One would be a fool not to be excited on 1st April at the thought of what the month ahead holds for us in the country. Leaves are starting to appear on trees and in hedges, summer migratory birds are starting to arrive, butterflies are once again on the wing, flowers are really taking hold all around us and the days feel altogether much warmer. As I write this in late March I have already heard and seen my first chiffchaffs in our villages. I have seen red admiral, peacock, comma, small tortoiseshell, brimstone and small white butterflies and the daffodils are well and truly out in my garden.
The wonderful thing is that there is so much more to come. In the coming weeks we will welcome swallows and house martins back to our villages, there will be blackcaps and whitethroats in our fields and hedgerows and the migrant birds will continue to join us from their winter in southern Europe and Africa. There will be orange tip butterflies, holly blues and many, many more.
On 9th April we will be able to see what our village gardens have been producing in our first Garden Society Show in two years. Shortly after that we will be celebrating Easter. What joyful moments they will be!
April is a month of great change when spring really takes hold and our countryside is transformed on an almost daily basis. However, there can be Aprils when the weather is cold and wet. There have even been Aprils when we have had snow! Sitting in my garden writing these notes on a beautiful warm and sunny spring day that seems a little hard to imagine.
One of the great things about the English spring is that we never know exactly what to expect. Let’s hope that April stays sunny and warm.
Fingers crossed!
Andrew Snowdon
Spring Show