To be honest, like crazy! Especially the grass. It seems to grow the second your back is turned! Trouble is we've had so much rain again that finding a dry 'slot' to mow it all
can be a challenge. However, the forecast is for more sun over the weekend so it will be mower and strimmer at the ready.
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| our Melrose apple in blossom |
So far the best you can say is that our spring weather has been "mixed". Frequently it's been fairly chilly and the last few days we've had yet more rain. In between, we've had days with lots of sun and rising temperatures. In fact, one day the farmers were grumbling as it was so warm they couldn't go and treat their fields as anything they sprayed would evaporate too quickly. Yet yesterday, the second day of May, it didn't get beyond a paltry 12C!
On the up side all our baby fruit trees which we planted in Nov 2010 have produced blossom this year, especially our dark cherry [we don't know what type it is] and our apple [Melrose].
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| quince tree full of flowers |
We also have an elderly quince which is positively smothered in flowers which are just opening up. If the bees do their work it will be a good season for quince jelly. Last year with the frosts it was hammered and we had one lone fruit on the tree. I love the way the quince blossom has a pink swirl to the bud before it opens--rather like a raspberry ripple effect.
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| quintessential spring |
As usual our ornamental cherry has flowered beautifully, and although now just past its best it will still look elegantly pink and frilly for a couple of days. We have 3 lilac bushes which didn't produce a single flower in the spring of 2011 so we cut them back hard and opened things up a bit as they were in too much shade. This spring for the first time they have produced flowers, two of the bushes are pale lilac and the third is a darker wine/purple.
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| lilac is back |
As the semester is drawing to a close there will be fewer early morning starts and therefore, not as many opportunities to see the kind of sunrise below. Caught on a phone camera, the quality isn't brilliant but it certainly is a great view to have as you turn onto the D road from our lane and drive off to Tours to work. Our house is behind the woods and blackthorn tree/bush in the bottom righthand corner.
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| sunrise, last week |
12 comments:
I like the early morning and I did in France too, watching the rising sun swing round behind the trees through the year.
The sunrise here sometimes reminds me of Discworldas it rises behind the house and spreads over the valley and hills in front.
@fly - nice image Discworld :-)
I'm more of a night owl; Niall's the morning person. Having said that, I don't mind leaving the house at 6:30-ish when it's light. It's the days in winter when it's pitch black that are hard.
Beautiful blooms N&A... good luck with a bumper harvest. Even though it's still cold here (11C) our grass is growing like crazy too. Hope you have a good weekend.
Lovely photos and that fruit blossom looks very promising. Sorry your weather is so mixed, but I bet the farmers are glad the grass is growing for the hay, even if you'd rather it would slow down. Here the temperature reached the dizzy height of 17C yesterday, our warmest day of the year so far. :-)
@Craig - Not much difference to us yesterday then!
It has crept up to 16C today but was still foggy this morning and felt colder than it was.
@Perpetua - even the farmers are wanting it to stop according to someone we spoke to yesterday.
There's been bad flooding in the E/NE of France and the Rhone in Lyon was dangerously high -- it was one of the main items on the news this evening.
With all this rain we have had, the grass and weeds are having a ball. The fruit trees seem very happy, but the rest of the garden is slow!!! Have a great weekend. Diane
@Diane - aren't they just! Yes everything is still playing catch up. Just glad the blossom hasn't been hit with frost like last year.
Definitely a good year for blossom. I checked my pear and quinces and the fruit is already forming. I'm so pleased. Last year was such a washout!
@Ladyjustine - we didn't have much on the pear but it, like all the others apart from the quince, is a baby.
Still there will be a big celebration even if we get just one fruit :-)
Pretty blossom! I've been out in the garden today clearing some overgrowth so I can see what's flowering. But I haven't got anything pink and pretty like yours. Jealous? Me? (Just a bit!)
@AJ - They're our stars. Much of our 2 1/2 acres is grassed with trees dotted all around.
Oh we know overgrown:-) We've been mowing some of the grass which we'd left because in spring it's a carpet of cowslips but it will take at least two more sessions to get it looking even 1/2 way reasonable!
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