Our first daffodil is out, always a good moment, it’s not a perfect specimen but it’s braving the elements to flower. It makes me feel spring is finally on its way! Last autumn I planted a huge bag of mixed daffodils that I bought through the Women’s Institute, so it will be interesting to see what comes up!

I spent a couple of mornings in the garden this week, trying to cut down and tidy up, it’s looks a lot tidier…but it also looks a lot barer!!  The hellebores are a lot easier to see as I’ve cut all their old foliage off, but it’s hard to believe that by late spring the pond will be disappearing behind hostas, irises, candelabra primulas…When I look down at the borders, there are lots of shoots appearing, aquilegias, geraniums, crocosmia, day lilies, it’s just that they are not big enough yet to have any impact on the overall appearance of the garden, it’s that time of year when I get impatient for plants to grow just a little bit quicker…please!!

Just by the back door I have a small bed that’s dry and shady, not ideal, but the cyclamen seem to like it there, they’ve just started flowering.

The magnolia stellate has lots of flower buds on so we should have a good display but I know from experience that the buds take weeks to open so I’m not getting my hopes up yet!

I’ve had a bit more time this week to sit and watch the birds from the conservatory, we’ve got a feeding station with sunflower seeds, peanuts and fatballs, as well as a general mixture. Greenfinches and chaffinches are regular if messy visitors, though the blackbirds underneath appreciated all their discarded seeds! He kept looking up to make sure he didn’t miss anything coming down! I’ve also seen a pair of blue tits and great tits, I’m hoping they will nest in the boxes around the garden again. Today I saw a pair of long tailed tits too, they are such pretty little birds, they are usually in bigger groups so I hope they haven’t been hit hard by the winter weather. Our resident robin followed me round the garden, watching me work and I was delighted to see a little wren  hopping through the undergrowth.

I’m hoping this week to start pruning the roses as shoots are starting to appear, the pond needs cleaning out too but I’m afraid I’m bit of a fairweather gardener, so we shall see…