There have been lots of lovely signs of Spring to spot this week. We have a pair of long-tailed tits nesting somewhere in the garden and they are regularly visiting the fat balls just outside the conservatory window. I haven't been able to get a decent photo of them yet as they flitter away so quickly. We've never had them nest here before and it feels like quite an honour. We also have a pair of dunnocks and a pair of robins. Today I heard the blackbird singing as I moved around the garden on a bit of a tidying spree. In the herb bed both rosemary and thyme seem to have been defeated by winter so have had to be taken out. Sage, parsley and chives seem to have survived as have the lavender and catmint. The sun felt warm on my back and clothes were flapping and drying slowly in the breeze. The pond seems unusually still with no frogs or frog spawn this year, something else affected by the strange weather of the last couple of months.
On our Tuesday walk we spotted....
Wood Anemone
I love to see this woodland spring plant with its pretty star like flowers as it spreads like a carpet across the woodland floor. A member of the buttercup family it is also known as windflower, thimbleweed and smell fox.
We also saw primroses in great profusion. Such a delicate, beautiful flower.
In the garden the rhubarb is looking good and strong, we'll soon be able to eat the first sweet stems.
As I took photographs of the rhubarb a butterfly landed daintily on its leaves. It was a Comma.
Little pink Bellis flowers lurking by the pond.
Tulips in a pot, I think these are the purple, feathery ones.
Peony shoots looking strong and healthy after we thought we'd lost the plant last year.
Wild Garlic or Ramsons at the top of the garden under the trees, another favourite to see both in the garden and on woodland walks.
Lungwort or Pulmonaria with its pretty flowers and spotty leaves.
A stray flower we think it is a bluebell but definitely not a native one. We have a clump of those and they are no where near flowering yet. I don't know where it has come from, it wasn't there last year or if it was it didn't flower.
Edit One - Ellie has pointed out in a comment that this flower is probably a hyacinth and I think perhaps she could be right, looking again at the shape of the flower it does look like a bit like a hyacinth. Thank you Ellie.
Edit Two - I've been out in the garden this afternoon and the flower has opened so this may help with the identification. I've been 'googling' and it looks a bit like a wild hyacinth also known as a common bluebell native to the Western Isles - details here
Edit One - Ellie has pointed out in a comment that this flower is probably a hyacinth and I think perhaps she could be right, looking again at the shape of the flower it does look like a bit like a hyacinth. Thank you Ellie.
How wonderful it should end up in our garden.
Marsh Marigolds in the pond. I do miss those absent croaking frogs.
it is lovely to see the signs of Spring and wood anemones are one of my favourites.Our blue tits are back in the hole in our beech tree.We are thrilled about that.No sign of frog spawn here either.Lots of shrubs have got frost damage esp the photonias.
ReplyDeleteWe seem to have waited so long for Spring to finally show itself. I'd be thrilled to have the blue tits nesting too! I don't know what has happened to the frogs all the snails have gone from the pod too:)
DeleteIt’s clearly been a beautiful day all round the British isles. So good to see spring flowers. Shame about your winter casualties , a lot of our older geraniums haven’t fared well this year. B x
ReplyDeleteIt hasn't semmed to be a very harsh winter but it has been a strange one and lots of things in the garden seem to have suffered. I must check the hardy geraniums are coming back, they do look a bit forlorn:)
DeleteThere's still time for your frogs to come back to spawn :) Our pond was invaded this morning and is not full of spawn, I saw ten frogs all together at one point! I'd checked yesterday and not seen any sign of frogs or spawn. There's lots flowering in your garden now! I haven't seen many spring flowers but then I haven't been getting out much either!
ReplyDeleteHow lovely to have all the frogs, I hope we do get some visit again but the pond seems stangely lifeless, snails seem to have perished too, we were wonderfing if soil and leaf acids had got into the pond water as it has flooded several times this winter. We may have to clear it all out and start again, there are newts in there we think:)
DeleteIsn't spring wonderful, each new sign.
ReplyDeleteIt is Janet, such a lovely time of year:)
DeleteLovely spring signs! We'll see what happens here, but it'll take awhile.
ReplyDeleteThank you William,yes I guess Spring comes your way a lot later than it does for us:)
DeleteBeautiful post! Don't you just love it, when the earth wakes up and begins to turn green again? Happy Spring.
