The spring flowers were putting on a wonderful show and I thought it was time to get my camera out again and see if I could capture their natural unspoiled beauty. These were the reliable and delicate Thalia daffodils in the white garden. A very welcome sight after the disappointing show by the crocus and the no show of the tulips.
Through the basket defence system the fritillaria were thriving and looked even more stunning in the bright sunshine.
A rather poor photo of the ferns unfurling, a true sign of the woods coming back to life after a long dormant winter. A slightly better photo of another Fern coming to life.
This was one of the new daffodils we planted last year in daffodil walk . It had the most amazing flowerhead, not just the bright colour but the multi petaled flower. Unfortunately the flower was really heavy and the stem rather weak so we could only appreciate it when we lifted it up. Quite a beauty.
Our fledgling orchard was yet to produce any substantial harvest but it was pleasing to see the blossom being to open and hopefully our local bees would help us out with some pollination.
While M was inside working hard on the bathroom project I was enjoying the sunshine and started by getting the potatoes planted in the 'coffins'. I had a few left over so put some in the veg bed, a few plastic pots, one bath in the yard and the rest in 3 canvas pots.
Sowing seeds reached a climax in April as the greenhouse started to fill up. With the risk of frosts still around the pots of dahlias were still taking up space but would be moved outside when the weather permitted.
Much as I loved working outside, the temperature in the greenhouse was hitting 40⁰, a little bit too hot for me.
One of the most frustrating areas was Daffodil Walk where the grass was growing but we couldn't cut it and tidy it until the daffodils were over. Still we were able to enjoy the blooms poking through the lengthening grass and weeds.
Last year we bought a mixture of bulbs for the new flowerbed M created in the garden. This Fritillaria was absolutely gorgeous, I took this photo of it before I realised that the flower stem had broken and the bloom was actually hanging upside down
M took advantage of some good weather and managed a first cut if the grass in daffodil walk. He avoided the foliage of the bulbs and we were thankful it looked so much better.
The wonderful warm days throughout April helped the potatoes get a good start for the season. We overwintered some onions and planted them out a few weeks ago and to extend our harvest we also purchased some onion sets for spring planting. The second batch were started off in the greenhouse before being planted out. There was an obvious difference between the two plantings.
Our newest Crab Apple tree in the garden did not disappoint and was festooned with blossom although it is not clear in this photo.
By the end of the month the other Crab Apple in the orchard had some beautiful deep red blossom although the tree was much smaller than the garden variety, it will be a few years until it is the same size.
I have yet to harvest any of our wild garlic but I was thrilled to see it return this year and flower abundantly. There were a few new plants too which indicated that it had started to spread a little. The bees and butterflies couldn't get enough of the nectar.
I thought I'd finish up with a lovely photo of an Erythronium Pagoda, one of the few which survived the marauding deer and rabbits. So much to look forward to for the spring and summer ahead.
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