Well we are still locked down,4 weeks now, and set to continue I think. But the weather is kind, so different from our first Easter here 10 years ago, when there were hard frosts in the mornings, and, as we had no heating but the wood burner, we shivered our way to bed at night. Now it is almost too warm in the afternoons, clear blue skies, with neither cloud nor vapour trail, but plentiful bird song and a scattering of butterflies.

Purples and pinks still predominate in the garden. The Judas Tree is in full bloom

the lilacs are coming out as is the Tamarix. Dark purple iris still appearing, but the first of the pale blues are breaking bud now as well.

The first of the dwarf iris are out too, in the scree bed by the pond

and there are wild orchids in the meadow

The tulips will be over soon. I’m not sure how I managed to plant orange and purple side by side in the border below Walnut Terrace

and I must remember to plant some more pinks in the bed below the Hornbeam, they are beginning to look rather sparse, but have persisted for I guess nine years now, despite the depredations from the deer.

The Lithospermum are doing well too, in the old rockery which Dan dug out last year, I had doubted they would survive the drought last summer.

and there are survivors too among the alpines which I planted on the cliff face when I cleared it in the autumn, unfortunately the weeds down here are also doing quite well!

Not many flowers in the prairie as best, but there is plentiful growth, as there is in the Gravel Garden where the Miscanthus look taller every day.

The dark blue rosemary here is still flowering

along with an unidentified shrub, the first of the white flowers for Easter, although the cherry blossom is not far behind.