February may be the shortest month, but also the longest when it is filled with days of grey gloom. And for us this year, a life dominated by our mission to save the iconic Wivenhoe King George Oak Tree… But March duly arrived, and on the first day of (meteorologists’) Spring, it was out to the gardens to see the changes over the past month.
It was a beautiful sunny day, with crystalline blue skies, although the air was still cold out of direct sunlight – the breeze was in the north, as it had been for months.
The Winter Aconites, so valuable to insects at the start of February were all but over, with snowdrops following rapidly …
… their place in the pollinator restaurant being taken by Helleborus, Sarcococca and Ficaria …
… and a whole lot more…
… including flowering shrubs such as Parrotia persica, Viburnum tinus, Hazel and Cornus mas.
But the real star was Crocus, especially the stands in the Gravel Garden, literally buzzing with life, with numerous Honeybees nimbly stripping the stamens of pollen and almost as many queen bumbles bending whole flowers under their weight as they fulfilled their needs. This buzz of Spring enraptured many of the human visitors, making a captive audience for me to advocate further about using our own spaces to help beleaguered wildlife.
Otherwise, insects were out a-basking, warming up in the welcome sun, including blowflies, hoverflies, ladybirds and single Box Bug and Green Shield-bug, the latter still in its brown winter garb. It will be changing soon!
The birds are getting into the spring mood too. Around the garden there were Robins, Great Tits and Goldcrests in full song, with displaying Buzzards mewling overhead. Any day now the first Chiffchaffs will be piping up, and from there it will be headlong into summer…
All this, along with flashbacks to the berries and bark of Winter, seamlessly merged with the vibrant new greens of the exciting season to come.
Everything changes so fast at this time of year, so why not visit now, and then again a week later ad infinitum. There will never be nothing new for you to see or hear! Entrance – Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens
