Another week of early spring. Some good signs, with sweet peas and lettuce coming up in the greenhouse. Some less good, with a mouse nibbling on chitting tatties, and pea seedlings all rotting. I can’t believe that it was one year ago this week that was my last ‘normal’ week at work, but so the year turns. Just as well we didn’t know then what we’d be doing one year on. For my #sixonsaturday I have a mishmash of edible promise, beautiful flowers, and welcome wildlife. First up, this could be the last week for hellebores. This is one of my best photo’s yet, of my favourite plant. The flower is luscious, yet perfect.

The still bare borders are losing the snowdrops now, it’s almost time to transplant them. In their place scilla are popping up their cheerful blue heads.

I have nurtured a brown-leafed celandine in a rose pot for a few years. This year it’s leaves seem variegated, an interesting flourish or a nutrient deficiency? It’s hard to say. I do like the way the chocolate leaves set off the first bright yellow flowers of the year.

In the edible garden, the first genuine stirrings of spring are here. The first bud of rhubarb. Granted, it’ll be a while until this will make a crumble, but I’m hoping the plant will thrive in 2021 as a large shrub next to it has been pruned back very hard to open it up to more sunlight.

The first greenhouse nutured plantlets are almost ready to go out. Broad beans have been hardened off for a few hours a day. I can’t wait to eat their young beans in a pillau rice with dill and caramelised onion. I’d thought of planting them this weekend, but frost in due, maybe I’ll hold off for a few more days.

Last, on 11th March, a number of frogs appeared in the pond (at least 4). Within a couple of hours, and a fair bit of wriggling (the joys of working from home), there was a huge mound of frogspawn. There are now a couple of frogs to be seen most of the day, on babysitting duty. I do love a pond, so much wildlife (the newts are likely to appear any day, they do like a bit of fresh meat in jelly).

That’s my #sixonsaturday for this week. Do join in, there are lots of contributors on Twitter, and more via the regular blog from #SixonSaturday initiator, the great Propagator.