Spring has sprung.

A new visitor season at the Walled garden brings with it a new growing season, everywhere you look it seems buds are breaking and offering excitement at what is yet to come.  As the Pears and Plums blossom we are also treated to early Ribes flowers and the fragrant Edgeworthia although this is only an appetiser they certainly set the tone.  Sadly our Magnolia, Cornus and Chimonanthus are all but done flowering but this allows our focus to turn to the perennial flowers that we planted last year, these are now coming along strong and relentlessly pushing up through the thick layer of mulch we are currently treating them to. Thank you volunteers for your help with this and everything else you do.

Growing vegetables is also part of our job in the walled garden and although it is still early in the season we have Potato, Garlic, early Peas, Beans, Onions and Shallots all coming along .  Inside the glasshouses we are carefully nurturing seedlings that will be planted out after the last frost both in the vegetable patch and the cut flower garden. These include Tomato, Brassica, Capsicums, Leeks, Sweet Peas, Sunflowers and Geraniums. Ultimately both the vegetables and flowers will supply the Hall and the Victoria.

The walled gardens are a very popular haunt for our feathered friends, the constant birdsong is a delight only surpassed by the occasional glimpse of the many species of bird we are privileged to share the grounds with, these include.  Goldfinch, Wagtail, Robins, Blue Tits, Chaffinch, Wren and i even saw a Goldcrest just last week.

The opening week has been blessed with some great weather, long may it continue.