Garden update

The camellias in our garden have been covered in buds all winter, and the warm weather a week or two ago prompted them to bloom.

Still lots more to come though...

The snowdrops are finishing now, but the crocuses are starting to flower...

...and the cherry will be soon.

The broccoli was slow to get going, but has now formed lovely big heads. The leaves are riddled with holes but there are no caterpillars in sight. Instead, I've spotted birds perched on the broccoli, pecking away... Feasting on the pests I suppose!

The other leaves behind the broccoli are na-no-hana, which I know as 'rape' in English, grown for its oil. Here it is grown as a vegetable too. The young shoots and flowers are considered a spring-time treat.

In other garden news...

Our friend Tim is having to move house as his place is being knocked down to extend a carpark. Boo... Even worse, his house is surrounded by lovely big trees which will all be cut down. He has managed to dig up and move some of the smaller ones, and we have acquired some things from the 'plants that will fit in the car' category - a couple of roses, a lilac, some daffodils and a couple of others I can't name.

It was rather fun, even on a cold and damp day, to get our wellies on and stomp around in the mud a bit...