The joy of weeding...

 I love our garden but don't do much in it apart from weeding. It's a task I try to do in the spring, writing deadlines permitting. Last year I couldn't get to it and the dandelions exploded. This year I was ready for them.

I'm a fair weather weeder and no fan of slugs and snails, so insist on gloves as well as a trowel. We have couch grass in our garden which is a pest, although dragging the long roots out is fun. Some grass I leave, such as round the fritillary. The cowslips are already blooming and have seeded themselves in our lawns as well. The birch is in pollen and the fruit trees are coming. I'm crossing my fingers, hoping that a late frost won't zap the blossom. Our onions and strawberries are thriving. Yesterday I spotted two huge bumblebees and cheered to see them.

What would a medieval person recognise in our 'flowery mead'? The primroses, cowslips, celandines, bluebells, snowdrops. The wild daffodils (which have shorter stems and longer trumpets than the cultivated kinds). Some of the older roses. The bluebells, teazels,  meadowsweet and pot marigolds that will appear later. The tulips would have been unknown to them, but I'm certain they would have loved them.

May Day's coming up and the weather's fine for now, so I'll keep weeding.