January's Rose

We went away to family, did some gardening and returned to three allotments sodden with heavy rain.  We started back to work in earnest this week.

Today we sorted a large heap of branches, leftovers from the helpful deeds of the relations of the lady of the house.  It is piled towards the rear of her garden, supporting brambles and bindweed and although not discernable from the kitchen window, is still something of a mess.  My husband chopped it down to recycling sized pieces ready for the next green bag collection.  Two robins came to investigate what was on offer.

I worked along one of the shrub borders, at times closely accompanied by the robins, taking ivy off the new fence, pruning back the buddleia, tackling another unnamed shrub and finally cutting suckers from the base of the climbing rose.  This rose had leaves and yellow rosebuds. I have taken home one inadvertent pruning and put in a vase. 

January's rose is usually the hellebore, the Christmas Rose that flowers first before it sends out leaves, coming up from the earth.  I have some yet to bloom under the apple tree in the allotment.

This morning, in this sheltered spot was like late February or early March.  The buds on the shrub I was pruning were beginning to turn green; bluebell leaves were visible and the bulbs we planted for our customer had survived the squirrels and were beginning to poke above the compost. 

I do not know what judgement to pronounce on the weather.  I am just grateful that we can work.