It has been cold, windy and wet, as winter should be - but we are beginning to emerge from winter's grip. Gold lace polyanthus flowers, wet and somewhat bedraggled, light up a corner of the garden in Wellington's colours of gold and black.
And in anticipation of spring, a rather unkempt group of potted bulbs has made a start:
the lemon trumpets of hoop petticoat daffodils - Narcissus Aygarth; hyacinths - pink and pale yellow; a warm pink lachenalia; the pink and white flowers of Oxalis versicolor, resolutely furled up (they only open in decent sunshine) showing the reason they are called "candy cane" oxalis; and some little blue grape hyacinths. Behind the pot collection is a particularly lovely rosemary with rich blue flowers and amidst the pots you can see leaves of thyme, parsley, and nasturtium.
Neglected through winter, they are saying to me "get to work, tend us, spring is around the corner."
Guess it's time to comply with their request - garden ho.