The exquisite little blooms of epimedium are some of the first and most delicate treasures of the spring - almost like tiny daffodils and they are wonderful for brightening up a dark corner. Although I cut back the leaves before they flower the new foliage soon puts on a spurt and has almost covered the flowers again now! I have been remiss - not many posts of late! Part of the reason is that there have been a few unsightly structural disasters - next door's fence still remains on the "to do" list, largely due to the shortage of good fence panels and available labour, also the demise of my rustic trellis has rendered the view down the garden unsightly now the greenhouse is again in full view. But basically things are going well and everything is bursting into life - not least the birds who have been in full voice while I have been gardening this weekend. In particular the blackbirds have been doing their magical humming and twittering to themselves from hidden positions in dense shrubs. I even managed to record one - along with various other visitors. Frequent visitors include the blackbirds, robins, blue tits, green finches, great tits, chaffinches and there is usually a red kite or two hovering overhead, plus rooks, wood pigeons and magpies in abundance. I am hoping something will nest in my new bird box!

I received my dahlia tubers yesterday and potted them up immediately. Unfortunately some of them had broken up quite badly but rather than throw them away I just remembered that they are supposed to be edible so I am going to have a go at cooking them. Watch this space! The tulips - what I consider to be the spring equivalent of dahlias - have put on a great spurt in the past week and are coming into flower. Not quite what I'd imagined but we shall see what they're like when they all open fully. I'm hoping the reds will open to be more orange. It's so hard to tell from catalogues plus the fact that the same named variety bulbs seem to have great variation in flowers from year to year.

In the "winter garden" I have had a nice surprise. For the first time ever the little acer seedling from Westonbirt arboretum has put on a show of flowers. It's a rotten day for photography but this gives you some idea...

We have had a few welcome showers today. Of course this usually happens when I have decided to water my pots and fill up the bird baths but it's been particularly welcome as I put down a plentiful supply of chicken manure pellets I found while I was clearing out the greenhouse yesterday which - I confess - Stinks and need to be encouraged to disperse as soon as possible. At least no-one will be thinking about sun-bathing!