Sunday 18 March 2018

Spring still waiting in the wings.

 It is 7.00 am and bitterly cold.   The wind is coming from an easterly direction, and a dusting of snow is on the ground.   I look at the rookery and notice that a nest is missing.
 As I walk to the back of the garden I notice the reflections in the pond.    No matter what time of year water always has something to offer.
Just as I thought one of the rooks nest has been blown from the trees during the night.   They have been building for several weeks now.    I like Rooks, I have learned to live alongside them.   They are highly intelligent, and do not really like human company but at this point we seem to get along ok :)
 I almost cannot bear to look at the bamboo.   Lush green a few weeks ago, now shrivelled and looking nothing like bamboo.    This has never happened in the garden before.   I believe some bamboo can recover, it is a waiting game.
 But in a garden there is always something to lift the spirit.    This pretty hellebore bloom is new to me, it most certainly put a smile on my face.
 You wouldn't think something so fragile looking would survive these harsh conditions.
 Our native primrose is in bloom.    I remember as a child walking with my father, my hand in his, talking about woodland plants.    It is a firm favourite of mine.
 Buckthorn is in flower.   Sadly I could not get any closer as the steps were covered in snow and ice.     
  Tete a tete is in small drifts all around the garden.   My favourite daffodil, small and neat, takes any amount of abuse and still comes up smiling.    Time to go inside, my fingers are frozen and my face chilled but none the less it was good to be outside and just enjoy all that is right with the garden.

Happy Sunday.

9 comments:

  1. Mother Nature is certainly fickle this year. One day blowing warm the next bitter cold. Hellebores and your native Primrose certainly are tough plants despite their delicate appearance. They are such beauties. I also have Tete tete daffs. They are the sweetest things and the reproduce like crazy. They are usually the first daffodils to bloom here but I moved them when I replanted a flower bed where they grow and they were a little later this year. Of course this crazy weather could have something to do with that. You are so lucky to have such sweet memories of your Dad. The poor Rooks will have to rebuild. At least they didn't already have young, that would have been a tragedy. I don't have one of those fancy double hellebores yet. I would like to have one. I would also like to have one of the yellow ones. I think they are so cheery. I hope your area thaws out soon. Stay warm...

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  2. Your words are accurate Lisa, she is indeed fickle this year.
    I cannot remember a March like this one for many years.
    I love our native primrose. We have just been to the garden centre and I have come home with a tray of them. I just couldn't resist.
    The temptation was just too much :) What's a girl to do :)

    I feel so sorry for the rooks but I must say I so pleased I was not gardening beneath the nest when it fell. I am not sure if they will rebuild. I remember this happening a few years ago and they did not make another nest. It will be interesting to see.

    My Dad was my gardening buddy. From a young age I was always out there with him. I remember one year my cousin William was helping in the garden, he was the same age as me (around six). He pulled several tomatoes of the bushes. I was horrified. When Dad came out I was trying to tie them back on with odd pieces of string I had found on the shed floor. Dad laughed till he cried. Happy days.

    I have seen a beautiful pale yellow hellebore but it was terribly expensive so I declined. I dream about it though :)

    Hope your weekend is going well Lisa

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  3. The hellebore blooms are so lovely; you have reminded me to check out my shade garden for signs of buds, which I haven't even done yet this spring. I love the tete-a-tete blooms standing among all the snow, too. They certainly are tough little plants. You certainly have had a rough winter, however; we haven't had snow in awhile here. My daughter and son-in-law have been in London this past week, and I have been checking the weather there, hoping they were getting to do some sight-seeing between work meetings my daughter had to attend. I don't think London was much warmer than here! Wish I could have gone with her, but we have had the two little ones here--sharing time with their other grandparents--so we have thoroughly enjoyed our one-on-one time with them. I hope spring arrives for you soon, Cheryl.

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    1. I spoke to my son this morning, they live in London and had snow this morning. Only a light dusting I think. It is terribly cold. Precious time Rose, those childhood days are so fleeting.
      I wish you had been able to come, I could have met you in London and shown you some of the sights :)

      Enjoy your Grandchildren Rose.

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  4. Hi Cheryl. Your Hellebore blooms are so beautiful and I love the color on them. It has been a snowy March here as well in the northeast, but the Hellebore flowers in late winter always give hopes of spring on the way. Thank you for the tour and I hope it becomes spring-like for you soon.

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    1. Thank you Lee.
      It will come when it is ready.....I just want to get my hands in dirt again :)

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  5. What a sweet post. I hope your bamboo comes back, mine did after a really cold snowy winter many years ago. I am concerned for my poor lemon tree, it doesn't have a single leaf. Rooks are fascinating aren't they, we had a rookery in a previous garden, such lively, interesting birds. I hope it's warming up in your parts now. It's time for spring.xxx

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    1. Thank you Snowbird,
      You give me hope re bamboo.
      Rooks are noisy, a tad smelly but I can live with that because I find them so fascinating. Even my husband has started watching them :)
      The weather is awful. surely Spring cannot be far away.

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  6. "No matter what time of year water has something to offer." So very true. Even when cold and dreary. Even when iced over, sometimes it freezes in pretty ripples.

    Tete a tete are my favs too! I planted many of them last fall and can't wait for them to pop up!
    I have a feeling your bamboo may revive. Isn't it a rather hardy plant? Or maybe I'm thinking of the bamboo in jungles that grows so profusely. Either way, crossing fingers.

    Ah yes, your helebores, such a reward for losing a rook's nest and the bitter cold. I will look for some in my garden centre when it opens in later in the season. I have such a lot of shade it will be a very welcome plant.

    You paint a very sweet pic, Cheryl of you and your Dad, hand in hand touring your garden, teaching, listening, speaking. Such lovely memories....

    Have a wonderful week. Temps to warm up now!

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