April Colours.

I've had another busy and varied week; continuing with the internal redecorating projects mixed with a couple of early dawn morning walks to check what migrants may have returned locally; so a few images stored for future posts. I have also been enjoying the changing colours in my small garden helped by the increased daily sunshine and warmer temperatures until a chilly ENE wind picked up over the weekend.

The Narcissus have put on a good show but are now beginning to drop their colourful blooms.

I am not a particular fan of the very tall large trumpet varieties so my small garden plays host to a few of the smaller 'Triandrus' and 'Cyclamineus' forms including Reggae, Thalia and Jetfire. Over the weekend I was delighted to see that the wild N. bulbocodium had opened its tiny trumpet (sorry no pics yet).

The feeders continue to attract the colorful Goldfinch.

Plenty of blue showing everywhere with clumps of Muscari popping up all over the place. In the last few days I have also noticed at several woodland sites that our native Bluebells are starting to come into flower.

The only other blue in the garden recently was a visit from a female Holly Blue.

I carried out the first of my weekly butterfly recording transect walks on Ashtead Common on Sunday but only logged one Peacock and one Speckled Wood. Although there was plenty of sunshine the gusty ENE wind obviously kept the temperature lower than the flutters prefer.

Since taking these images early last week the Erythronium 'Pagoda' in a side border has produced its distinctive flowers and now I'll have to wait another year for them to show again.

Inspection of two of the four nest boxes revealed that nests have been built but I think the prospective tenants, Blue Tits (usual box on the rear of the shed) and probably a Dunnock (in an open box), have been frightened away by regular visit from a local cat!

A single male Dunnock is still around, regularly singing, but I haven't seen evidence of any prospective partnerships whereas on my regular local patch walks I have seen numerous pairs of Dunnock displaying courtship behaviour. 

 

Some of the other colours around the garden include the fragrant Skimmia 'Rubella', Chaenomeles (flowering quince), an alpine Campanula, the Cowslips (Primula veris) while the Robin (below) continues to add a dash of red to the colour palette on a daily basis.

At best the temperature might reach 16 deg C tomorrow but still with a chilly easterly breeze and then a change in wind direction so more unsettled weather is forecast into next weekend with the chance of rain.FAB.

Linking to Nature Notes

Garden and Patch Update.

With the garden starting to wake up with the warmer temperatures I felt it was time to get my hands dirty so I visited to a local Garden Centre at the beginning of the week to purchase some more compost. Typically I couldn't resist perusing the fresh stock of plants on offer and also came away with a mixture of herbaceous and wild flowers including Helenium, Phlox, Veronica, Knautia plus Black Knapweed and Ragged Robin. Later in the week I also succumbed to buying more Lilly bulbs.

  

A voice said "Where are you going to plant all those?". Never fear I'll find room was my response and a few hours later, under the watchful eye of Mr Blackbird, relevant spaces were found, everything planted and most of the bare soil satisfyingly mulched with organic compost.

While I wait for the small specie Tulips and Narcissus to bloom I can currently enjoy these little treasures (below) ... tiny clumps of Scilla siberica spreading freely beneath the Birch at the bottom of the garden.

I have undertaken a couple of patch walks this week at Epsom Common. Still relatively quiet  although a couple of pairs of noisy Canada Geese have taken up residence plus the Teal and Tufted Ducks are still around but preferring to hide in the marginal vegetation. Great Spotted Woodpeckers have been drumming constantly in response to other males as they stake out their respective territories.

In addition to the permanent well weathered Dragonfly; a sculpture erected many year ago on the fringes of the Great Pond; it was good to see the Salix buds bursting open. Five Greylag Geese also made a brief appearance and my first sighting for this year of Chiffchaff (2) singing from their lofty perches. Hopefully it won't be long before I'm listening to the songs of other returning migrants such as Blackcap, Whitethroat and Garden Warbler.  FAB. 

Colour for Mother's Day.

Both sets of parents will be visiting us later today for Sunday lunch so hopefully if the weather is fair they will get a chance to view whatever colours are on offer in the garden.

 Narcissus (Reggae) with the pink cup.

Muscari, Chaenomeles and Tulipa humilis 'Persian Pearl'.

Happy Mother's Day ...... FAB.

February Flowers.

The weather over the past few days has been typically grey so little opportunity to capture any wildlife pics so I spent a few hours in the garden doing some much needed tidying up, pruning etc.

The Hellebores (Orientalis hybrids) which continue to self seed either side of the path are slowly opening up and showing off their varied petal forms. I'm still waiting for the really dark forms to open up to see if any new patterns emerge.

Elsewhere there are a few early Narcissus starting to bloom, Cyclamen hederifolium, various small clumps of  Snowdrops; this one is Galathus woronowii  and the Lion Mask (hand-pressed by you know who ... courtesy of Whichford Pottery) is now uncovered and patiently waiting for the sun to shine.

Just for a bit of fun I took this close up of something that needed serious pruning as most of its entaglement was hanging into my neighbours garden although it will mean a reduction in flowers this spring it will benefit in the long run. I'm sure all the gardeners out there will easily identify this climber from the cross-section of this very old stem.   FAB. 

Garden Mid April.

This was the Prunus blossom just over a week ago and now the winds have dispearsed most of the petals.

Narcissus continue to provide colour but it won't be long before I'll need to start dead-heading.

Tulipa humilis 'Persian Pearl' opens in the sunshine to show off its golden heart.

A Tulipa (clusiana specie) displays its firey colour. 

The first of the tall pink Tulips have started to open.

Fresh vibrant growth on a Spirea.

The Leucojums have put on a stunning display this spring as the clumps continue to expand; the Hellebores and their seedlings have started to encroach across the path; there is fresh growth on a Euphorbia and an 'unknown' Muscari (the label has deteriorated) shows of its colour in a pot.

The frog and rabbit are slowly being enveloped by new emerging growth beneath the birch.

Our Blue Tit keeps me company and a wary eye out for intruders in the garden.

So it will be another year before this blossom reappears but hopefully other surprises will take it's place as the season develops.  FAB.

Some Yellow at Last.

At last we have some yellows shining in the garden, all we need now is plenty of proper sunshine.  FAB.

Winter garden images.

Whilst doing some tidying up in the garden I thought I would share a few images, including the first Narcissus coming into flower.

Tatty Snowdrop

Helleborus orientalis but what colours will I get from the various self sown seedlings?

Seed heads on Leycesteria formsa (Himalayan honeysuckle)

Euonymous alatus (Winged spindle)

Echinops (Globe Thistle) that doesn't know it's not summer!

And finally a very welcome visitor BUT should it be out in the cold?