Anyone else got signs of Spring in their garden yet?

nellie we live in the South Downs -all chalk - think white cliffs. Clematis thrive here. So that is probably your answer, to you none thriving Nellie Moser.

Spring is the best time of year in our garden which is generally under attack from the GC. Even they like and respect the daffs, snowdrops, and crocus - and the blossom. We get a lot of birds too which gobble up the food - and cost me a fortune!

Nellie I bought some small eryngiums a few years ago - only they can't remember that they are supposed to be small and each year, despite cutting them down to the ground, they come up taller than me (okay, I'm only five feet, but still...)!

Chewbacca I am in the southeast of Cheshire. I am using rosefood as I have seen it recommended.

I have also thrown a lot of homemade garden compost over the roots and given my clematis a light sprinkling of garden lime as they seem to prefer a slightly alkaline soil to mine. They are quite heavy feeders.

Jalima my namesake has not done too well in recent years and has died. I do think I had been rather neglecting it. It certainly needs a more limey soil than we have. I will have to buy another Nelly Moser.

Rhodos and camelias do well here. we are on gritstones and sand. The limestone is a few miles east in the Peak district.

I have just ordered a lot of plants online from the RHS
1 Dierama "angels fishing rod"
3 Veronicas "red fox" 9cm pots
3 Small Eryngiums (sea holly.) 9cm pots
I am also rediscovering the perennials which I planted last year coming up. I may find I have more than I can remember buying. It is addictive.

daffodils, catkins, crocuses, primroses and little lambs in the fields

I'm at the edge of the Pennines Espee and we're still having flurries of snow and early morning ice patches. There are still snow bones on the hills from the last light snow fall last week. There are a few tiny lambs about but they're being kept mainly indoors for a little while longer. A few daffodils, crocus and grape hyacinth are beginning to show in neighbouring gardens, as well as primulas and primroses, but we're definitely behind the majority of people who are posting here! On the plus side, the house sprarrows seem very active and busy nest building so surely, we're due to get warmer weather soon! a couple of degrees would be an improvement .

Chewbacca you must be way up north or at a high altitude. In the central belt in Scotland the snowdrops are going over, the crocuses are at their peak with the daffs starting to warm us with their blast of sunshine yellow. I have Pulmonaria, primulas, primroses and phlox in flower, Kerria japonica about to erupt and Aliums putting on an early spurt. Spring is here!!!

What's ice?

Frogspawn? Wow! We've still got ice on the ditches around here!

N somerset daffy, crocus, primroses and mounds of frogspawn.
Also my mirabell plum is in full flower. No bees yet so no plums!?

West Midlands.Primroses have been out for some time.Daffodils are all out as well.

www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=346
It could be Nellie Moser, be careful how you prune her.

No idea what type it is Jalima , it was here before me! But it flowers around June time and then again later July/August, but not as vigorously. There's so little soil visible that it's difficult to know where plant food could be applied. Congratulations on your ants, I've not even seen that much of a sign of Spring yet!

We have had two ants running across the kitchen floor

I am rather ruthless and would probably give it a good pruning if it is getting straggly.

However, they do say 'Flower before June - do not prune' so it depends which type it is

Nelliemoser Are you a June to September flower?

Nellie can I ask what you feed your clematis on? I've got 4 clematis, in various parts of the garden, but the one that grows over my porch is the biggest and last year it was getting to be really straggly at the bottom. It had plenty of flowers and growth further up but looks very weak and stringy lower down. I wonder if a feed would encourage better and more even flowering but I'm not sure what type of feed to use because there's hardly any soil visible (it's growing from underneath a slab of fence post concrete!)

My wood anemone are at last coming through. I am delighed. but I will have to carefully transplant them out. Geranium Rosanne shoots are visible. The Brunera I thought was a gonner is showing through.
I had a really lovely afternoon in the garden feeding the roses and clematis chucking on rose food and garden compost.
I have a number of shrubs waiting to go in. The clematis montana is showing its buds.
I have also trussed the Rector onto some branches.

Does anyone put their signs of Spring on the Woodland Trust Nature's Calendar?

www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/natures-calendar/

Yesterday. A bumblebee also, primroses and cowslips.

There was a battered tortoiseshell butterfly on my windowsill today. Lots of blackthorn blossom out around here and nettles growing already.
I'm in the south but high up so not the mildest. It's probably still winter in Scotland.

Just come back from second walk and meant to say before how lovely it is to see all the new green growth. The cow parsley is about a foot tall now 2 or 3 months and it will be a mass of white foam.

Bumbles have been around for a while now. Feel a bit bad as I had a complete clear out this autumn to get things under control. This involved cutting out all the flowering shoots of a winter clematis which the bumbles visit all the time during sunny days in the winter. Still should be lots for them next year.

The skylarks were delightful this morning on our Downland walk.

I just noticed a clump of crocus in full bloom, in the middle of the patch that I use to plant a few vegs I have no idea how they got there as we've never had bulbs in that area before and we've been here 18yrs

Today...snowdrops still in bloom, also tete a tete narcissi all out,some of the croci too, and tulips up and almost in bud.Now, this is all wrong! Snowdrops should be well over by now( late arriving) narcissi are right for the time, but the tulips should be end of April according to the packaging of the bulbs that we bought.Also, primroses are out, but nothing like the magnificent show of them we had last year.