The buds on the Pear tree are swelling. For years now I have been referring to my Pear tree as a "Confrerence" one, but while I was taking this photo I happened to glance at the label which is still attached to the tree. Guess what? It's a "Concorde"! Judging by the fruit, they seem very similar.
Along the fence by the fruit trees the Raspberries are shooting up strongly. In the Autumn I took a bit of a gamble and emptied-out the compost from my tomato pots along here. You may recall that I had problems with contaminated compost last year, but in the end I concluded that it was the multi-purpose compost that was to blame, and not the stable manure stuff. I'm hoping that the thick layer of stable manure compost will be beneficial to the moisture-loving Raspberries.
The first of the Tulips is showing a little splash of colour:
There is definitely new growth on the Lavender.
The Clematis is just beginning to wake up. I didn't prune it at all in the Autumn, so hopefully I will get more flowers than last year's solitary bloom!
This is very characteristic of Spring too - the native Primrose:
Yet despite the above, THIS is the most encouraging sight of all - the emergence of the first Asparagus spear of the season!
Looking back at my records, I see that the Asparagus is about a fortnight behind its normal schedule. In 2014 I actually picked four spears on 7th April. Still they say that "what's worth having is worth waiting for", and home-grown Asparagus is definitely worth having!
It won't be long now until you're picking that asparagus. It's amazing how everything seems to have come on in leaps and bounds over the last week or so, I noticed a hawthorn hedge this morning which I pass when I'm walking Archie and it was covered in leaves, I'm sure it was bare last week.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading your blog, thanks for doing it. I remember the contaminated compost.
ReplyDeleteWayne May from Nottingham.
Your first shot looks a little like a bird claw don't you think? I keep the labels on my fruit trees too, the varieties of my pear trees escape me at the moment but I shall take a look. Great news that your asparagus is starting to poke through, mine might be in a couple of weeks then!
ReplyDeleteYay Spring!!
ReplyDeleteWhoohoo for asparagus. I wish I could grow it here, but it seems asparagus doesn't like my garden. Though I think I have a few still alive. I might get lucky and they might grow up.
ReplyDeleteSlow is the name of the game when it comes to springs arrival this year - I have yet to see any promising new green shoots coming up anywhere; hopefully not too much longer. What a welcome sight that 1st (and 2nd and 3rd...) spear must be. Can't wait to get to my first spears in a few years...hopefully nothing thwarts my efforts in the meantime.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed going through your photos. For us there aren't such obvious signs but right now the new leaves on the trees look very refreshing.
ReplyDeleteI am happy to say we are NOT under snow any more. But we are quite a bit behind... Time marches on....
ReplyDelete