Peak iris

Finally finally the huge Arctic air mass has been pushed northward, although unhappily not off the UK yet. Everything has been on hold here except the grass and thankfully although temps got to 2C we had no frost.

A more benign wind blew from the south and all but a few patches of snow have gone from the mountains.

Snow in April is not unusual here but it is the contrast between increasingly early and hot weather and these late cold spells that is harder to handle. There again, they say you don’t see big olive trees in Tuscany because every twenty or so years a late frost kills them or knocks them back.


We had a bbq to celebrate although still chilly to sit for too long. Lovely evening light.

Those other flowers are phacelia- a green manure I planted in the autumn. The bees love them and I haven’t had the heart to strim them down. Lots and lots of grass cutting to be getting on with.