After a week of mild weather the garden feels like it has really shaken off the last vestiges of winter. The snowdrops are no more but have been replaced by the golden glow of daffodils and clumps of primroses. Hellebores are still going strong and they have been joined by pulmonarias and grape hyacinths. But the sight that fills me with most joy is the tiny buds on my crab apple that are starting to unfurl. On Saturday I was doing the washing up and looking out of my kitchen window when I thought the branches looked different, squinting through the glass it looked like little specks of green were appearing. Abandoning my dishes and pans to investigate further I was greeted by this sight.
Crab apple buds
At the start of last week I had the not so pleasant job of removing the mummified fruit that were left on the tree. Last year had been a particularly good year for fruit and the tree had provided blackbirds, starlings, thrushes and redstarts with some vital food through the winter but there are always fruit that they don’t get to.
It’s not essential with a crab apple to remove the mummified fruit, I do it for aesthetic reasons. Not wanting the old wizened fruit to detract from the blossom that will start to appear over the next month. However, with a tree that provides eating apples it is important to remove any old fruit remaining on the tree as these can harbour diseases. I couldn’t get to all of the old fruit, especially those on branches over-hanging the neighbour’s garden but it still looked better for a bit of a tidy up. The smell from the apples was a quite potent, fermenting apple juice aroma. The excitement of what is to come over the next month as tight pink flower buds appear and then unfold to produce whitish pink blossom is building.
Clematis flower buds
Not only this but I discovered the soft, almost furry, flower buds on an early flowering Clematis. My honeysuckle is now covered in leaves and roses are springing into life. In fact, everywhere I look are signs of plants emerging, it’s like being reunited with old friends. I wander around the garden stopping and puzzling over plants appearing. I redesigned a couple of borders in my garden last autumn and I can’t remember where I put certain plants. I was also very kindly given some plants by gentleman from the allotments which I planted up but I couldn’t remember what I’d done with them. I’m really looking forward to seeing how my redesign will work.
Grape hyacinth (Muscari)
The garden isn’t the only place with signs of new life. My cold frame and kitchen window sill have trays and pots of seeds pushing through. I have broad beans waiting to go up to the allotment, sweet peas that I have pinched out the growing tips to make bushier plants and edible peas which are just germinating. There are celeriac seedlings that need pricking out and only a week after sowing I have my first hardy annuals for my cut flower patch. I have a ritual every morning of opening the blind in the kitchen and then checking my seeds. Even though I know it’s not possible for seeds to germinate overnight I will check them the day after sowing. It generally takes between 7 to 14 days for seeds to germinate so I was really surprised to find seeds sown last Tuesday had germinated by Saturday and that I could see my first echium and scabious plants.
Cold Frame
There’s plenty to do, with the busiest time for gardeners upon us. So on that note I’m off to sow some more sweet peas and having read other blogs it sounds like I should introduce some leek seeds to some compost. Happy seed sowing!!!
wellywoman 
This is such an exciting time of the year, I think. The mad frenzy of plants wanting to return to life and gardeners trying to outrun them so we will be ready once spring really builds up steam!
It seems you’re a bit ahead of Denmark, spring-wise, but we’re getting there…
I can certainly agree that this time of year is like greeting old friends again, those that have survived the winter are so welcome. Everything is rushing into growth, I feel like shouting ..stop!! So much to do, you seem to be so organised with your seeds and planting, me, I play catch up for the next few months!
I thought I was the only one who couldn’t remember where things were planted. i did a huge redesign last autumn, and I have been kicking myself, why did i not draw up a garden plan at the same time. I guess I will have a discovery this spring.
Spring is so much fun – seeing all the little plants coming back to say hello! I hope your redesign works out well. It will be fun to see that area coming to life.
Is’nt it such a joyful time of year! Even though we’ve seen it all before it’s like a new experience each time. Lovin it!
This is a fantastic blog. Obviously I have much to learn! 🙂
I’ve just been doing a similar job (removing mummified fruit) with my quince. Hard work but very satisfying – it looks so much better now they’ve gone, and just in time for the leaves, with the buds breaking just in the last couple of days. LOVE SPRING!
Woo hoo exciting times ahead! Who doesn’t love this time of year? Busy busy….
We’re just starting out to the busiest time of our gardening year. Hubby got my greenhouse washed down for me at the weekend so I’ll be having a seed sowing frenzy soon. It’s so exciting.
Thanks for the info about removing old fruit from the crab apple. Last year there wasn’t much fruit as the previous winter hadn’t been cold enough to induce much blossom. There is a lot of fruit, none of the birds are interested, it’s one of the reasons the crab apple is such a good plant for winter colour, I’m going out now to check if mine has new buds, I hadn’t noticed any. Christina
Muscari signals spring to me. We always had them in the garden when I was young and they would be one of the first to arrive once the weather warmed up. Snowdrops and Crocus seem to be more connected to late winter.
But now everything is budding up and we will soon be into full on spring!
You’re not the only one who expect seeds to germinate overnight WW ~ I have been known to peek through a magnifying glass just in case there’s been any action. A glorious time of year when everything is full of promise 🙂
Wohoo can’t wait till it gets warmer! Great photos by the way!
Lovely post! I haven’t planted or sown anything yet. xx