THE WEATHER -

A wonderful start to the month with the 1st and 2nd being warm and sunny. Duller and cooler by the 3rd, and becoming very cold by the 8th, with an overnight frost of minus 3°C (24°F) which took the new growth of many plants. Gradually warming up again, with warm weather by the 9th. Mild weather continued until the15th, when it became very cold once again. Staying quite cold with heavy showers for the next week. Warming up considerably for the last few days of the month, with lovely warm sunshine on the 29th giving the highest temperature of the entire month, and a few showers but still warm on the 30th - spring at last!! Maximum temperature 20°C (68°F), minimum temperature minus 3°C (24°F).

Spring foliage is so lovely! This is Acer palmatum "Senkaki", a beautiful medium-sized tree which has bright red bark on younger growth. The spring foliage unfurls like fragments of pleated silk, and is a lovely soft yellow. As the foliage matures, it becomes lime green, then bright green, finally maturing in autumn to fiery orange and yellow. What could be more stunning?

In the pond, the lovely Caltha palustris flore plena is making a welcome appearance. This is the double form of the native Marsh Marigold, with sunny yellow fully double flowers, and smaller shiny green leaves than the single species. I also have the native plant, and the white variety, Caltha palustris alba, both of which are valuable early flowering plants for the spring water garden. Caltha palustris forms wonderful seed pods which give interest in flower arrangements. All these plants grow well in shallow water margins or damp soil in borders. More pictures of the water plants can be seen in the water garden section.

Viburnum carlesii "Aurora" is a lovely deciduous shrub which bears huge clusters of highly fragrant pale pink flowers. The flowers appear on the ends of the branches, just as the foliage is unfurling. When I first had this shrub several years ago, I planted it in too shady a position, and it never flowered except for the odd flower occasionally. However, once I moved it to a west-facing border in good light, it is now covered in lovely flowers! Fantastic shrub!

Here's an unusual little plant. It is called Mukdenia rossii, and is a hardy herbaceous perennial with bright green serrated palmate leaves, quite leathery when mature, and lovely little corymbs of starry white flowers in spring. The flower buds actually appear around November after the foliage has died down, but stay tantalisingly just above ground level throughout the winter, rising up to their full height in April. It grows to around 6 - 8" high and enjoys a shady position.

In the conservatory, a weird plant is currently in flower. It is the Voodoo Lily, Sauromatum venosum. It gets its common name from its habit of magically producing a flower from a bone-dry tuber, which can be placed on a dish without any water or soil. Of course, once it has flowered, the tuber will need to be planted as it will then begin to form roots and go on to produce a single large leaf, which is very tropical looking! The plant is half-hardy, so needs to be kept frost-free in winter. It is pollinated by flies in its natural environment, and has produced some clever ways of imitating the sort of things flies like to feed on, to attract them to the flower and pollinate it. Firstly, the spathe is spotted with red to resemble rotting meat. The flower smells so foul that you would be forgiven for thinking something had crawled into a corner and died without anyone noticing, and was quietly decomposing! Finally, and most sinister of all for a plant, the spadix (that's the bit that sticks out from the centre of the spathe) actually produces heat, just as rotting meat does, for about 24 hours, before becoming normal again. Strange..........

That's all for this month...... Happy Gardening!!

Blackbird, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Crow, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Robin, Rook, Seagull, Starling, Thrush, Wood Pigeon, Wren.

RESURRECTION
Patience Strong

All things are bursting into life from out the winter's gloom,
All things are turning towards the light, deep in the earth's dark tomb.
The trees are bright with swelling buds, their gay green banners furled,
There is no death - the cry rings out across the grieving world......

The Christian faith is pinned upon this mighty, glorious fact,
We humans live our lives by fear and torments racked -
And yet each Eastertide the Truth is brought to us again,
The Truth that is the answer to our doubting and our pain.....

He rose again - He came to life - and thus set all men free.
Death is a dream from which we wake to immortality.