I have felt like a different person this week and it’s all because the days are getting longer and warmer! We’re self isolating at the moment pending the results of a Covid test so a wander around the garden this morning was a pleasant change from being indoors! The garden appears to be pleased with the change in weather as well and things are finally starting to show signs of Spring. So happy!!
First up is this pussy willow. I bought this last year, pre-lockdown when I was still in the office and, therefore, in Notcutts most lunchtimes. I’d definitely started my new job because I remember showing my new boss so it was sometime between 3rd February (new job day) and 18th March (last day in the office). It was covered in its little furry catkins when I bought it, so I have high hopes for the next couple of weeks. It’s currently trying to grow its first catkin for this year. I couldn’t get the camera to focus on it unless I put my hand behind it!
My next picture made me very happy. When I went out into the garden this time last week there was absolutely no sign of my crocuses so I assumed that one of our many squirrels had feasted on them, but I went out today, and what do you know? There they are!
Behind the newly discovered crocuses is a row of daffodils that have bravely faced the snow and come out the other side. According to Timehop, in the last two years we’ve had fully open daffs by now, but I guess the snow has slowed them this year because this is the stage we’re at right now. Not far off though, eh? Hopefully by next week’s Six I’ll be able to proudly show off a fully blooming daff.
Next up, another one that made me smile. Lupin regrowth! This was new last year and it looks like it’s going to grace us with its presence again this year. If I’m honest, I didn’t expect it to. I had a lupin before which died as soon as I planted it. I must’ve done something right with this one. I’m sure I bought two last year, but I didn’t see any sign of the other.
Last week I shared a photo of a skeleton pink damask flower, and this week I’m able to share a snap of the regrowth coming through. This will be tall and willowy in no time, but the flowers won’t appear for a few months yet.
Final point for today is another little surprise. I was worried that this hydrangea wouldn’t survive because all of last year’s dead blooms got knocked off somehow and I was concerned that the frost would get in it, but there are definite signs of new growth here.
All in all today’s wander around the garden was the most encouraging I’ve seen it for some time. I think I have lost some plants to the cold and snow, but not as many as I feared when I went out last week. There is a LOT of tidying up that needs doing, the weeds are starting to come through and there’s lots of winter detritus that needs sweeping and raking up. I was hoping to be able to do some of that today, but it’s been quite wet and wet gardening is miserable, so I’m going to leave it till things have dried out a bit. I feel like, now I’ve learnt a bit more about gardening, what works and what doesn’t, and I’ve learnt how our garden reacts to things, I need to sit down and plan it out a little bit rather than saving random plants from sale tables and plonking them in wherever they’ll fit. I shall head off to the Propagator’s blog now to check out some other Sixes for inspiration.
Green Girl Gardener 
Going out and checking on how the garden is growing has kept us all sane.
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Signs of spring in your garden are encouraging to those of us with gardens still buried under more than a foot of snow. Hope your test comes out negative. Blessings.
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I love how the lupine leaves hold rainwater in their little cupped hands. So much to be excited about! I agree that signs of life from plants we’d more or less given up on in the fall merit special celebration.
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Is that a heather or heath in the background of the daffodil? I do not know the difference. They are very rare here. I only know the common tree-like heather because it was an abandoned cut flower crop where my Pa lived in Montara. I intend to find that type (which might have been a straight species) for my own garden.
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It’s a heather. I wish I could give you more detail but I can’t remember where it came from. Over here they’re sold in multiple different colours but they never stay the vibrant colours they are when you buy them. They grow quite well in the shady bits of our garden.
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Well, I would not likely recognize the cultivar anyway. Like I say, they are rare here. I used to think that they should be more popular than they are in foggy coastal areas like San Francisco. People who live in such climates try to grow the same things that we grow in sunnier climates.
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Well done on the Lupin. I have no luck with them and I do love them. Thank goodness for gardens to help keep us sane in these strange times.
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Oh my goodness, yes! People say we’re all in the same boat but while we’re all sailing on the same stormy waters, I think those of us with gardens are definitely in sturdier boats than those without (that’s not to say that there may not be other issues trying to sink garden-owners’ boats in some cases).
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You are lucky with the Lupin – looks like both my plants (3 years old) have been zapped by the frosts. One of them had leaves before the frosts but not now….. Also like you out daffs are late – only one out so far and that’s on the S end of the garden getting most sun.
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Oh no! It’s so sad when you lose a plant. You never know, they might recover – I’ll keep my fingers crossed 🤞🏻.
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