The Sad and Sorry State of the Rosebank Garden in April . Spring Cleaning and a Hidden Surprise

My garden hasn't taken kindly to the icey blasts of wind and blizzards this spring.  One or two brave plants have put out expectant buds but others have succumbed to the cold weather and I am not sure whether they will survive in their wait for more warmer weather.

Daffodils / Crocus / Tulips and Pansies

There is still very little to show in the garden - everything has been on hold for so long - just waiting for its chance to shine.

The spring borders which would, in a normal year, be full of colour, are struggling.

Everything is dried up and the soil is barren.

Only the evergreen plants are hanging on to their foliage - sadly some look the worse for wear - like the cotoneaster tree in the front garden, whose evergreen leaves are burnt, as you can see from the photo below.  The leaves are sparse and it doesn't look very healthy at all

The leaves have been scattered all over the lawn and onto the borders

I really hope it isn't damaged irrevocably as the birds feast on the berries all winter.

You can see the ground is still frozen - this bed was full of tulips till something unknown, probably a badger, dug them up.

The hellebores have flopped and are looking pretty sorry for themselves

The rhubarb is through but nowhere near as advanced as others I have seen

but the rosemary seems to be doing all right

The garden really does appear to be in  a sorry state and I am not sure how many plants I will have lost over winter but I am going to start sowing flower seed this weekend - from the look of it I am going to have a lot of gaps to fill.

Spring Cleaning

I was listening to Radio 4 this morning and heard an interview with a 96 year old woman talking about how spring cleaning had been a yearly ritual all her life.  It put the idea into my head and I decided to start on the spare room.  Big mistake!  It took me all day and now I'm absolutely pooped.  But one or two good things came out of it.  I had forgotten about some of my paintings that were stored under the bed - I gave up painting a long time ago, so it was a nice surprise to see them again.

This one was called Nightshade for some reason I can't remember now

And this one was of a rotten old tree  I found in the woods.

Something else I found were photographs - one of me with two of my goats from my smallholding days

this is me kissing Rosie, my favourite milker and her daughter Mary Ann.

and this is one of the first lambs we produced - I can remember sitting up all night with the ewe who was taking her time but we just didn't want to miss the birth

A Dish to Make

Corned Beef Hash

A Book to Read

Toby has always protected his sister, Elinor, their bond closer than they can acklowledge.  Then comes war, and in 1917 on a French Battlefield Toby is reported 'Missing, Believed Killed'.  Elinor, an artist now involved in helping surgeons reconstruct the faces of injured soldiers, is determined to find out what happened and writes to the horrifically wounded Kit Neville, the last man to see Toby alive.  But Neville is in hospital himself damaged beyond recognition, and he will not talk - until Elinor asks fellow soldier and her former lover Paul Tarrant for help. 

But are some truths better left concealed?

How has your garden fared over the winter?