Final Days of the Confinement

Part of my gardening routine is to take a walk first thing in the morning, checking on progress in the veg plot and the new beds, looking to see what jobs need doing and, camera in hand, just enjoying the quiet of the garden. The aquilegia continue to do their thing, endlessly crossing to produce a range of pinks, whites and blues.

As we come out of strict Covid-19 confinement this morning it is of course lashing with rain, making any meaningful gardening either at home or for clients quite impossible. Instead, here are some photos from the first ten days in May, the last ten days of the lock down.

Both the nigella and violets happily seed themselves around. The violets in particular have taken up residence in the gravel drive, taking advantage of only being driven over once a week for the last two months!

Another virulent self-seeder is the bronze fennel, although at least it is playing the game and mostly replicating itself through the herb garden. As usual it is home to caterpillars of the common swallowtail butterfly.

They are initially quite hard to spot, the red/brown colouration allowing them to blend in with the bronze foliage. But they soon turn to this stunning striped green!

We have a large area of wild flower meadow; I dream of finding orchids in there one day, but the ragged robin is establishing itself well, especially liking the damper areas where the springs appear during wet weather.

But it isn't all about nature, we have to eat, too. The young peach tree has set fruit for the first tme this year...

... And the pear crop looks promising. too.

One of the butterflies we see quite frequently is the Southern White Admiral.

This one must have only just emerged it was so glossy and almost velvety. Beautiful!

And we still await the patter of tiny green lizard feet!