
Erythronium growing in shade with epimedium.
I’ve already done all the gardening I intend to do today and it’s warming up outside in spite of an early frost.

Now is the time for the wonderful acid yellows of the spurges and I have several. This is an old cottage garden favourite, formerly known as Euphorbia polychroma but now called E.epithymoides. It makes a low-growing little mound of brilliant spring colour, very good with blues. This plant is still young.

Fritillaria meleagris
I love these snake’s head fritillaries, which are growing in a damp, shady spot at the base of a bank. They are even darker than they look here.

Chaenomeles speciosa
I think this variety is called ‘Geisha Girl’ but I don’t know for sure. It’s a huge shrub, like a small tree and absolutely covered in flowers.

Violas in the porch
Not a good photo but they’re very pretty, unlike the potted tulips. The deer negotiated the fearsome spikes I put in the pot and ate every remaining flower and bud. The whole garden is full of primroses and pulmonarias of various kinds. It’s so good to see the fresh growth of the truly herbaceous plants. Phew! They’ve come through another winter.