Today is the first day of Meteorological spring, covering the three months March, April and May. The year is divided up into four three monthly seasons in this splitting of the year.
Astronomical spring begins on the equinox which falls on 20 March this year. It is the day of equal day and night, from when the northern hemisphere begins to tilt back towards the Sun and gains more solar radiation in the coming months, peaking at the summer solstice.
March 1 is also St David’s Day with many daffodils around the garden in bloom. With some three cornered leek as well, to cover all bases for our Welsh friends.
Today is quite warm, a little breezy and with lots of activity in the garden from volunteers. The wildflower bed is being covered in cardboard to keep down any weed growth before we plant wildflower seed, hoping the flowers will be at their best for our 10th birthday in June. In past years, this feature of the garden with its vibrancy becomes its highlight. Good for bees and other wildlife too.
The buddleia has been pruned, but will soon be sprouting once more with the warmer weather. It doesn’t hang around. The arch has been left in place. By the gate, the magnolia greets visitors with its record display of blooms, on bare branches. The ebullient florescence may be due to all rain we have been having. The large white flowers remind me of lightbulbs.
Our first frog spawn came last week, and in the coming weeks we should get more in the pond, depending on how many adult frogs survived our dry last summer. It’s a hit and miss affair, something of a lottery, for frog survival. I hope we get more as our pond full of tadpoles becomes the go-to place in the spring months, especially popular with children.
I have been looking out for the female catkins on the hazel by the greenhouse. They are so tiny you have to actually seek them out, unlike the male catkins which are over 5 cm long, like dangling earrings. But today I see them. Female catkins, a tiny stigma coming out of a bud, are here and there. Likely we’ll get some hazel nuts in autumn, perhaps enough for a bar of chocolate.
We had 124 mm of rain in February, more than three times the monthly average, which is why we are getting so many flowers. There’s a grand cluster of bergenia by the silver birch, and plum blossom coming over our door fence. I see early, purple tulips in a pot by the buddleia. And hyacinths around too. Everything seems to be early this year, which is good to see in one way but is another sign of climate change.
Last year, we had blue tits in the nesting box on the sycamore. We have cleaned it out, ready for more. Will we get nestlings this year? I recall the parent birds flying in and out of the box all day, feeding their demanding brood. There can be as many as nine offspring, crushed together, beaks agape, squawking, as a parent flies in with a fly. And then out a few seconds later on the thankless task to fill the hungry maws.