A walk free weekend

4 to 5 May

As if time has jerked backwards rather than forwards, the weather over the last week has seemed more like the first week of February than the first week of May, with grey skies, bitter winds and heavy rain. For the first time in as long as I can remember a weekend passed with no walking of any kind, unless you count around the garden or a trip or two up the Big Hill for supplies. The weather wasn’t kind for the Bank Holiday and, coupled with my birthday and wedding anniversary, I spent most of it being lazy. There was a trip out to the New Forest on Monday to test drive my new car but I didn’t even stop, never mind get out and walk. It was a very strange state of affairs indeed and will mean a lot of catching up if I’m to get anything like good miles under my belt in May.

All this his coldness made me worry about my poor flowers and I did go out to check on them. I was especially worried about the apple tree, planted in memory of my mother in law, April, and moved from Commando Senior’s garden earlier in the year. It had been coming into bud before we went to London. Somehow, the flowers have survived the changing temperatures and the little tree looks surprisingly happy in its new home. Maybe there will be an apple or two in the autumn.

The blueberry I bought last year is flowering too and the fig tree has fruit and new leaves developing. Bees were buzzing around despite the cold so hopefully they’ll polinate those tiny white bells for me. Last year we had a handful of blueberries but all the figs dropped before they ripened. Maybe this year I’ll have better luck. One fruit bearing shrub that doesn’t seem to need any encouragement is the quince. It has been flowering since February and will, no doubt, continue on and off all through the summer providing a bright splash of orange on my driveway and a nice crop of quinces in the autumn to make jam. It was planted many years ago from a quince pip and I had low expectations at the time but it seems to go from strength to strength.

Raspberries are one type of fruit I don’t seem to have any luck with, at least not in this garden. Years ago, in my old garden in Woolston, there was a huge raspberry bush with the largest, juiciest fruit I’ve ever tasted. Every year it faithfully produced enough for us, the birds and any little boys who decided they needed a snack whilst out playing. When I moved I really should have taken some with me because, despite plating raspberries for the last three years, I have had no success and each cane has withered away to nothing. A little while ago I had one more try. These do at least show some signs of life so all hope is not lost, maybe I will get a raspberry or two before the year is out, if the birds don’t get to them first. Hopefully, the bumper crop of mahonia berries will be enough for them.

We are still mulling over the possibilities for a potting shed at the bottom of the garden where the old shed used to be so the vegetable plot has been left to run wild this year. Although I haven’t planted anything, some garlic appears to be coming up which is a bonus and the garlic I grew from seed is now on its second year and looking healthy in the tub. It will be another year or so before its large enough to harvest though. A few weeks ago I planted some mixed lettuce seed in another tub and, so far, one has germinated. Healthy and delicious as it looks it is hardly enough for a salad.

Although it’s nice to eat things grown in the garden, for me, the real joy comes from the flowers and spring is my favourite season with something new to see every day. Right now the lilac, which seems to have been in bud for ever, has finally burst into flower and the scent at the top of my drive is wonderful. Walking down the front path is a sensory delight too with choisya in full flower on either side of the gate and rosemary close by, its tiny purple flowers attracting the bees. Soon the lavender will join in, competing for the best perfume.

While the beauty of some flowers comes from their scent, others delight the eye. Last year I planted feverfew. The smell is anything but delightful but the cheery flowers, just beginning to open, more than make up for it. Close by I planted oxeye daisies from some seed I gathered on the boardwalk. Many consider them a weed but I shall be happy to see them flowering in my garden. The pansies and violas are doing well too, both in the tubs and on the edge of the flower border. Some are a little ragged round the edges from slugs and snails but they never fail to cheer me up.

Some flowers I didn’t have to plant. A few were in the garden all along and others have wandered in, seeding themselves wherever they can. The little aquilegias have just begun to open, popping up in unexpected places and unusual colour combinations all over the garden. Little clumps of bluebells and cornflowers appear every year and pulmonaria has wandered in from somewhere and made itself at home. The latter seems to be a favourite with the bees and they buzz around it all day although none have yet taken up residence in my bee hotel which is a shame.

A new job, Commando’s marathons and the tough walking challenge I’ve set myself have left me little time to work in the garden this year although Commando and I did cut back the ivy and honeysuckle arch between the showers. Even so, the garden seems to be doing quite well without any help from me. Now all I need is some better weather to get out and enjoy it in between walks.