Cherry Plum is in blossom as noted in my last entry but not a lot else is flowering as yet. Celandines and Dog Violets are appearing here and there. And the green shoots of Dog's Mercury are sprouting en masse in the woods. The cold winter has meant that spring flowers are not appearing unseasonably early which has often been the case in recent times. 

 But it's coming, case in point Spurge Laurel as seen above. Daphne laureola is a shrub of open woodlands and hedgerows on chalky soil. Actually it's not a Spurge or a Laurel but resembles both so Spurge Laurel is an apt description. 

 Today is the Spring Equinox, sometimes called the Vernal Equinox. There's not much in flower in the English countryside as yet after the cold winter we've had. But the bright white blossom of Cherry Plum (Prunus cerasifera) is flowering in the hedgerows drawing hungry bumblebees from hibernation. Soon to be followed by the equally bright blossom of Blackthorn and Hawthorn.

 Into the blue again. March is having some mild and sunny days (and some cold, grey ones too). I hopped on a bus from Hitchin to Lilley, walked across Lilley Hoo to the Pegsden Hills then past Knocking Hoe down to Pirton where I got a bus back into town. The air was fresh, uplifting.

 Wood chip is nutrition for plants. Every year I prune a couple of enormous Fig trees. My father planted them a few decades ago and they grow very quickly. I put the branches through the shredder and mulch the Rhubarb patch on the allotment. The white wood quickly mellows to mottled brown.

 Well, this is the sort of thing I find thrilling. Millions wouldn't but I do. I planted Ramsons aka Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum) in this old porcelain planter on the patio. I planted them in the form of bulbs several years ago and they have begun to propogate themselves on the ground around the planter. The emerging leaves are clearly visible, so too around another planter further down the garden.

 In the wild Ramsons carpet damp shady areas particularly on the westerly side of Britain. They spread by bulbils, offsets and seeds but this is the first year they have appeared around the planters. Why? Some set of atmospheric conditions they have found favourable? Or perhaps seeds and/or bulbils have matured by now into bulbs? 

 Two early Narcissi. The first is 'Tête-à-Tête', the second is 'February Gold'. In fact neither flowered till March this year due to the the cold spell. They look rather similar as both have the reflexed petals of N. cyclamineus in the genes. 'Gold' is a cross with N. pseudonarcissus and quite tall like our Wild Daffodil. The ancestry of 'Tête' is obscure possibly x tazetta and it's daintier than 'Gold'.

 Postscript  Since writing this entry I have read that 'Tête-à-Tête' was cultivated by a British breeder Alec Grey circa 1949. It is said to be allotriploid i.e. contains two genomes of one species and one genome from another. In this case a cross between N. cyclamineus and N. 'Cyclataz' which is itself a cross between N. cyclamineus and N. 'Grand Soleil d'Or'. That last is believed to be an archaic cultivar of N. tazetta but its origins are unknown. 

Sedum, sometimes called Stonecrop.