At last we shall have spring flowers.....

Rip Van Winkle

Wow! We have temperatures in double figures AND the sun has been shining. The wind has turned to the south so the general consensus is that, one month late, SPRING IS HERE! It is late but it doesn't have a note from Mother Nature explaining its lateness, or apologising!! Clearly it has gone to my head. In the garden we have Forsythia, daffodils and primroses. Having spent the last few weeks franticly feeding the birds are now nest building like its going out of fashion. The nestbox cam is set up and we have a Bluetit in residence, it has been roosting in there for a couple of weeks at least. I heard a real herald of spring this evening – the Housemartins have started to return -Hooray!- the first one's were chattering in their nest on our neighbour's house. I don't know what will happen when the three who nested near our bedroom window will do when they get back – Wrens have been roosting in their nest over the winter, there could be ugly scenes.

Borad beans

Enough of the birds what about the garden?! I hear you cry. Well........

Ready to burst

   

The greenhouse is full to bursting with seeds in various pots, cells, bottles etc etc. I have risked the weather and moved the frost tender Acers outside along with the two small Christmas trees and two berberis but they are only just outside and can be shoehorned back in if necessary. The broad beans and peas are sprouting, there is even life in the spinach and tomatoes! The assorted fruit bushes, or cuttings of fruit bushes are mostly coming to life. I hope the dead looking ones will still have live roots and catch up soon. Out in the garden the Rhubarb has red nodes where the leaves are forming, lovely sweet young rhubarb coming very soon. I have been planting Nigella and Malope seeds in the difficult corner, I also popped in some hibernating Crocosmia which had been languishing in pots. Unfortunately one Ceanothus which was put in for ground cover seems to have been killed by the frost. The wonky Weigela has been moved to the bed where the giant Spirea lives, we only managed to get about a third of it out. Down on the allotment not a lot has happened. Mainly because I have been away training......

Peas in a bottle

I have joined Garden Organic's Master Gardener scheme and spent last weekend over at Gressenhall for the induction course and to meet the other nineteen new recruits. It was a very enjoyable weekend, I learnt a lot, made new friends and my love of gardening was rejuvenated. Being a Master Gardener is a voluntary post where experienced gardeners go out into their communities to help families or schools or other community groups to grow fruit and vegetables organically. Full details are available on http://norfolk.mastergardeners.org.uk/ I am really looking forward to getting my teeth into this exciting new venture.