Gardening pleasure

The period leading up to mid-May is pretty intensive for gardeners what with weeding, pruning, ground preparation, planting etc but it is also when encouraging signs of progress start to appear.  In our case our much-loved asparagus has cropped well and must now be left to grow to its full height.  We have also been eating rhubarb and have even finished off some red cabbage that survived the winter.

In respect of fruit; apples, plums and quinces have been well pollinated, gooseberries and figs are swelling and strawberry plants are in full flower.  If the plums survive to ripeness, this year promises to be a repeat of the time we had to prop up the tree to stop it collapsing under the weight.

Of the dozen or so vegetables already in the ground, early potatoes, cabbages and tomato plants are growing well and horseradish leaves are as prominent as usual.

We don’t have loads of flowers and the early ones (daffs, crocus, tulips and bluebells) are all finished but four or five climbing roses are looking good and there are occasional flashes of colour from lupins, heather, iris and wild carnations.