Gardening

The snow has long since melted and now the only patches of white left in the garden are these lovely snowdrops, nodding their heads in the rather strong breezes we've been having.
I have a few clumps of these snowdrops in the garden which my Dad very kindly dug up for me from his garden in Kirkcudbright. After such a long period of bare brown soil and dead leaves it's so nice to see their cheerful swaying heads.

I have been impatiently waiting for the weather to start improving so that I could get out in the garden again. This Saturday the sun shone and although a icy cold wind bit through my jacket I couldn't resist getting out there and having a good clear up and checking how my plants had weathered the winter. I was pleased to see that the hellebores have also started flowering, although my white ones seem to have been feasted upon by snails this one ("Washfield Queen" I think) is relatively unscathed and demurely sits  in my rather barren looking garden, quietly reminding me of the promise of spring to come.

This shy little violet is also starting to flower, scenting the far corner of the garden with a wonderfully sweet Parma violet perfume - although you do almost have to lie on the path to get a really good whiff!
Holly likes a spot of gardening; while I get rid of dead foliage she digs around a bit and plays with dead leaves. But I must have only been out there for an hour when I realised that she had gone back inside, already defeated by the cold wind and much more content to curl up by the fire. She is definitely a fair-weather gardener.