I have just looked out of the window and seen our first house martins pass, then four swallows - already investigating the old nest outside the kitchen door - and finally a swift scimitarred above the trees.
Winter is definitely over, rhubarb is in the bottom oven. The sound of chattering martins and swallows is wonderful. They fly like they are just enjoying the experience - a bit like otters playing.
This is May and the garden, though two weeks late, is beginning to burst at the seams. As the daffs go over and the primroses get swamped by new grass the forgetmenots and tulips come into flower.
Celandines, a bone of contention, are everywhere - R thinks they should be eradicated from all flowerbeds but I rather like these harbingers of spring and the leaves die down soon enough.
Many years ago I was reporting on a square
for the Botanical Society of the British Isles' Atlas of the British Flora and sending my reports off to Franklin Perring, I think, at Cambridge. One of my cards came back with a request to check whether the celandines had bulbils - they did not. There are two sub species of celandine in the UK, one with bulbils, one not. Those with tend to be more common in the east of the country.
These are small offshoots and each produces a new plant - lilies also have them.
As I speak the damson blossom is fading and legs, fingers, toes all crossed the fruit has set.
The plum, pear and greengage are still in flower as are the cherries. The wild blackthorn has been rather disappointing this year.
This morning I have been digging up and potting up black and red currants for my daughter who has a new house in Herefordshire. Every year I give out cuttings to friends and also shove a few in the far corner of the garden - spares you might say. These are for the birds who especially love the red ones.
The oaks have young leaves but the ash none - they do have some flowers. So we are in for a splash rather than a soak though last year we had both and more.
At R's suggestion, last year I scattered some Hedge Parsley seed in shaggy places - grassy bankings and such - and this year we do have some plants. The 'Queen Anne's Lace' is splendid to behold in roadsides but will need some watching in the garden, albeit the wilder areas.
Nothing goes to waste if I can help it. This morning I burned the bank statements etc as I had completed the accounts (and anyway I can access them on line) along with other receipts and so on. A bit of potash for the fruit garden. I wish I could burn the tax bill but then I am not a multinational corporation - well, have a bit of a corporation but that is all up front and . . . .
Winter is definitely over, rhubarb is in the bottom oven. The sound of chattering martins and swallows is wonderful. They fly like they are just enjoying the experience - a bit like otters playing.
This is May and the garden, though two weeks late, is beginning to burst at the seams. As the daffs go over and the primroses get swamped by new grass the forgetmenots and tulips come into flower.
Many years ago I was reporting on a square
for the Botanical Society of the British Isles' Atlas of the British Flora and sending my reports off to Franklin Perring, I think, at Cambridge. One of my cards came back with a request to check whether the celandines had bulbils - they did not. There are two sub species of celandine in the UK, one with bulbils, one not. Those with tend to be more common in the east of the country.
These are small offshoots and each produces a new plant - lilies also have them.
As I speak the damson blossom is fading and legs, fingers, toes all crossed the fruit has set.
The plum, pear and greengage are still in flower as are the cherries. The wild blackthorn has been rather disappointing this year.
This morning I have been digging up and potting up black and red currants for my daughter who has a new house in Herefordshire. Every year I give out cuttings to friends and also shove a few in the far corner of the garden - spares you might say. These are for the birds who especially love the red ones.
The oaks have young leaves but the ash none - they do have some flowers. So we are in for a splash rather than a soak though last year we had both and more.
At R's suggestion, last year I scattered some Hedge Parsley seed in shaggy places - grassy bankings and such - and this year we do have some plants. The 'Queen Anne's Lace' is splendid to behold in roadsides but will need some watching in the garden, albeit the wilder areas.
Nothing goes to waste if I can help it. This morning I burned the bank statements etc as I had completed the accounts (and anyway I can access them on line) along with other receipts and so on. A bit of potash for the fruit garden. I wish I could burn the tax bill but then I am not a multinational corporation - well, have a bit of a corporation but that is all up front and . . . .
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