We have snow forecast for the end of the week, but it may not get this far west. Meanwhile spring continues to show her face.
1. Crocus, the yellow ones always bring a little bit of spring sunshine even on a grey day.
Crocus
2. Willow catkins. This one is Salix x rubra I think. Always the first to show. And in recent years it seems to be coming out earlier than ever. I like the willows to be of use to emerging queen bumblebees – but this one is too early now.
Willow
3. Daffodil. Just two blooms so far. But more on the way.
Daffodil
4. Robin friend has already teamed up with a mate, but still comes for meal worms. We have also discovered that it likes raisins which we had left out for the blackbirds.
Robin
5. The bird feeders remain busy.
Blue tit
6. We have been doing quite a bit of apple and pear tree pruning. In some circumstances being quite extreme. Hoping for more fruit this year.
Today finds us in our first day of full lock-down here in Ireland. We were in partial lock-down before this but now it is just out for shopping and exercise (and no more than 2km from your house for the later).Thankfully we are lucky to have a big garden for the children to play. And we have had sunshine! That means the crocuses are open!
1 Crocus display
2. The crocus have attracted a couple of early garden bumblebees – I am so happy to see the bees back. A sure sign of spring.
3. Tulips are open – only a couple so far.
4. I have one small patch of wild wood anemone under one of the hedgerows. I love this flower, so delicate.
5. On the heather another bee – this time a buff-tailed bumble. If you look closely you can see little mites on her. These don’t do her any harm, they are found in her hibernating nest and keep the place clean!
Getting a little bit done in the garden as the weather improves, but the rain has returned for today. Hope everyone is keeping well and sane in these strange times. It is a time to be really grateful for our gardens.
1 – Some cheery crocus to start this week. Photos taken yesterday in the sunshine. These are some of my bargain buys from earlier in the year.
Crocus
Crocus
2 – Anemoneblanda I think – don’t seem to be as many as last year.
3 – Dandelions – where there is dandelions pollinators should not be far behind. I saw one queen bumblebee in flight yesterday and one hoverfly, but it is still pretty cool here. And looking like it will only get above 10 degrees on one day of next week.
Dandelions
4 – Leaves are appearing on the crab apple tree. Always one of the first to come out.
5 – Some of the tadpoles have hatched. Their hatching was followed by a morning of frost which had a layer of ice on the pond so I hope most of them survived the freezing. There is no shortage!
6 – And finally Junior. This handsome fellow has been with us for a good few years, but we found him dead in the chicken coop yesterday. He had shown no sign of being ill, was a good weight, so we think he may have had a heart attack. He will be missed as he was always a friendly cockerel. We have a couple of his sons and one will get to take over his reign. This photo was taken a few weeks ago on a cold and frosty morning.
In Ireland, some people optimistically consider the 1st of February the start of spring. It is also Saint Brigit’s day. The garden does certainly show signs of spring – so let’s be optimistic.
1. Hellebore
I have two – one white which is already fully open and this lovely red version which is nearly there.
Hellebore
2. Yellow crocus these are planting in grass under a birch tree and are usually the first crocus to appear each year.
Crocus
3. Similarly these miniature daffodils are usually the first to appear. I have a couple of larger one that are also just opening too.
Daffodil – tete a tete
4. Snowdrops have been up for a couple of weeks – this pot was given to me by a friend a couple of years ago. (Sorry not best photo – always find them hard to photograph).
Snowdrops
5. I am happy to report that the Japanese onions I set in the polytunnel a few weeks ago (late) are doing quite nicely.
Onions
6. And the replacement for the Victoria plum I lost last autumn is in, finders crossed it will be bountiful in years to come.
Plum tree
We also managed to clean the very dirty windows of the greenhouse and tomorrow I may even plant some seeds!
Looking back at last year’s photographs it looks like this year’s dwarf daffodils and crocuses are about a week ahead of 2016. The larger daffodils are yet to open.
Murtagh's Meadow 