The old saying “March of many weathers” was very true for the first few weeks of the month with wind, snow, thunder and plenty of rain. It was a shock after the lovely weather we had in February. The good weather back then even tempted us to sow some seeds in the garden – broad beans and peas as well as some onion sets. The soil was perfect.

Farmers took advantage of the good spell and most ploughing and some sowing was done early. We don’t sow our early potatoes until the end of the month in the midlands as frost can be severe, even in May.

By now our little glasshouse is full of sprouting seedlings ready for transplanting outside in April and the soil will hopefully have warmed up by then. We had some strong broccoli and lettuce plants ready for earlier transplantation. I leave them outside for periods of time to harden them up.

In the flower plot the daffodils were hit hard by a heavy fall of snow earlier in the month, but they recovered well

There are also a nice lot of tomato plants coming on for planting out in the glasshouse in April. Garlic is flourishing as it was sown last August and with all of the mild weather it got no setback.

In the flower plot the daffodils were hit hard by a heavy fall of snow earlier in the month, but they recovered well. The snowdrops are long gone but there’s still time to propagate them ‘in the green’. Just divide clumps into five or smaller clumps and plant. It’s a great way to build a carpet of snowdrops.

We also have lots of border seeds ready for planting out when the daffodils die back. There is one little plant which I have always been fascinated by and that’s the marsh buttercup. My mother would always take us through the fields to learn about nature when we were young, and the marsh buttercup always impressed me with its bright yellow petals against beautiful dark green leaves.

Even the hedgerows along the sides of the road are full of plants that no one has to ever tend too. Of course most are weeds and it’s worth taking time to study as years ago most were used in herbal remedies.

Another lovely shrub this time of the year is the wild “furge” with a perfume of its own that’s something similar to the woodbine. Even the hedgerows along the sides of the road are full of plants that no one has to ever tend too. Of course most are weeds and it’s worth taking time to study as years ago most were used in herbal remedies.

You will find buttercup, vetch, clover cow parsley, which is a plant I saw used as a border in one of the Bloom gardens. It has a nice white blossom and grows in perfusion along our little country road. There are cow slips, dog rose, wild forget-me-not, foxglove, bluebells and the lovely dog daisy.

Up the road is Corrig (Carrick) Wood, which has a carpet of bluebells at this time of year. It is a great time of the year with so much to do in the country; nature is at its peak now after the dark days of winter. So get out and enjoy and happy gardening to all. Get the children out also as there is no better way to teach them about nature and they will love it.