It is so nice now that the clocks have gone forward and we have light until 7 o clock. I thought last week that Spring had arrived and that we would be having lovely sunny weather until November. Predictably Easter is cold and wet and I have retreated indoors.

Blossom time!
Lots of plants and bulbs are now blooming and the blossom on the Cherry trees is excellent . The Cherry ‘Shirotae’ is a spreading tree with double white scented flowers in March/April. I bought my tree in a local garden centre, vastly reduced and looking a bit lop sided. It has grown on really strongly, and is looking lovely. I will probably plant lots of white daffodils around it next year.

Another tree which has been flowering for a few weeks is the autumn flowering cherry, Prunus subhirtella autumnalis – except that mine flower mostly, or sometimes exclusively, in the Spring. My sister gave me two small trees of this variety and they are in my main flower beds. Unfortunately the blossom looks terrible with bright yellow daffodils so I have decided to try to create a white dark pink and blue spring scheme – it’s really quite tricky!!

The orange flowers of Chaenomoles (Japonica) are in flower now, and look really good combined with tulip Ballerina.