Spring garden- aquilegias

(Pictured above is Semi-aquilegia 'Little Lanterns')
I love this time of year but I can't seem to keep up with the weeds in the garden. Even though we have a drought here in the east of england the weeds still manage to grow lush and green. One genus of plants that don't seem to mind being on the dry side are aquilegias (aka grannnies bonnets) The deep dark double one above was a chance seedling that appeared in my garden. I love its dark dusky perfection.

Aquilegias are easily grown from seed but it helps if the seed is as fresh as it can be and germination is sporadic. At the moment I am trying Aquilegia 'Green Apples' and a few seedlings are up so hopefully next year I'll have a new variety to admire. I have just the place for them too, in my shady corner where I have ferns and saxifragas.

The bicoloured aquilegia in the photo above is 'William Guiness' or 'Magpie', not sure if it has aphids or a spiders web on it, looks a little dusty, but I don't use any chemicals in my garden so everything has to take its chance. works quite well most of the time.

The bluebells are late this year so I thought I'd dig out an old pic from last year.
We are so lucky to have this ancient woodland near where we live and the bluebells can flourish undisturbed, last year was a bumper year.
The weather changed on the tuesday after easter to nice and sunny from dank and cloudy, so I've started gardening. Each year I have all good intentions to keep on top of things but I never do, still, I do try lol!

The easter hare

There are lots of conflicting stories and legends about Oestre(Easter), the goddess of spring, and her hare. Some say he started as a little wounded bird and she turned him into a hare so he could run from his enemies, the only birdlike part of him that remained was that he could lay eggs.

The hare eventually evolved into the easter bunny. I like the idea of an easter hare much better.