Dear Readers, when I went off to Canada a few weeks ago, my window box was looking pristine – some lovely cyclamen, and a rather attractive fern. On my return, I thought it looked a bit ropey but put it down to lack of water (though goodness only knows it appears that the UK has had lots of rain). However, on closer inspection there was something rather unusual poking up like a little bald chap through the soil.

Before I left, I put out some eggs for the fox – they were just past their sell-by date, but would have been defunct by the time I got back. And it looks as if the little devil has jumped onto the garden table, then onto the windowsill, and has cached two of the eggs in the window box. I just wonder if she’ll be back for them later? I shall keep you posted.

And in other news, the squirrels have taken the top off of the squirrel-proof feeder again, and goodness only knows where it’s gone. I have combed the area but no sign so far. And I’m pretty sure that I screwed it back on tight, so they must be more dextrose than I gave them credit for.

Squirrel-proof feeder no longer!

But it’s not all bad news. My whitebeam and hawthorn trees (which I decided to postpone pruning until the autumn because it was getting a bit late in the spring) are looking magnificent. The white lilac is quietly turning into a tree as well.

My marsh marigold is in full flower (though I note that the duckweed is coming back and is going to need a bit of skimming).

The geranium is doing well as cover for frogs, and the green alkanet has rather taken over. That’s a fine digging-out job for someone at some point, but at the moment I’m just pleased to see something thriving. And I just spotted some bindweed poking out of the geraniums, so there’s yet another job. Every year we go away to Canada in the spring and then I spend the rest of the year playing catch-up. Hey ho!

And finally, my winter-flowering honeysuckle, which was basically a twig, has really taken off this year, two years after it was planted. It’s a funny thing, that – some plants really do take a while to get established and happy. I’m hoping for great things later in the year.

My winter-flowering honeysuckle.

So, it’s all go in the garden. How is yours doing, if you’re lucky enough to have one? The weather has been most peculiar here this year – Toronto actually felt warmer than London, whereas usually it’s balmy in comparison. And I can tell that it’s been raining buckets, but then a lot of the plants seem to have thoroughly enjoyed the conditions. Let’s see what the rest of the year has to offer.