Promising, promising…

The one and only question on most gardeners mind these days, if they live in the northern hemisphere, is when will spring arrive? Officially we all know when spring arrives, according to the calendar, or do we?? Depending on what you choose to follow, spring arrives here in Britain either on 1st March or 20th March, but when is it really here? When the first snowdrops flowers? When the first crocuses flowers? Or the first hellebores? Or what about when the daffodils flowers or the cherry trees? Whatever you choose to pick as your sign, spring doesn’t appear from one day to another, it’s more a slow process.

In my garden here in London there has been a slow process going on for a looooong time. We have had rather cold weather for 4-5 weeks and even though all the plants have continued to develop, it has happened at snail pace. The last 4 days we have had really nice weather with 10-12 degrees Celsius, and everything has done a big jump forward. Incredible what can happen in just a few days. Look at all the emerging plants, all so promising. Here are the first leaves on my roses, despite being cut down only 10 days ago. Here are daffodils, rhododendron bud, hyacinths flower out of the ground, alliums, day lilies, tulips, crocuses and more daffodils.

But I’ve got more than just greenery emerging. Today many of my crocuses opened up, and the snowdrops have been going for a while.

And the Primula vulgaris, primroses are for me the quintessence of early spring, like rays of sunshine!

All my roses were cut down 10 days ago, this time of year is the only time in my garden without roses, as my roses flowers even in the middle of winter. While I wait for the first flush of roses to start in late April I have the lovely Chaenomeles 'Crimson and Gold' to look at, pretty showy for a plant that starts to flower in January and just goes on and on until late March.

My Bonsai tree looks promising too, with tiny leaves emerging. I have 2 of these Bonsai trees, which I have made from Parthenocissus henryana cuttings.

And finally, the window boxes in my front garden are perking up a bit, now that the temperature has been a bit higher. Pansies might not be the most exciting plant in the world, but they have been flowering all winter, all by themselves, with no care or attention – not bad at all. And they are pretty enough to make people passing by, stop and have a look. I can see them from my living room window, it makes me smile when I see people stop and admire my plants (I can see them but they can’t see me through the blinds). The pansies are there just for the winter, by early May they will all have gone, replaced by summer flowers.

That was my promising bunch of spring flowers. It’s not really spring in my garden yet, but not far away, by 1st March – another 10 days, it will definitely be spring. Before that, we are supposed to have yet another cold spell, and even a slight threat of more snow. I suppose it will be like the last snowfall we had, a light dusting that was gone the next morning. And if you are still having tons of snow in your garden or just a brownish look everywhere, don’t despair – spring will come, before you know it! Until next time, take care.

I am joining Mary at Little Red House for Mosaik Monday.