In the front garden the magnolia is flowering. It is quite late this year and thankfully the recent air frosts have not damaged the flowers (yet). I love this wonderful tree, it was in flower when I first saw this house, I thought it a great tree then and I still do.
Meanwhile the front side-lawn is looking like it needs mowing, this is because it does.
I am holding off from mowing it just yet to allow the winter aconites to gain strength through their leaves. I may mow it in a couple of weeks.
The Knot Garden is also looking a bit shaggy, but it is too early to trim it yet, a few more weeks to go until Derby Day.
The lilac that is by the corner of the house is starting to flower. I think I rarely mention this tree, I am usually pretty bad at pruning it and seem to only get flowers every other year. Thankfully this is a flowering year and the scent is divine.
In the back garden the pansies are still flowering and Bruce keeps them company.
The garden is looking like it is growing now, there is that wonderful early clean green that shows new growth.
The tulips are now doing their thing. Most of these have been in place a few years now and return quite happily.It is also the time of buds.
Peony buds, I love peony buds, they are such wonderful flowers.
So much of the garden is getting ready to flower, only a couple more weeks and they should be opening.The Bramley tree is in blossom
as is the eating apple tree
and the crab-apple
In the courtyard the camellia is flowering, the rhododendron lutea is heavy in bud,
and Richard is pushing a barrow full of echeveria
this seems to please him hugely.
The Spring Border is making me very happy at the moment, it is looking quite full and flowering well.
The Woodland Border is also quite flowery and has a small brown cat called Esme lurking in it.
What makes me very happy is that the Amicia zygomeris has got through the winter again. Every year it does this I hope it is getting a little stronger and will grow a bit larger.
The Prairie Borders still look scraggy, it is not the time of year for them yet.
In the Wild Garden I have started to cut paths through the grass,
Camassia are appearing alongside the cow parsley,
the meandering of muscari is still going well,
and it looks like it will be a good year for honesty.
The Illicium simonsii is starting to flower. Love this shrub, one of the few evergreens that I allow.
The Iford Cherry, planted last year, has flowered well this year. This has been a great relief as it was planted, dug up to avoid having the black poplar fall on it and then dug up again and planted here. It seems to have dealt with all this rather well.
This is one of the Aldi acers and it is now growing really well. It has taken a few years for it to get its roots happy and thrive but now it is becoming a rather fine tree. 
The Four Sisters have come through the winter well. The Carol Klein acer is also growing well now and also have not suffered from the recent frosts. Last year it got quite badly frosted but fingerscrossed it has got through this now.
The Edgeworthia is alive, this is good. Like the Amicia I breathe a sigh of relief when I see it has got through another winter and hope that it is another year stronger. Sadly the flower buds it was developing have dropped off, not sure if this is lack of rain or the recent cold weather. Now I shall hope for flowers next spring instead.
The veg beds are ready for veg, the potatoes have been planted out but the rest is still waiting for the frost to finish.
Seeds are germinating but after taking this photograph I had to re-fleece the greenhouse because the temperature has dropped so much.
The pond is full of parrot weed, tadpoles and several newts,
It is also quite low, this gravelly bit should be full to the edge with water. We need some rain please.Thanks as ever to Helen for hosting this meme, April has been a good, now for the delights of May.