ReplyDeleteConnie :)
Thank you Connie, yes it is a lovely uplifting time of year:)
DeleteHow marvellous. What a treat to see all those signs of Spring. 😊
ReplyDeleteIt is very cheering to see Spring at last isn't it?:)
DeleteIt was lovely and spring like yesterday and I spent some time in the garden and was pleased to see signs of spring. I do hope that’s the last of the winter! Xxxt
ReplyDeleteWe have been spending more time in the garden it's been good to start sorting it out a bit after winter which, like you, I hope we've seen that last of:)
DeleteSuch a joy to see the wonderful stirrings of the change of season. I must admit to missing y old garden a little but we will establish one here eventually. A joy to see the rhubarb, always a firm favourite with us.
ReplyDeleteI love the first rhubarb, it is lovely to see it as it is one of the first indications of Spring. I'm sure you will establish another lovely garden in your new home I expect the cliamate will dictate different kinds of plants and flowers though:)
DeleteDear Rosie
ReplyDeleteI think your bluebell may actually be a hyacinth - I have one very similar in my garden.
Best wishes
Ellie
Do you know Ellie, I think you may be right! It does look a bit like a hyacinth, perhaps a miniature one? I will put an amendment on the post later, thank you and best wishes:)
DeleteSo cheering to see all the signs of Spring you have spotted. Love the Wood Anemones - we have a few in the garden but no sign yet of flowers or even buds! The rhubarb looks as though you will soon have a tasty pudding :)
ReplyDeleteA lovely post and photos.
Thank you RR. I'd love some Wood Anemone in the garden, are they very invasive though? For a couple of years we've been struggling with Wood Avens trying to take over the garden and I think they are all of the buttercup family which spread themselves around quite a bit, when we first came here there were buttercups everywhere, the Wild Garlic has seeded itself across the lawn at the top of the garden this year:)
DeleteYour garden is looking great Rosie? You say you miss the frogs but do you have any newts or toads? The marsh marigolds are so pretty and I always like the look of the compact Bellis flowers. Spring has sprung so late this year. Yesterday was glorious weather but today is overcast and cold. Come on spring!!! x
ReplyDeleteThank you Simone. Newts have been seen in the pond but only one frog and that seems to have disappeared. No snails as yet in the pond and we are worried it might have been contaminted in some way by soil acids or something like that when it flooded. I was surprised to see the Bellis flowers but yes, they are very pretty and colourful:)
DeleteOh thank you for your Spring photos! Outside my window now, it is snowing again. -sigh-
ReplyDeleteNever saw Marsh Marigolds before! How lovely. Here, we can have Waterlilies in a pond. Wonder if we have such as Marsh Marigolds here? Probably not, as they are probably a natural flower, to the area.
We only got one frog last year. Where we usually have loads of them, croaking around the pool, and living in the little pond. -sigh-
Enjoy your Spring weather!!!!!
Oh, no not snow again. You will be so grateful to see Spring this year. The native marsh marigolds are more buttercup yellow in colour, these may be cultivated ones but they are very pretty. It seems that frogs aren't doing very well either here or in your area this year, I hope they return to both of us:)
DeleteIt really does seem as though Spring is happening, at last. It’s amazing how quickly leaf buds are swelling on the trees. It feels as if we are in catch up mode.
ReplyDeleteSpring has taken so long to arrive this year,the sun is out now but the lawn still shows signs of the early morning frost:)
DeleteIt's lovely to see so many signs of spring finally, it seems like it's been a long time coming this year!
ReplyDeleteThank you Pam, yes it is great to see signs of Spring at last:)
DeleteOh, such pretty spring flowers are a welcome sight. We have nothing flowering yet and the weather is all over the place - we had wet snow this morning. Enjoy your garden visitors - how lovely to have nesting birds - hopefully, you will see them when the chicks fledge. Marie x
ReplyDeleteThank you Marie, I hope we see the chicks too! I hope Spring comes you way very soon:)
DeleteI enjoyed the many signs of spring in your post, Rosie. This is the season of new beginnings.
ReplyDeleteAmalia
xo
Thank you Amalia, Spring does seem to be taking a long time to reach us this year:)
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