I’m not sure of the rules re trademarks but I am sure if I say that there’s a Paul Simon song that talks of ‘the nice bright colours’and ‘the greens of summers’ you will know where I’m coming from. Here we had a few of those sunny days and it cheered us all up. The garden has plenty of green and more and more other colours. Here’s six that I found this week.

One

The germanica irises opened this week. They went through a rough patch for about two years, overcrowding perhaps but they didn’t seem that crowded. I dug them up, didn’t manage to replant all of them in one go, left a pile to languish in the shed and eventually threw those out. These are the survivors and they seem happier.

Two

The early ‘Negrita’ tulips have been joined by ‘Spring Green’ and one or two ‘Ronaldo’ These have lasted extremely well, in their third or fourth year I think. I hope that doesn’t jinx it.

Three

I managed to get the second early potatoes in the ground this week. They are in the patch behind this row of miscellaneous tulips that also come back every year.

Four

This is a woodland anemone, a lovely plant that is entirely neglected from year to year. I think I say this every year but I’ll say it again – I must add more of them.

Five

These are some of the first tulips I planted in the garden about nine years ago. Have they all lasted all that time? I’m not sure, I know I have added to them over time. The combination is ‘Queen of Night’, ‘Shirley’, and ‘Barcelona’.

Six

Here’s the oddity of the week. I ordered 40 ‘Maureen’ tulips to fill a gap in my otherwise splendid row of these white gems. This is the first of the new batch to open and it is clearly not white. I think about 3 others will also open up orange. Not what was planned. I will post again when the real ‘Maureens’ have opened, it could be quite a contrast.

I broke a fork last week at my daughter’s garden. I seem to have lost a trowel – in the compost bin perhaps? It’s clearly time for a visit to the garden centre just when all the new stock is arriving. What a challenge. I’ve plenty of gardening jobs to do: finishing off cutting back the hydrangeas, weeding the raspberry plot, spreading out the leaf mould and sowing a few more seeds. April is a busy time but it’s good to be reconnecting with all that is growing. Happy gardening to you all. No post from our genial host Jim this week but his Garden Ruminations site will still host all the links.