The same patch of daffs that was opening up last week is still in a state of suspended animation due to the decidedly winterish temps. Most of the rest of the Narcissus in the Bosquet are snuggly budded and will probably wake bright-eyed sometime during the 3rd week in April. It’s so great when the big show (50,000 altogether – it’s daffolicious!) coincides with Blithewold’s ‘Daffodil Days’ opening festivities!

Other bloomers at this very moment (not to be outdone by a couple of early daffodils) are Scilla siberica, Iris reticulata and this Petasites japonicus aka Butterbur.These sweet fist-sized clusters of flowers are followed by ginormous leaves the size of mini Coopers (I exaggerate – but only a little). They prefer moist shady locations where they can run (say it with me: “invasive”) and sometimes look a little wimpy (say “flopsy mopsy”) in the full heat of summer. But they’re COOL (says me) from the start!