Gardening: March and April Update

Due to our trip to Italy and the early Easter holiday I'm putting all the gardening activities for March and April into one post, mostly as collages.

During March the daffodil buds gradually opened in the sunshine. We leave the bulbs in the ground and the blooms were, as always, a welcome sight.

By the end of the month there was blossom on the apricot tree which was attracting insects, large and small. Despite being pruned annually many of the mature fruit trees are not at their best.  However, there has been a successful grafting of a branch from a peach tree in the garden onto another mature tree whose dead branches had to be cut off.

The box hedge on the left of the drive looking towards the house has always done well, but the other on the opposite side was looking scruffy and we've planted bay and rosemary in the gaps. Iris shoots are appearing. Unless we're there in May we miss seeing them flower.
In the lawn that was cut in October I found some wild anemones and no doubt there are other wild flowers since the lawn has reverted back to a state similar to the surrounding meadows where I found wild grape hyacinths, marigolds, clover and so on when I went for a walk.  Many of the rosemary bushes have gone woody or died, but there's a huge one which has grown through the Roman pillars on the retaining wall.

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Back in the UK we've had warm weather although a few weeks ago there was an unexpected night of icy rain that settled and a few days of strong wind and rain. My husband had decided to create some raised beds  on the veggie plot and now has his plan for what he wants to grow there. The covered yard is a useful, extra space for starting off some plants and keeping others protected over the Winter months.

Below is a sample of what is growing at the moment outdoors and in the covered way. Thankfully there's still space in the yard for me to sit and read when I feel like it!  Our daughter has been staying with us and bought me a little table with a mosaic top and a model of a bird as an early birthday present. We share a love of gardening so we've been buying plants from plant sale stalls and the local garden centre nursery to supplement the ones grown from seed.

Some alpines and sweet peas

The weather is not as warm at the moment as it has been, but it's dry and pleasant enough for continuing with work in the garden and for getting out and about. Yesterday we had a day out in Derbyshire.