violets galore

it has been the most beautiful spring here in north Norfolk. the flowers have responded to the mild and very wet winter, and the clumps of primroses in Cakes lane seem bigger than usual,

while on a sunny day the sweet scent of violets hangs around the patches of purple and white that stud the banks and ditches in Clip street.

two of these patches, a white, and a purple, will not see another spring. they are on an east facing vertical ditch-bank that is due to be dug up when they put the cable for the offshore windfarm electricity through here. I suppose on the scale of things it’s not very important, but it will be a sad thing for those of us who do notice these tiny details.

this is a piece of the white patch in question.

as for white flowers, the stitchwort has been starring the banks for a couple of weeks now. this is the lesser one.

the north wind we have now seems to have cut down the number of butterflies around

I saw this fresh and flippy comma soaking up sunshine earlier this week.

huge bumble bees seem to be the first pollinating insects, I see a lot of them on the rape crop I walk past daily, hoping that early contact will prevent the unpleasant symptoms I got last year on returning from Spain at the beginning of May. this field is very advanced

and I’m rather hoping the flowers will be over when I get back from my spanish trip this spring.

we still have a lot of blackthorn out, although the bushes in my garden dropped their petals a couple of weeks ago

other hedges of hawthorn have been greening since the last week of march

and the hedge bank growth is beginning to unfurl itself –

dogs’ mercury here

cowparsley in flower already …

pussy willows

and more primroses

violets galore

and just opening, jack in the hedge which attracts the orange tip butterfly.

in my garden I have clotted cowslips all over the grass where there’s no wear on it, and it’s not cut much

dwarf broad beans flowering – come on you bees!

and some faithful snakes head fritillaries in pots that come up every year when I have forgotten about them.