We have broken the Barrier.

There have been and will be again, no doubt, further inconsequential discussions on when spring starts, whether it be on the 1st of February, the 1st of March or indeed, yesterday! The 1st of February has been the traditional first day fo Spring here in Ireland, St. Brigid’s Day. Meteoreological spring based on the annual temperature cycle begins on the 1st of March and astronomical spring, calculated by the position of the earth’s orbit in relation to the sun began this year yesterday, the 20th of March. However, none of these methods or measures are of as great a significance as the seasonal milestone which was passed today. Today was the first day of the year when we gardened past 6 o’clock!

The Evodia Bed, weeded, freshened and covered with a mulch of garden compost

My early morning was taken up with customer care at Dell – arranging for the replacement of a faulty touchpad in a new laptop, still under guarantee. I was dealt with very pleasantly and professionally and it will be fixed – though I may be without it for a while – but wondered afterwards if it is a reasonable complaint that the person to whom I spoke had an accent which made it very difficult for me to understand her. Is it unreasonable to expect accent and clarity of speech be a deciding factor in appointments to such positions? But, that’s an aside from gardening and today was about a gardening milestone.

There was time for a walk before lunch and the afternoon was spent in the garden with the Head Gardener continuing her work of weeding and freshening a bed we had worked on yesterday – the Evodia Bed, as we call it, for there is an Evodia daniellii growing at the head of the bed. I followed and spread a mulch of compost (like Monty!). As the afternoon went on and we had reached a stage of being nearly finished, there was a determination not to leave it so close to completion. This is what pushed us that little extra so we broke the 6p.m. barrier in the garden – the real spring regardless of whether you opt for the 1st of February, Meteorological or astrological spring. For the gardener, it is judged by the amount of time available for gardening, by the stretch in the evening and, of course, by the growth in the plants. Spring can be judged in various ways but the 6 o’clock barrier is a significant one!

Before coming indoors I had a short walk around with the camera – the light at that time evening is really perfect for photography.

Click on the first photograph so view as a slideshow:

Galanthus ‘Irish Green’

Hyacinths from a Christmas past.

Ipheoin ‘Wisley Blue’

Leucojum aestivuum

Magnolia stellata ‘Centennial’

Narcissus ‘Butter and Eggs’

Narcissus canaliculatus under an apple tree

Narcissus eystettensis

Narcissus ‘M. W. Brown’

Narcissus ‘Tete Boucle’

Narcissus telemonius plenus. aka ‘Van Sion’

Primula ‘Julius Caesar’ in front. P. ‘Marie Crousse’ behind.

Primula ‘June Blake’

Primula ‘Lady Greer’

Primula seedling in a crack in the wall

The Lane – camellias on right; Magnolia soulangeana down the lane.

Trillium chloropetalum

Corydalis solida ‘Dieter Schacht’

Cyclamen rhodium ssp peloponnesiacum

Epimedium × versicolor ‘Sulphureum’

Galanthus ‘Greenish’

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