BUSTING OUT ALL OVER

But it is only April not June. Azaleas, camellias, tree peonies, campion etc etc etc. The amaryllis is in flower and on the hall table. Of the other two - both at least four years old, one has a bud coming but not the other - so water and feed and build the bulbs. 

There are tulips everywhere, in the flower beds, in pots and just coming up where I discarded them.

The two camellias that have not yet flowered are finally showing signs of doing something and up on the banking where, about nine years ago, we planted a solitary cowslip we have a growing community.

The heavily scented rhododendron is going over - its rather gingery scent carries across the garden.

Trees go on with their show of white - pear on the left, cherry on the right - the one R bought in the Lidl for almost nothing. I have never seen our conference pear with so much blossom, in fact three years ago I thought it would not survive - but now - !

At the top of the wood, where we discarded the old forgetmenots pulled from the flower beds, they have self sown and are thriving as is the water cress in the remains of the attempt at another pond at the very far end. It is now just a soggy bog. The water drains from the back field full of farm animals so we do not eat it for the chance of liver flukes but we could probably make soup from it.

 From the house we can look down the garden over the new rose bed currently full of forgetmenots but if you look the other way we still have builders - at least now doing paving in front of the new living room windows.

Down the far end of the garden is where the wild things are, plants like the bluebell (used to be endymion non-scripta but they have changed its first name to hyacinthoides - a step back I think if more botanically accurate.)

Then there are plants that if they were are bit more restrained in procreation would be welcomed as a garden plant like the wonderful dandelion. (No I do not know which of the host of subspecies this one is.)

And I have been sowing more chard and land cress and we have been harvesting rhubarb and now the mouth-watering asparagus - steamed with a little melted salty butter.
 

And then there is the problem of the bald doormat. This little pied wagtail has been pulling threads out of it to make its nest.

On Thursday evening as I was walking the path below the house I came across this small, young rabbit. It was alive and I picked it up. It squeaked a few times and gently wriggled then went still. There was no sign of myxomatosis or injury but I wondered if it had been caught by Britain's number one predator (apart from humans) the domestic cat and my arrival had scared the cat off. 

Enough of the garden, this has been a bluebell spring so here are a few from our local walks -