Euphorbia after recent rain…
It has been a while since I have written about my garden, so this is a catch-up. Although I gloried in one spring day in February, since then we have gone back to winter. We had a very dry spell at the end of February – which is statistically quite common, even though traditionally it is called February fill-dyke because ditches are supposed to fill with melting snow or rain at that time of year as the water runs off from empty fields.
In my own garden the daffodils weren’t quite out in time for St David’s Day on March 1. My miniature daffodils were in flower outdoors for the Welsh patron saint’s day last year, but this time I had brought them indoors and enjoyed them early.
Shop-bought double daffodil…
March followed the pattern of February and also began dry and I was starting to think I needed to water the garden, but then relief came a week or so ago with some cold rain – and some snow flurries. We were lucky here in Cardiff, but the Channel Islands, south-east of England and northern France had proper, disruptive snow.
Then when that had passed we had an air frost one morning last week and I couldn’t believe it had been bad enough to nip my Fuchsia leaves in the bud…
New Fuchsia leaves before the air frost last week…
New Fuchsia leaves killed off by the frost in March..
There is also bad news for the birds at the moment – a new cat on the block. It’s a young one and a strange pinky ginger with golden eyes. I have no idea if it belongs to a neighbour or is feral. One thing is for sure. It has no collar or bell and is a bird killer. The last cat to cause this sort of problem was also ginger, and we were so relieved when its owners took it with them to a new home in London. I recall the day it leaped five feet into the air to snatch a wood pigeon!
The other day I was looking out of my window and saw the new cat playing with something on a neighbour’s lawn. I was gobsmacked to see it was a magpie, already dead, but the cat was tossing it into the air to make it imitate flight again, just so it could play with it.
Very soon it tired of the game and abandoned its prey, to go off in search of another target.
The proud cat with the dead magpie at its feet – the picture doesn’t do justice to the strange pinkness of the cat’s coat…
Later the magpie’s body had gone, so I am hoping the garden fox ate it and that it didn’t go to waste.
Anyway, here are some pictures of the garden after rain this weekend…
The euphorbia heads after rain…
White crocus after rain…
New spiraea leaves after rain…
Hebe after rain…
Hellebore after rain…
Day lily (Hemerocallis) leaves after rain…
Unripe Mahonia berries after rain…
Heuchera leaves after rain…
Although taken at the same time, these next images don’t appear to be quite so raindrop blessed…
Dry Hydrangea I missed when pruning…
Budding snake’s-head fritillary and a leaf of Hydrangea petiolaris…
Red shoots of peony with some Campanula at their feet…
New Hydrangea leaves…
In the wild, wooded part of my garden nature is also rediscovering green…
Wild parsley and wild arum leaves under the trees…
The lesser celandine is starting to flower on the wooded bank…
And then there is always the miniature magic of moss…
The Squirrelbasket 
Nice pics. But despite some dry days, I now call what used to be the lawn, ‘the bog’ because it is still so waterlogged, you can’t walk on it. As we only live a few miles apart, I wonder iif we have separate micro-climates?
Perhaps we do! But I take your point that I may not have been strictly accurate. I haven’t looked up the statistics for the weather, but I remember February started wet but the there were a couple of weeks when the garden did get really dry. Our lack of bog may be because most of our garden is on a steep slope, so the wetness that isn’t absorbed by the heavy soil doesn’t hang around but runs off into the drains.
Having said that, our front lawn is dismal at the moment, thin with much moss.
Best wishes 🙂
Gorgeous photos Pat. We noticed that daffodils and blossom was later this year. Now off for a dog walk … in the rain 🙂
Yes, of course here we do have St David’s Day as a convenient marker! Are the daffodils out by then or not… Interesting you have spotted it in Dorset, too.
Best wishes 🙂
We are being a bit over-rained on here. (And sleeted on too.) It’s a strange thing with hydrangeas. I don’t much like them in real life but nearly always like them in pictures on blogs. Nearly a quarter of 2013 gone already. Thinking it ought to be marked with special greetings. So here are some. (In case I forget on the day.)
Happy end-of-first quarter to you, too! Doesn’t time fly…
As for hydrangeas, like most of my garden, I prefer close-ups to general views.
Have a great day – surely the snow and sleet will disappear soon?
Best wishes 🙂
I’m surprised that the cat managed to catch a big bird like a magpie. Luckily my cat has only three legs and no teeth, so I doubt he catches anything.
I love your cat already!
Our neighbour has a cat I worried about at first, but she wears a bell and is now fat and lazy.
This new young one is a worry, though…
Best wishes 🙂
We once had a small and sweet female tabby. We went on holiday for a week, leaving our neighbour to feed her. When we came back, it transpired that the cat had somehow caught a seagull (bigger than herself) in the nearby school field. The outhouse was full of feathers; the neighbour, a nervous lady, had had to go to the doctor because of the stress of dealing with the dead or dying bird, which had triggered a recurrence of her skin complaint.
My present cat is down to 2 teeth and is being attacked by the stronger and younger cats of the neighbourhood. It’s cat eat cat out there.
Oh dear! Poor neighbour… but I won’t say poor seagull, as in Cardiff there are plenty more where that one came from.
There are a lot of stray cats around nowadays, aren’t there? And they all think they are the bee’s knees…
Best wishes 🙂
The sight of the intense red shoots of peonies pushing up in the spring always brings me a thrill.
Me, too. But sadly mine don’t always flower…
Best wishes 🙂
There’s something about plants after a drop of rain.They just come alive and seem to say thanks for that refreshment. Your exquisite photo’s convey that while scrolling down each one. Gorgeous Pat.
And thank you, too!
Best wishes – and may a gentle rain fall on your land, too 🙂
Lovely images of spring emerging! Your cat is just like our previous cat she loved catching the birds especially the big ones!
Sarah x
It’s something about the ginger, I guess!
I just hope some of our baby birds can survive, once they start arriving soon.
Best wishes 🙂
Pat..Beautiful photos of your garden, thank you for sharing them..Sorry to say I pretty much lost most of my new shoots/buds..due to very ” weird” weather for the tropics..after 80 degree weather, it dropped to 20’s at night with a hard freeze for 5 nights..what was starting re-birth was killed..my garden is back to
” BROWN ” I wish I could have helped the little wrens..some froze to death..
We need rain so bad here/ and being on a well we have to be careful….there has been a burn ban for almost a year..they predict possibly this week some rain, but they’ve said that before..can’t wait until summer..thanks for the share, it really brought back some lovely memories….
Oh dear. It’s very sad that you only “remember” rain!
Here we can usually be sure there will be some rain along later, even if we have a dry patch.
By “well”, do you mean oil well?
Best wishes and I hope “normal” weather comes back to you soon 🙂
We have a well for our water..we have an all electric house..no oil necessary..rain would be very welcomed…it always smells so good after a good rain..only problem the Mosquitoes are bigger..thanks for the ” wishes “…
Our problems seem so small compared to yours – we don’t have proper mosquitoes, but in summer if it’s damp we just have clouds of tiny gnats!
Best wishes 🙂