It was a busy Easter Holiday in the Garden with plenty of small visitors hunting Easter eggs, making Easter baskets and searching for wildlife in a series of exciting Museum workshops.

Mature Apple Tree in garden full of blossom set against blue sky — Blossom on mature apple tree

Now, after the shock of late frosts then sunshine but no rain, the Garden volunteers were back on the last Monday of April with plenty to do!

Here we all are on a typical gardening day. Gardeners come in for a few hours, or for the day, bringing lunch. Everyone checks out their special patch then settles down to tasks. On this particular Monday, it’s serious weeding and thorough watering , looking forward to catching up with news ( and maybe some cake) over tea- break.

Group of volunteer sitting beside shed enjoying conversation and a hot drink — Volunteers enjoying a rest and a hot drink

Volunteers weeding the hot bed border — Weeding in the hot border

Geoff unpacked and set up our new wood chipping machine and gave it a good trial; the shreddings are going straight into our compost bin, mixed with leaves and stems (no roots or seeds!) , grass mowings, and a little torn-up cardboard.

Volunteer sitting on bench sharpening a pair of secateurs — Sharpening Secateurs

Sarah, having checked all her veg and fixed pet portraits on to her new idea for this year, the Pet Salad Bar, settled down to a bit of secateur -sharpening.

Volunteer standing up potting up new plants for sale — The potting area

Marion - who had frantically been keeping the plant sales tables stocked up during the holiday (with thanks to Caroline too, who has been nurturing cuttings and seedlings offshore in her own garden) - has a lot of potting up to do to keep ahead of sales.

We are so pleased that the money we raise is enough to pay for any new plants that go in and the occasional piece of equipment and organic manure; it's good to know the garden is self-supporting.

We, the Garden volunteers, do all try to take a minute or three to just stand and look, too; we are not always on our knees! Working in this garden and being involved in its evolution is a delight. Right now, the blossom is breath-taking, Spring has arrived in the meadow, the tulips are stunning, the auricula theatre has just opened its 2022 show, and the irises - oh yes, the irises! - will be up within the next few weeks and then the garden will astonish everyone all over again!

Early May, and the walled garden is starting to burst into bloom. Or burst into radishes - we picked the first ones on Monday! The front of house wisteria echoes the blue of the irises below, and our wonderful iris collection is starting to appear in the walled garden. Visit us any time in the next few weeks for a breath-taking display…