First vegetables were actually eaten in January, as the chard and rocket kept going all through the winter. Some things never stopped, e.g. the lobelias in the pots at the front, north-facing etc.......the last sweet pea flowered in December. Well, it was mild.................and in parts of England, terrible flooding, but none for us. So this year everything more or less on schedule. The garden has kind of done its own thing with little assistance from us so far, but another Easter in Cornwall doing a major blitz on the Lost Gardens of Tregaminion reminded us that our own little patch is a bit neglected so a modest amount of tidying has been done, and today we had our first lunch outside with the frogs. Spring has sprung. The cherry tree is in full bloom, lilac just on its way but no roses yet. Have planted new rescue rose Crown Princess Margareta in the bed next to the organic rose and hope they will get on. All last year's seeds which we planted in the full expectation that they would not come up actually have, so there are lots of baby sage, Oriental poppy and delphinium plants to be accommodated, and a new caryopteris (son of very old one from Colinton Road which must now be about 20..........) and a spare lemon verbena. Herbs have mostly made it so only dill and basil to plant: for some reason the borage has all decided to grow in the front garden this year rather than the back for reasons best known to itself, which means a long walk from the kitchen to get the flowers for our drinks, gracious living has its price...................