Ish Springwatch 2010

[Mullein]

Yay - my first Daffodil is open!
and very pretty it is too...

[citizentwiglet]

I still don't have daffs up...............but I do have some irises. And the FORSYTHIA

[A&A]

Last year's swallow thread: http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/ ... 37&t=13424

It was 18 March last year chez moi!

That's pretty strange isn't it - an entire month's difference. I wonder if the swallows that you saw travelled up on different winds perhaps, especially since we're almost half-way between you & Africa. Air currents must play a large factor in this respect. I'm keeping my eyes peeled - but still nothing here yet this year.

[JulieSherris]

Our daffs have just popped open this morning

The snowdrops are now coming to an end, but the crocuses here are just coming up through the grass, and the primroses seem to be struggling to wake up for some reason?
Further along the lane the gorse flowers are now out & look really pretty...... funny how gorse is so pretty when everything else is bare!

And I've just realised that looking out from my window into the woods, there is a greenish hazy covering showing through on the trees.... it did this last year & then one morning I realised that the trees actually had leaves & weren't bare & brown anymore!

The ground elder is pushing its way up along the banks around the garden - why don't chooks & ducks regard this as the most delectable dish? We have LOADS!
Ah well - I'm looking forward to next saturday when we put the clocks forward an hour - THEN it will be spring - for real!!

[JulieSherris]

Susie, it feels like I've been waiting forEVER.... I almost count down the days of winter until we get to it

I'm really hoping that we actually get a proper summer this year, then all the memories of the cold, floods, & rain will melt away as I potter around the place in t-shirt heaven!

[Odsox]

It suddenly dawned on me that I had been hearing a chiffchaff all morning while I was working in the garden.
Usually they overwinter here but this year they obviously thought better of it.
Nice to hear them again anyway.
Swallows and the cuckoo next

[Millymollymandy]

Snap, ours came back yesterday too! I saw one out of the window and my hubby heard one. I've seen them here as late as December and even seen Blackcaps in winter as well, but only when we had a couple of mild ones.

[Annpan]

Our Daffs still aren't out, (lots of mine seem to have come up blind too), our snowdrops are now fading. I saw a mildly pinkish hue on the apple tree buds yesterday, so it is possible they are thinking about it.

I moved some daffs into a trough in the Polytunnel the other day hoping that I will get a nice early flourish of them in there for the house in future years.

I haven't seen my sweet peas yet - but then, they are under several tonnes of mud that was dug out for our new foundations... I have lost my mint, oregano, chives and rosemary this year, but all due to building work rather than the immense cold.

[pelmetman]

Yes its definetely getting warmer. Daffs, tulips, crocuses and anemonies are all out now and the hellebores are looking wonderful. The gooseberries, blackcurrents and redcurrents are about to open their leaves any day. Rhubarb soon ready to pick. Even the raspberries are shooting. Yesterday I saw a newt around the pond and its full of frogspawn. Spring onions, rocket, carrots, lettuces are all up in the coldframes, garlic doing well.
I just love this time of year

[jim]

Doing supply work today, so using school computer. (Shock!!! Horror!!) BUT in a sheltered spot backing onto a south facing wall is an old cherry tree covered in blossom!

Love and Peace
Jim

[MKG]

We are now completely overrun by bumble bees - which is a good thing. But has anyone else noticed that they look particularly big this year? I mean MASSIVE!!!!!!!

Mike

[Millymollymandy]

Yes, now you have mentioned it, I have noticed some really big ones!

[MKG]

Yep - just read up on them. They're queens. I've also just been out in the garden and did a rough count - I reckon I could see at least twenty over a 5 second period (and I didn't move) so there must be hundreds in the whole garden. Which means, I suppose, that our efforts on the bumble bees' behalf over the last couple of years have paid dividends. It also means that we'll have about a million drones in summer - enough to pollinate everything several times over

Mike

[JulieSherris]

I'm in fits of giggles here - not seen any bumblies here yet though
The local gardening man on the radio this morning said that our part of Ireland was running at approx 1 month behind this year after the bad autumn & winter that we had, so adjust our gardening calendars accordingly (which means I can breathe a huge sigh of relief knowing that I have an extra 4 weeks to get my arse in gear!!)

Anyways, the reason for the laughter??? Haha....... you lot haven't seen my hubby running away from buzzy creatures - oh my days, SO funny!!

[Green Rosie]

I was away in the UK from Sun to Thursday and in that time all the spring flowers seem to have burst into bloom - anemones, violets, wild daffodils, cowslips, primroses etc. The early purple orchid leaf whorls are growing nicely and on a slightly different note, our frogspawn has hatched