Sunday morning. We are slowly morphing into Summer and great change is in the air…one can smell it, for the earth is opening, pushing life outwards in a great birthing. Summer comes into the west of Ireland as April sets on the western horizon…the ancient festival of Bealtaine draws near!
There is a “filling-in”, all across the gardens, a “painting by numbers”, effect as the buds open and colour wash the landscape in shades of green and soft water colours.
I walked out through the gardens this morning taking these pictures as I went. Early morning in the gardens is a special time, for the light casts shadows and highlights plants and trees that over the course of the day seem quite ordinary.
Both the orange blanket and the old window have been lifted off emerging seedlings and young plants so they can enjoy the sunshine and warmth of the brightening day.
Jack loves to sleep on the wooden veranda of the studio where the heat of the sun mellows into perfect basking mode!
Tender seedlings, so beloved of snails and slugs, now hang from impenetrable trees, high above the restaurant queue that shuffles around below…
Honesty has won the race against London Pride in being the first to flower…and what a show off! The purple flowers are a spectacle in themselves!
The promise of Summer in early blooms…nothing lifts the heart higher than this…
Magnolia Stellata has opened to reveal the perfect soft white that is the most flattering white of all!
The woodland fills out more and more with every passing day…
Apple blossom is waiting in the wings to make a grand entrance!
Bluebells and Ferns emerge from their slumbers and in good time as the woodland awakens.
All is well, all is well!