Late April

This weather is wrong. Plain wrong. The first week was wonderful. I wore linen shirts and huge sunglasses. I didn't have to wash the dogs because the ground was bone dry. The greenhouse was a degree too hot for comfort which turns out is absolutely perfect for my mental health. Energy seeped up through the ground and out of the air and filled my soul.

You can, as they say, have too much of a good thing. I am not known for my moderation and I certainly don’t live my life by this maxim but this unseasonal weather is starting to feel uncomfortable. The statistics on how much rain we haven’t had frightens me. I got sunburnt weeding yesterday and every hour or so, strong gusts pushed through the orchard. A gale and then nothing. Over and over again. And then I saw a post about the east wind from the wonderful Rebecca Hosking on Instagram (A Party of Jays, well worth a follow, and thank you to Kelly Chevin for highlighting this post) and suddenly the sunshine didn’t seem so life-affirming after all…

This unseasonal heat brings the flowers on. They peak fast and, in the absence of damp air or rain drops, stay perfect. As if the Belle Epoque tulips could ever be anything other than perfect. They do vary in terms of quality and this year’s are crackers. Proper double.

Tulip ‘Belle Epoque’

Crab apple ‘Royalty’

Tulip ‘Black Parrot’ - cut a fortnight ago

Red campion. The first flower to come out in the Highgrove meadow, and often the most dominant. Brilliant for early pollinators though.

Nettles. I know, not a flower, but they are growing abundantly and they are covered in ladybirds. I will be harvesting for ravioli, nettle and nutmeg pizza, dyeing linen and making Fermented Plant Juice.

A welcome harvest of asparagus.