Spring has arrived.

The sun has put in a few appearances, and the birds are singing. The bulbs are up, and the depressing morning scrape of the early morning car windscreen seems like a distant memory already.

Of course, it could easily revert back to give us the coldest winter since records began. In late March 2013 for example, my garden was covered in snow, and my Crocus ‘Giant Ruby’ flowers were peeking out from under it.

Thankfully, they’re not hidden so far this year, and their cheery purple flowers are an uplifting dash of colour every day, as well as acting like massive advertising billboards for any sleepy and hungry bee that’s emerging from its nest.

In October, my uncle died. His garden was packed with pots – all blank, alluding to mysteries beneath the compost. In a bid to move these pots, my mother and I emptied the whole lot – discovering tulips, daffodils, Crown Imperials, and even a few potatoes. Whilst most of these bulbs have now gone off to my mother’s garden, I shared some of the pots, and these are now home to the bulbs that I’d recently bought.

Whilst clearing out one of his sheds, I found a plastic bucket with some random bulbs in – I couldn’t identify them – some were small and round, others were long straggly and thin. It felt right to let life carry on, and to enjoy whatever these were on his behalf. So, I’ve planted them in a pot labelled ‘mystery bulbs’ and I guess we’ll find out in a few months.

Are bulbs on flower in your garden yet? Any new ‘first-time’ blooms?

Happy gardening.

Andrew