After a bout of rain and overcast days, the latter part of March was also unexpectedly warm and benign. The buds are ready to burst on the blackthorn trees, one of the earliest native trees to flower, and many types of daffodils have come out in the last few weeks tempted by the rising temperatures. The warm days also allowed me to finish digging over and re-shape the wide herbaceous border at the front of the house, which runs the entire length of the south side of the garden. I am pleased with the overall design of the bed which snakes around the newly created pond in a series a curved sweeping lines. I am worried however, that my verbenas, one of the main features of the border in the centre, have not survived the winter. I will have to wait and see what emerges as the spring progresses … I now realize I should have mulched them thoroughly before the onset of the winter cold and to protect them from undue wet! Plants in flower now are the many varieties of primula, including the native primrose, lots of cowslips and auriculas. My glorious mimosa is covered in blooms as is the New Zealand ‘Solerno’, several varieties of pulmonarias and early white rhododendrons.