Back in the garden at last!

After the wet winter and soggy start to 2014, it's good to have something to say about the garden, and some photos to share of growing things and sunshine.  The scruffy detritis of last year's perennials has been cleared from the front garden, the willow herb and hairy bitter cress evicted from the herb garden and - best of all, an entire month ahead of last year's schedule - the first of the 'first early' potatoes are in the ground.

Having found them quite delicious last year, I'm growing 'Foremost' again, but with the ambition of lifting a root in time for my birthday in the second week of June - something that I haven't managed since moving up to Stoke, but which used to be a regular tradition when we lived in Southampton.  They're in a sheltered but sunny bed in the garden, covered with a cloche to protect them from frost and get them off to a quick start, and the ground seems good - crumbly after a light fork over and full of worms.  Exactly three months from now, I'll be hoping to lift some tasty baby new potatoes.

On the ornamental side, the glory of the garden right now are the hellebores which have thrived after I cut back all the old foliage about six weeks ago.  I need to check the best time to split and move them as some have now formed sizeable clumps and I would like to establish some on the slope of the front garden where their pendant flowers will be easier to admire - sitting the camera on the ground with the timer set seems a second-hand way to enjoy such beautiful flowers.  I cut a few for indoors last year, but they dropped masses of pollen and faded quickly, so ideally I need to find somewhere in the garden to show them off.

The mild winter seems to have suited the Red Army, my ladybird allies, who find the somewhat tatty purple sage bushes suitable hibernation sites and have emerged to enjoy the sunshine in the last few days.  Just as well I didn't uproot the old plants and consign them to the compost heap!

So it feels good to have dirt under my nails again, but with paid CAB work and a couple of books in progress, I don't know when I'm going to be back to work in any of my customers' gardens!