We have had a long dry spell. We have had torrential downpours. We have had gloriously hot days when I have lain with the spring green grass under my back and absorbed the sun’s energy like a sponge. This is perfect growing weather.

I don’t have a huge amount in the beds yet, so it is the hedges and the self-seeded plants that are doing all the flowering at the moment. Oh, and I found a pot full of Lagurus ovatus (hare’s tail grass) in the corner of the courtyard that I had hidden a few tulip bulbs in. The shade has meant that they have come out a full month later than the rest of them.

The big joy of the last few days has been the coming on of the irises. I have one variety that is a bit more dwarf than the others and I always comes on first. This seems to be the way; Polly had ‘Apricot Drops’ in full flower when I visited her last week. However, the big, glorious, full bearded irises are now all showing colour and I predict that I will be photographing brown irises before the week is out.