Tags
bee hive, bee orchids, cornelian cherry, crocus, discs of ice, February, garden, hazel catkins, ice, ivy, Jelly Ear fungus, landscaping, lichens, moss, pond, scrub clearance, seedheads, snowdrops, Suffolk, tree surgery, Viburnum, wild cherry, willow, witch-hazel
We had a bright but chilly day recently, so I took the opportunity to photograph a few interesting things I saw on a stroll round our garden.
We have two wild cherry trees and I noticed the buds beginning to swell on this one.
There is a rough patch of land beyond our compost heaps, in-between us and one of our neighbours which has patches of snowdrops.
The catkins were blowing about in the strong breeze and I gave up trying to focus on them. The female flowers were just beginning to show as well but again, my camera wouldn’t take a clear picture of them.

I liked the look of the Ivy (Hedera helix) growing up this Horse Chestnut (Aesculus Hippocastenaceae ) tree trunk
As you might be able to see, there are any number of lichens growing on this tree trunk. I couldn’t get a clear shot of any of them so I copied the photograph above and then cropped it. The result wasn’t too bad though not good enough to identify the lichens. This was only a very small area of the original photo.
A few dead trees have been blown down in recent storms and I found this fungus growing on one of them.

Just after Christmas we had a landscape gardener come and cut back this willow which had grown lots of suckers and had spread too much.
This is the island where the Greylags have always nested. Last year the nest was abandoned after it was attacked by something. We had hoped that by clearing the island the geese would have better visibility and would have earlier warning of danger from otter or mink. They have usually visited by mid February but there has been no sign of them yet this year. After a very wet winter the pond has re-filled and the reeds that were threatening to take over have been swamped. They will survive under water so we will have to dig them out eventually if we wish to retain the pond as it is.
The pond had been frozen but the sun had melted most of the ice. Just these tiny discs of ice remained. Out of focus again, I’m afraid.
I was pleased to see the green rosettes of new leaves at the base of the old flower stalks.

Another view of the pond. Richard has been working hard clearing most of the brambles and other scrub plants from around the pond during the last week. The dead grass and brambles in the foreground of this photo are no longer there!
Not many days before this photo was taken I had seen newts swimming in this pond. The water is cleaner here than in the other larger pond as there is no chemical run-off from the agricultural fields.
As are the crocus…..
This tree is awaiting the right time to plant it out into the garden – it is in a large pot. Meanwhile, it has decided to flower in a small way!
We have been told to expect some more cold weather during the next week or two so many of these flowers will suffer, no doubt.
I leave you with a favourite song from Enzo Enzo – ‘Juste Quelqu’un De Bien’.
Thanks for visiting!