It's always good to see the tulips coming out and I must admit, of all the early flowers, this is one of my favourites.
They have such gaudy colours and some, have eccentricities bred in, such as my double headers with a mass of petals resembling peonies more than their own kind.
I have fluted ones, stripped ones, tall ones and short ones all vying for attention and with the number of bees in the garden, they've certainly had that.
Dandelions abound and spread their golden colour to all that will forage amongst the fine petals for sweetness and a dusting of pollen.
But the one I love the most? The unexpected one which pops up?
A small, but exquisite Tibetan orchid.
The downside to all this beauty are those small, green insects which have a taste for tender leaf sap - greenfly.
I have one rose which is very susceptible to them so I spend time most days squeezing the leaves together and squashing the greenfly between my fingers.
Fortune shone when I saw a pair of sparrows. They were hanging off the tips of the rose bush, picking greenfly and flying back to the nest.
Let's hope their offspring develop a love for this juicy morsel.....there are plenty more to come back for I can tell you.
