MARCH - "Daffodils, that come before the swallow dares..."
Daffodils along the roadside Daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares,
and take
The winds of March with beauty.
William Shakespeare
The daffodils here are at their very best just now. Walking out with Ginny and the dogs this morning, it seemed every bloom along our wall was perfect! Soon one will die - but not just yet! Gather ye daffodils while ye may!!!
Rudyard Kipling wrote a thoughtful little verse referring to the short life of the daffodil :
This season's Daffodil,
She never hears
What change, what chance, what chill,
Cut down last year's;
But with bold countenance,
And knowledge small,
Esteems her seven day's continuance
To be perpetual.
Trumpeting her loudest to welcome Spring!
The kitchen is fragranced with daffodils at present. Clem picked them in full flower on Saturday and they're still going strong on Monday. As soon as Christmas is over I look for those scant bunches of foreign daffodils which give a little post-Christmas cheer in the dark days of January and February. They look like little suns on green sticks. But they rarely smell of daffodils! The true scent of daffodils is stunning and, I think, underrated. It takes me back to Easter 1958 when I started school in Mrs. Snell's class at Epworth County Primary. The old classroom, with its high Victorian windows, was full of perfume from hyacinths, in pots, and daffodils - in jam jars no less! My maternal grandmother had been educated in that room too. She spoke fondly of her school days but had some eye-openers to share when we were a little older!
Susan Temperton and Florence Emerson in the School Playground - a few years apart!
Judith did some sorting in the outdoor larder, aka "Mum's Shed", last week and found a small cardboard box with some forgotten bulbs in it. Some were labelled as hyacinths and the others looked like crocus but the label wasn't clear. I put them all into a large planter with a yellow rose, "The Poet's Wife", and I'm hopeful. I have a vague memory of asking Clem to add them to an order she placed last autumn. Things happen and so plans change and the planting doesn't always get done but it's worth putting them in - even at the wrong time - as they may well bloom next year.
Another day, another dog walk, and the daffies are still looking glorious. We had rain early this morning so a few are keeling over a wee bit but they still lift their cheery faces to the sky. Today is the 39th anniversary of our move to Orkney and I'm reminded of the amazing displays of daffodils across the islands. They are everywhere. Winters can be a bit cruel in the far north and Orkney gets its share of gales so when the daffodils bloom in Spring they are more than welcome!
Stenness (Orkney) primary school photo 1987 Alexander and Holly Rose
Looking around the yard today, I see so many pots containing recently acquired plants which need further nurturing before they join the fellowship of growing things here. Down the garden, by the side of the pond, the new witch hazel is establishing itself amongst the trees which delight us each springtime. In the orchard our fruit trees have multiplied. 7 apple trees and 3 pear trees were planted last week.
It requires vision to plant trees. The vision is one of companionable trust in the future. Planting trees isn't a selfish act - it's for all time and for all comers. William Morris believed in connecting people in hope for a fairer society. He was all about the fellowship -
"Fellowship is heaven, and lack of fellowship is hell: fellowship is life, and lack of fellowship is death: and the deeds that ye do upon the earth, it is for fellowship's sake that ye do them".
Maybe our trees will not all survive - although they have been carefully chosen for their ability to withstand the northern climate - but the intention is to give something back to the land and its inhabitants. With the fruit trees, the desired outcome will be fewer pre packaged apples etc. and fewer air miles to bring fruit from abroad. The blossoms in the springtime will be an eagerly anticipated added benefit.
For years now, in springtime, I have shared the hair, from my hairbrush, with the birds so that they may make warm quilts for their nests. This year I won't be doing that because it has very recently been pointed out to me that any chemicals I use in the washing of my hair can adversely affect the babies in their nests. My shampoo is simple but apparently it isn't simple enough. I can still put out pet hair however - so that makes me feel a bit better about the whole thing! Because the birds are nesting now, I've started wetting the bread and cake crumbs which I put out for them - just in case there are babies - as dry bread etc. can stick in their tiny throats when the parent bird takes it back to the nest.
These little families are our close neighbours and we have a concern for their welfare. This weekend many people will be thinking of their mums on Mothering Sunday. I shall have four of my children here and two of my three grandchildren. My own mum will be 94 in June and is definitely worth a mention! Hi Mum! I know you'll be reading this later xx
It can be a sad time for some people. I think it's quite lovely to share flowers with someone who may not otherwise be given flowers. One Mothering Sunday, when I attended Saint Andrew's Church in Epworth, we were given tiny posies of violets as gifts for our mothers. I was given two posies - one for my mum and one to take to an old lady in the congregation who had no living family. I remember the feeling of absolute joy to have been picked out to offer spring flowers in this way. Violets are associated with, amongst other things, modesty and humility. The flower is so tiny and delicate and yet can withstand some fairly horrendous treatment by our late winter/early spring weather! They crop up in unexpected places here - and in just about every garden I have ever been a part of. I wonder when I planted my first violet? Probably when our first two children were babies and I tried to create a garden in some very poor topsoil. It was a tiny plot and the garden had little to recommend it other than the fact that it stretched all around the house which stood on a corner in the old part of Crowle, one of the major settlements in the Isle of Axholme. When we left there to live in Orkney, I took a few garden plants in pots and the shy violet hitched a ride. Since then it has remained faithful and has found a shady spot wherever we live.
