Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus

 

Wishing you all

a very happy St David's Day. 

◊

 

Spring is in the air at last, and we are delighted to have a few miniature daffodils in flower. We also have crocus, hellebore, cyclamen and miniature iris. 

 

 

I have spotted one of two queen bumblebees and a hoverfly, and hope it will not be long before I see my first butterfly of 2022. 

 

The spherical Wasp Spider egg-sac in the photo above rather looks as though it has been predated or come apart, perhaps due to the gales. I hope we will have more Wasp Spiders in the garden this coming summer, but it will be a case of 'wait and see'. 

 

 

Early Signs of Spring

I thought I would post a few photographs from my time in the garden this morning. Despite a downpour yesterday, there is hardly any water in the old tray at present, but these spiders were making the most of the sunshine.

Way ahead of St David's Day, we were thrilled to see these buds. 

Our soil doesn't seem particularly suited to Snowdrops, but it is always a joy to peer under the Hydrangea and see these small white harbingers of spring.

I also noticed two Hellebore buds. 

And finally, these catkins beyond our garden fence were turning gold in the sunlight.  

Winter Wonderland for St David's Day

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus!

  

When we lived in Swansea I remember wondering whether our Daffodils would be in flower for 1st March. Sometimes we saw small Daffodil buds at Aberglasney as early as November, a fact I find hard to believe these days. I suspect the milder climate in South Wales has something to do with this, but there may be other factors to consider such as global warming and the species of Daffodil bulb.

Like the Grey Squirrel photo below, the picture above was taken in our Suffolk garden yesterday: I fear today's snow will have covered up the Daffodil stem by now. 

March comes in with a lion, feeling more like winter than spring

Winter and spring compete for the upper hand ...

... while the male Great Spotted Woodpecker and the tiny Blue bit share and share alike.

But will March go out like a lamb?