An American in Britain

It’s nearing the middle of May, yet we’re still experiencing some chilly days.  So unlike this time last year.  I can make that comparison because we were here on holiday this time last year.  We’re expecting rain for the next couple of days, but the forecast has been amended several times in the last three days, so I really don’t know what to expect.

The early spring flowers have wilted, the lambs have grown so big (though one still managed to squeeze in between the wire fencing the other day to nibble on our grass), the trees have all blossomed.  Father Christmas brought our older daughter a flower-growing kit and she started that very early in spring.  So far, we’ve had a lot of growth, but no flowers yet.  One is going to be a giant sunflower, so I can expect that to take a very long time to produce a flower.  The other three are small flowering plants, so I’m hoping to see something soon out of the marigolds.  I’ve only tried planting marigolds from seeds once.  Unfortunately, that was around the time we sold our house, so I never got to find out if it bloomed.

I don’t have much of a green thumb, so I’ve left the managing of the plants to the kids and my husband.  Though I’ve helped transfer the plantings to progressively larger containers.  The plants have been kept outdoors for the last month and a half, and surprisingly, the birds did not bother with the seeds.  Or, at least, we don’t think they have.

We have a blossoming tree that flows into our yard but I have not yet identified it.  Besides the buttercups and dandelions, we have no other blooming plants at this time. The daffodils are gone and the bluebells are about to.  The roses have not come out and I wonder if they will.  They look like they could use some pruning.  I’ll have to try those shears.  You can see why I’m anxious to have some flowers growing. It just would not be an English cottage without some flowers.  Driving around the countryside, I am very envious of those beautiful cottage gardens.