I’ve been away for a couple of weeks on work travels and Spring has definitely happened in my absence. So this Sunday morning was time for hanami in our back garden with coffee and a slice of my home made rhubarb cake (the first harvest of the year!) in hand…

The classical hanami is of course Japanese flowering cherry, our main tree, the classic columnar Amanogawa, is actually not quite out yet but the buds are looking very promising. They open pink and slowly fade to white.

Completely out are our two potted flowering cherries, one of which I more or less missed during my travels. The other has an appealing drooping habit and is fully out right now on our front steps. A nice spot to drink coffee in the morning.

The edible sweet cherries are also well on their way – we now have 3 different trees in different sizes, all of which are well covered in buds and blossom. They have been good producers of actually delicious cherries, many of which the birds in the garden have also enjoyed.

Other fruit trees also in blossom or about to open include our old wall trained pear,

and the plum, also against a sunny wall…

Somehow miraculously the small dwarf apricot in a pot has also survived the frosts and is laden with blossom. We’ve yet to enjoy any fruit from it, but I live in hope and the blossom alone is glorious, though slightly past it’s best now. 

Other non-fruit blossom that is now out are the 3 amelanchiers in different corners of the garden, glorious when a low sun shines through their buds and newly opened red leaves:

And the snowball virburnum, just opening with a lovely scent

Speaking of scent, while the cherry blossom is indeed wonderful to look at, it doesn’t have much or any scent so it’s fantastic that our many skimmia are full out and filling the garden, and out front steps with a spiced perfume.

The female shrub is now enormous and the large number of flower heads promises a good berry harvest this winter. The bees adore the open flowers, our largest plant in a big pot is abuzz with them.

Our tulips are also starting to come out (ever earlier, but that’s climate change for you) so it’s also time to start going round and seeing where new are needed.

I’m happy with the way the back border has turned out, the band of yellow at the front is joyful in what can be a dark spot. I’d like some more red or perhaps even a wilder combination at the back. We removed some old plants and it now looks a bit bare though the honeysuckle we planted is flourishing against the wall 

The terrace border is also full of yellow beauties, I contemplate adding some Jetfire or other dramatic yellow fired with red here too.

The side tulip border is not quite put yet but looks like it may need reinvigoration this Autumn, where the yellow border had new yellow tulips too, they colour well with the euphorbia behind, which was the idea. A too- thorough weed last year massacred the rudbeckia in this border so they may also need replanting and replenishing this year…

Finally, a word on the pond, sadly still leaking, so that’s a job to tackle this year, though I’m not quite sure when.. We have been watching the newts actively coming up for air and swimming around for a few weeks, then last week the unmistakeable toad calls came. Today the pond is full of long strands of toad spawn…

It’s immensely satisfying knowing that something you created in your garden is actively helping the local wildlife.

Everyone should have one…