Spring on hold…..

The last week of March, a week of hot summery weather, was wonderful if a little on the odd side!  Gardening in jeans and a T shirt instead of a warm fleece reminded me of how nice it is to be outside in the fresh air, listening to the chiffchaffs and watching the local hoard of buzzards soaring up into the sky on a thermal.  With primroses and daffodils in flower and orchid leaves appearing in the meadow, the whole garden had a very optimistic feel.  Now of course (this is the UK after all), it is snowing.  A couple of inches greeted me this morning and snow and sleet have continued to fall.  The bird feeders are buzzing while the nest boxes are forgotten for the time being.  And no doubt the two local chiffchaffs that have been singing so persistently around the garden will be lurking in the undergrowth somewhere, trying to keep warm.  Upsets in the weather are common at this time, but this year the exceptional hot weather has made this April ‘shower’ seem rather more drastic than usual.  Hopefully these conditions will pass quickly and spring will be back on track!

About wildlifegardening

Jenny Steel was a Plant Ecologist at Oxford University before becoming a writer. She has more than 20 years experience of writing about and teaching ecology, natural history and wildlife gardening. She is also a photographer, journalist and former plant nursery owner, and a lecturer and tutor in adult education. She has appeared on a variety of radio and television programmes including Gardener’s World with Alan Titchmarsh, and she presented a series of items on the BBC 2 gardening show, How Does Your Garden Grow. She has worked with and written for a variety of organisations including the Royal Horticultural Society, Natural England, Atropos, Ernest Charles, the Adult Residential Colleges Association (ARCA), Haiths, Usborne Books, Complete Gardens, Oxfordshire County Council, the charity Growing Native and several of the Wildlife Trusts. She is also the Garden Bird Guru for the wild bird food company JustAddBirds of which she was a co-founder. The Emmy Award winning film company Panache Productions are currently making a film about her wildlife garden in South Shropshire. She has written 10 books on wildlife gardening. Her website can be found at www.wildlife-gardening.co.uk and her bird food company at www.JustAddBirds.co.uk
This entry was posted in British birds, Feeding Birds, Garden Birds, Garden Wildlife, Gardening, Meadows, Primroses, Wildflowers, Wildlife Gardening. Bookmark the permalink.

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