldoorns in flower.
























everything else racing to catch up - honesty, forget-me-nots, muscaria and even dwarf rhododendron in bud.