The first of this month was a Saturday and, on that day, I started the 2025 gardening in earnest. To begin with, accumulations of leaves needed to be moved so that I could see what was underneath. The hedgehogs seem to prefer the little wood where they have a specially made hedgehog house. Quite honestly, I'm not sure they're using it - I think they prefer the piles of leaves around it. They gravitate to the wood but visit the garden often - I'm getting very good at identifying hedgehog poo!!!
Underneath the cottage garden leaf piles were all manner of exciting growing things. I found some strawberries which were choking each other in a small pot so I planted them out. It was a bit early really but three weeks later I saw beautiful new green leaves on them.
The sweet speckly-leaved lungwort is flowering blue and pink under a fresh sprinkling of dead leaves, The leaves just keep coming! Every time the wind blows more leaves appear in places they weren't before. A brush of a gloved hand and hey presto! Spring flowers!
I've cut back some dead stems to make space for the new shoots to come through on the herbaceous plants. I leave last year's growth over winter as it provides shelter for insects when they most need it.
I made mistakes too! While pulling out twitch, I also pulled out some carnations. I realised when I was about to take away the garden rubbish that the carnations were amongst it so I picked them out and planted them in a pot. Fingers crossed!
The following Saturday Judith was at war with the daisies in the shrubbery. They grow prolifically and are very pretty but they need taming a little. Another wild flower in the garden at present is the curious little coltsfoot. It grows between flagstones and in the semi-circle bed at the front of the house. I find it a fascinating plant. Its Latin name is tussilago farfara and comes from the word "tussis" which means "cough". The plant was used in the production of cough medicine. The leaves come after the flowers and can be quite large with a white woolliness underneath. But probably the thing I love the most about this little chap is the colouring - a rich yellow disc of petals, deepening at the centre, on a scaly green stalk which looks as if it has been given a faint reddish colourwash.
Coltsfoot in the Semi Circle Bed
A week ago I trimmed back the delicate spirea hedge which was overshadowing the wildflower border. I've sown wildflower seeds there since we moved here in 2021. I may repurpose it a little this year - but will need to have my wildflowers somewhere as I love them. Last springtime I planted three dogwoods there and this winter their bare red branches have given a shot of colour to the little cottage garden when the skies have been grey and nothing else comes alive. The wild flowers danced happily around them in the summer sunshine. I can recommend the dogwoods - and The Wee Garden Centre (part of The Wee Shop in Westfield near Thurso) who found them for me.
After trimming the hedge, and doing more tidying up in the garden, I went to sit on the swing. Everything was peaceful and the next day (20th) would be the Spring Equinox. The terribly sad winter - internationally, nationally and personally, was about to close and new life was emerging from the quickening earth. Today, a week later, I can appreciate Spring for the energy it brings - evident in flowering bulbs, budding leaves on trees and frantically nesting birds. The daylight is now longer than the darkness.
This has surely been the month of Mad March Hares! Every time we walk we see at least one. On Sunday, Clemency saw five within a small area as she walked the dogs early in the morning. The secret to enjoying hare activity lies in diverting the interest of the dogs. Once they have a whiff of hare, they're pulling mercilessly on their leads. There's no way I can restrain them once they have a hare on their radar! Walking without the dogs is the best way to enjoy the wildlife. I stood and watched the hares a few days ago. I don't know if they'd seen me but I don't think so as they played together so enthusiastically and joyfully. It was my privilege to have been there.
"What you looking at?" says Honoria the Hare.
Nine days into March, Ginny and Judith spotted the first bumble bee when they were on the drive. Ten days later, Ginny rescued a bumble bee on the yard after a cold night. She gave it sugar water. Magic! The poor little things must surely be confused when the days are light and warmer but the nights remain cold.
Grateful for the sugar boost!
The first furry caterpillar was shuffling across the road at the very beginning of the month. I wonder what makes them think it's a good idea to emerge so early?
Judith's Caterpillar Video - it's even funnier if you have background music!
