I am blaming the Covid vaccination for my tardiness, I had a bad reaction and felt a bit down last week so missed my usual Six on Saturday slot. Still, better late than never!

These Devon violets are enjoying their unexpected transfer to Gloucestershire and spreading like mad in the poor soil above a dry stone wall. One of my favourite spring flowers and a reminder that pretty and tough is a great combination.

• 

• 

Seed sowing has started but only some hardy annuals for my planned mini-meadow around the apple tree. Ox-Eye Daisies, Cornflowers, Linaria, Phacelia and Nigella at the moment. Patience required for the rest! Seed box sorted, order of sowing selected, pots cleaned, compost purchased, propagator soil warming cable turned on and working. All too easy to jump the starting gun!

I am not as keen on Snowdrops as many of my friends, and certainly wouldn’t spend the kind of money some do on some of the rarer varieties, but I have to admit to being quite excited about the doubles. This Galanthus nivalis ‘Flore Pleno’ is quite a stunner when turned up to reveal her underskirts.

The Snowdrops and Cyclamen are looking happy in the spring sunshine today. Amazing to think they were hidden by snow just two weeks ago. Soon they will be joined by a carpet of Anemone blanda in blues, pinks and white. They are just poking their heads above ground to check their timing.

The early narcissus are now braving the wind and rain but only the toughest can stand up tall and straight like these. Others have their heads bowed and may not fully recover their posture. There must be a perfect ratio of height, stem thickness and flower size which makes some of the less fashionable stalwarts shrug off the elements, while other taller young ladies with spindly legs crumble under the weight of their Easter bonnets.

Finally, a rather sorry-looking clump of Euphorbia characias, battered and bruised from wind, rain, frost and snow, is now beginning to lift its head to the skies to welcome the sunshine. Considering its natural home is the dry rocky slopes of the southern Mediterranean it must be fed up with our weather! Like us all, it will recover and in a few weeks won’t remember what all the fuss was about!

Bye for now

David