And it's the end of April already

We havn't had a chance to blog for ages.  Here's why.  We went to Crete en famille for a week to see the flowers but had an extra two days due to the volcano, then three more days to get home over sea and land via Athens, Patras, Ancona and Bologna where we were very lucky to get a flight to Gatwick.

The plants around Chania were fab then we moved to Enagron near Ancos in the Psiloritis mountains and found lots more amazing and delightful plants.  The weather got better and better and it got quite hot at midday, even in the mountains.

One of the most spectacular plants was Petromarula pinnata, ;eft, which is endemic (an endemic genus, no less) and to be found on cliffs and rocks all over the island.

Weather in Crete over the winter was unusually warm and many plants including orchids were over but we did find some nice ones.  We visited Mount Ida and found a neat little alpine on the calcareous cliffs.  But look at it more closely and you see it is woody and actually a dwarf tree.  It is Prunus prostrata, the Cretan wild cherry.

April at last

March went out like a lion, and it's still pretty cold, but the roses and viburnum are coming in to leaf at last. Plus, it's daffodil time! Plus, there are tulips sprouting in the borders from last year's display and the tulip bed by the shed is looking promising and the tulips Sue planted in a pot for us are elegantly budded up and we can't wait to see what they are.

Lots of plusses, then, plus a very very long list we made today of a few hundred things that need doing. Yesterday Edgar and Anastasija and I started filling in the area where the corrugated hut used to stand. After an hour, it was clear that I will have to find a lot of soil or compost from somewhere else to create a level garden patch in that north-sloping corner. Plus, there is the stump of that big beech tree to remove somehow.