Dear Readers, the auditors are in full swing and so although they don’t actually materialise at your shoulder with a lever-arch file and a quizzical expression, they still do the online equivalent, which involves lots of emails and all kinds of fancy software for uploading files. So, today I have spent many hours trying to track down invoices and explain exactly how we’ve allocated people across multiple expense lines. All this detailed work has a tendency to make me grumpy, and so I had a trot around the garden to see what was going on.

First up are the buds on my flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum). I am especially fond of this bush because it is the ‘child’ of my original plant, but has flowers that are much paler. It’s in a slightly sunnier spot than its ‘parent’, and must be a good week ahead in terms of flower development. It feels as if spring starts off slowly and then busts out everywhere..

I was looking for some more pond plants, and someone suggested figwort – this is native and a big favourite with the bees, so I bought five and am counting them every night to make sure they haven’t slid off the ledge around the edge of the pond and into the water. This morning there should have been five and I could only see four – when I went out to have a look, one pot had been dragged onto to the path, so that can only be the fox as the pot is too heavy for a cat. I spy what looks like a dead frog at the bottom of the pond as well, so I think I can piece the story together.

The marsh marigold will be out soon too.

We have one tiny cyclamen in flower, it’s been going strong for weeks.

And we’ve planted up yet more foxgloves. Let’s hope these actually get to the flowering stage.

I’ve bought some salvias cut price for the pots in the sunny spot at the bottom of the garden – they seemed very potbound to me, but let’s hope they’ll survive. The trouble with this location is that I can’t see the pond, though it is a lovely enclosed spot – I’m hoping to get so much pollinator-action going that I don’t aggravate my poor husband by leaping up to see what’s going on in the rest of the garden. We can only hope.

And the grape hyacinths look as if they’ll bloom soon, though there is a very high leaf to flower ratio. I’m thinking that I missed a trick and should have planted them next to the pond to provide some frog-cover. Next year!

And then there are my biennials – the angelica is doing well, and I’m really hoping for some flowers this year.

And for some teasel flowers – I think this is also technically a biennial (correct me if I’m wrong) but I’m hoping for lots of babies. I need to get stuck into those greater willowherb plants that are erupting too (you can just see them in the bottom left-hand corner) otherwise they’ll be everywhere. It looks rather as if the slugs have been having a go too, but hopefully the teasel can outgrow them.

And finally, the meadowsweet is popping through – this is such a boon for the hoverflies. If only I had a bigger garden, I think I might plant some more.

And so I head back for my laptop refreshed. At this time of year you only have to turn your back for a second and something pops up in the garden, so it’s good to keep a daily eye on things. Who knows what will happen next?