We've all been checking the pond regularly for frogspawn - toad spawn too. Nothing so far! Unless it's underneath some of the vegetation which we have deliberately left there. I think the lines of toad spawn may be deeper in the water than the masses produced by frogs close to the pond surface.
I believe I saw the returning osprey by the river. I've seen them near our home before - once in April - but this is the earliest I have seen one here. They're big birds - about the size of the kite - and they are relatively easy to identify as there isn't really another bird which comes close to their description. They're fish-eaters and we have a salmon river in our valley so it isn't surprising they visit us. You too can fish the salmon river if you mortgage your house!!!!! It costs the osprey nothing.
That day - the day I saw the osprey - the waves along the Atlantic coast were spectacular. The white foam was significant and everything looked sharp and bright. A proper March sky with its interesting cloud formations made a canopy overhead.
In springtime, and lasting for quite a while, the flowering currant hedge gives a real sense of warmth to our hillside. We are very fond of it and it supports a myriad of wildlife - including bees, hedgehogs and blackbirds. When it isn't flowering, it's still stunning with its pretty, dainty green leaves. Last winter (2023-2024) the snow-plough broke off some of the hedge and so Judith and Clemency brought it home, took some small pieces off and dipped them into rooting powder. They placed them in plant pots and, one year later, the hedge cuttings are thriving!
The parent plants are thriving too!
Each hillside between here and Inverness seems to be covered in gorse. The gorse has been flowering for a number of weeks and will continue well past Easter.
The geese are moving in huge skeins and in all directions. I don't think they've made up their minds where they want to be just yet! Sometimes we will notice a skein in the distance and then another one to their side but going in the opposite direction. It's humbling how little I know about their movements. After a lifetime of looking up at the sound of their call, I realise I don't understand them at all.
Too many to count!
Recently we had a marvellous curlew experience while walking the dogs. We heard their various calls and saw them flying around us but we were also able to watch one on the ground. Since then they have accepted us as friend-not-foe and just go about their business without a fuss. It is amazing how the wildlife gets used to us and virtually ignores us after a while. Being able to remain still and quiet but not hiding seems to give them confidence in us. We're an obvious part of their territory but we pose no threat.
Sir Louis Curlewy, a fun and educational picture book which teaches children about these wonderful birds, will be out in the great wide world on Easter Monday! The ebook is available for preorder here, and the paperback will be available on the 21st April.
I saw my first lambkin of 2025 on the second of March and now the fields are full of them. Some sleep beside their mothers while others play and bounce from one field edge to the other - and there are those who do what sheep do best - eat! They look up as we go past but it's head down and munch as soon as they realise we aren't very scary.
On the twentieth of this month, Judith and Ginny were walking the dogs before work when they noticed a sheep who was clearly distressed in the corner of the field by our wee wood. Judith went to the farm and told the farmer that its legs were caught in wire. By the time she was back down the road, the farmer was there - he'd come through the field. Since we came to live at Stempster House, we have felt very comfortable about the level of care given to their animals by the farming family who live at the other side of our orchard. It feels really good to be a part of this farming landscape.
Looking through George North's diaries - the Lincolnshire farm worker whose hand written notes I treasure - I see that, on 10th March 1886, his cow calved and his ewe lambed. Just wonderful. The next day he was "killing pig". The two faces of animal husbandry.
The struggling little box hedge will need a bit of a haircut soon - the buddleia too - but I am a bit unsure about the forsythia as it is covered in new shoots and I was quite firm with it last year. I shall shape the jasmine under the wall between the yard and the front garden but I'll leave the one in the large pot by the conservatory to Clemency. We don't prune in the same way and she has been nurturing that particular jasmine. Does anyone else feel like a dragon when pruning? Sometimes I actually apologise to the plant in question, pointing out that it will be good for it in the long run!
I bought some very small tomato plants for Keith about two weeks ago and they are doing so well in the conservatory, They'll soon need to go into bigger pots. So strange to think that in a few months they will dominate the greenhouse. Every Christmas I put a packet of seeds by the setting of each person present for our two main Christmas meals - pork pie breakfast on Christmas Day and turkey dinner on Boxing Day. This year, I gave Keith seeds to grow aubergines - something quite new. He enjoys growing greenhouse plants so let's see!!
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During the last week I've noticed new voices in the Stempster Choir. I can pick out a few birdsongs but I'm no expert. These fresh notes simply tell me that the warblers and their friends are coming back to us for spring and summer. While the summer visitors settle in, the skylarks continue to assert themselves in the fields all around our home. Here's a verse from Shelley's "To A Skylark" - chosen because I think it is pertinent to these strange times through which we live:
Like a poet hidden
In the light of thought,
Singing hymns unbidden,
Till the world is wrought
To sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not...
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