Can this really be February?

The storms have abated, although I hear on the news that the break is only temporary.  After yesterday’s whistling wind and driving rain, the sun came out and took some of the chill out of the air.  So I wandered down the garden to see what was happening.  My walking stick did not help me much.  Instead of meandering down the path, I mistakenly took the route over the lawn, to see if any bulbs were up and about but the ground was so spongy with water, my stick got stuck!   Thank goodness we live on a hill with all the water running away from the house.  I do so feel for all those families who have been flooded since the New Year. 

One of our garden club members has collected weather data for 25 years and M says that it was the wettest January in our village since her records began.  We had 26 days of rain!  Interestingly, she said we did not have as many huge downpours as we might have thought; there was steady, moderate amounts of rain throughout the month.

I managed to walk the short distance from the greenhouse to the flower bed in front of the orchard and was surprised to see the buddleia is in full leaf with new leaflets sprouting. However, the rabbits have been busy, digging holes around it.  They do make a mess but at least they appear to have left the buddleia alone.

There are snowdrops lighting up the hedgerows and the rhubarb has pushed forth its first buds. (Help, there is still some of last season's rhubarb in the freezer!) The pulmonaria dotted all over the garden are so reliable and they have been in full flower since the beginning of January.  I love their flowers and I don't know any other plant which can have both pink and blue flowers at the same time.

The stars of the current show at Springfield are the primroses that decorate and soften the edges of the steps down to the lawn.  The slope of our south-west facing garden is the perfect spot for them and they have been out to play for a while now. Today they were basking in the sunlight with their golden flowers nodding happily in the breeze.  How can anyone not feel lifted up by these simple little plants?

It may only be February but the garden has a sense of wakefulness about it.  Today it felt like March and this is fine, as long as March does not turn into February!