Fully Clothed

Herb garden in spring sunshine

I noticed from a few prank posts on social media that today was supposedly "World Naked Gardening Day".  I can assure you that here in chilly North Staffordshire, under leaden skies and cut by a cold northerly breeze, it was no such thing!  More like "Two Jumpers, Thick Cord Trousers and Woolly Socks Gardening Day" (ie. Normal Gardening Day), although it's a pity it wasn't suitable weather for cultivating au naturel as it might have guaranteed there would be no follow-up visits from the two earnest ladies who turned up this morning peddling their particular version of God and caught me just as I was expecting a friend to drop in to collect some plants.

#WorldNakedGardeningDay it may be but the garden itself has very few bare patches, with the greenery for the perennials growing strongly as the bulb foliage starts to die down.  The photos below were taken a couple of weeks ago, since when the daffodils have faded somewhat, although the aquilegias are now putting on a burst of growth and buds and the bluebells are in full bloom. 

Back garden border

With such lush planting there is little space for weeds and the ground is also protected from the sun and cold, drying winds that have been such a feature of this spring. 

Hellebore, peony and astillbe foliage, with daffodils and snowdrop leaves.

Overall, from starting early after a mild winter, I would say my flowering plants are now starting to run a little late compared to other years, although the late April snow probably checked a lot of them.  This was the dusting on the back garden on the morning of 26th April - probably the latest snow we've seen here in 14 years.

April showers - of snow!

The likely casualty may be the pear crop, since the plum blossom had just about finished and the apple hadn't quite burst.  It will be a shame if so, as the pears had a good restorative pruning last year and produced a lot of blossom this year, more-or-less simultaneously, so we should have been in with a chance of a decent harvest.

Fan-trained pear tree

The daffodils are over for this year, but here are some 'Blushing Lady' blooms taken last month, a sturdy but graceful cultivar which did very well in pots on the patio this spring and last and toned in well with the softer pink of the 'Salome' bulbs still flowering in the borders more than ten years after they were first planted.

Hopefully we can look forward to warmer days and a drop of rain soon!