March 2004

Two faces of March

However mild weather interspersed with bitter cold has really suited the early bulbs. The miniature daffodils that graced February have survived to join the giants. Even the snowdrops have kept flowering. The purple crocuses of the cover picture are lost in the overwhelming yellow

Saturday 20th was horrific. I came back from a weekend in the Cotswolds to discover gusts of over 70 miles an hour had torn the glass from my greenhouse roof. Luckily there had been no frost so I have had time to transport the tender plants to the conservatory. I planted out pea and onion seedlings protecting them with fleece and also put out the strawberry plants my son gave me in February. Earlier I had sown some all the year round lettuce and some carrots, which I had also protected with fleece.

As usual the pond has filled with frogs - over 300 I reckon. It is a miracle that the two goldfish that survived the winter and herons somehow find room to swim between them