Waking Up

Now I'm not going to tempt fate and say that it feels like Spring might be in the air, I feel a bit suspicious that we haven't seen any snow yet. Remember March last year?  But over the past week the storms have definitely left us alone a while and the sun has peeped out. Last weekend my potting bench was looking quite serene in shades of green and white as the snowdrops stole the show.

Now real colour is emerging. Cyclamen coum and Iris reticulata are astonishing shades, especially when the rest of the garden looks very brown and grey.

I can see this little bench from the kitchen window and it's cheering me up no end. It was a gift from the family of my next door neighbour. Sadly she died last year at the grand old age of 93. We often chatted about flowers and plants so it's very nice to be using her bench to keep the gardening going on. 

There aren't that many bulbs and early flowers in my borders, they don't tend to get going until April, so I've been buying up a few little pots to enjoy from the window and then I'll pop them into the ground for next spring.

This afternoon I spent a good couple of hours messing about in the front garden, cutting back and clearing up all the old stems and leaves. I think this is where my tiny pots will find a new home. They'll make a really nice show for these cold, dreary months at the start of the year when we hurry into the house and don't linger long.  

So maybe not the end of winter yet, but time I think to start making space for Spring.