First flowers

Well technically they're not blooming yet, but the Daffodils are starting to make an appearance and will probably be flowering before the week is out.

During this past week we had some severe temperatures. -5c was recorded at some places. Well quite a few British plants are used to that sort of thing, but there are other which cannot take it. The Artichoke seems to have exploded in the cold.

I suspect that the sap in the leaves ruptured the cell walls causing them to fail. I'm not particularly worried by this though, as the central core of the plant appears to be fine. It will grow again. There is no stopping this beastie.

However the cold does mean that the plot is still not ripe for any significant work at present. All I did this weekend was dig out some weeds and hoe out some grasses from the paths. Nothing major, but certainly worth doing before the weeds and grass get a good foothold.