Primroses

This has been a typical April week in the garden in that you didn't know what the weather would do next. First we had some lovely warm days and then, suddenly that really cold snap set in.  Most of my fruit trees are not in flower yet and the damson and plum flowers are not damaged, but there are not many insects about so there may not be many fruits.  

Victoria plum blossom hoping for insects

The little magnolia, so spectacular in it's snowy white, overnight became a muddy brown but nothing else seems to have suffered. 

I am waiting for a delivery of Desirée potatoes - ten of them - which I will plant (no dig) up by the shed. I tried them in bags last year but it's really difficult to water and feed them sufficiently in containers, I prefer them to be in the ground. I was a bit late in ordering them so I wonder if they will have been chitted. I don't think it probably matters too much actually. 

Monday, 19 April will be Primrose Day, marking the anniversary of the death of Disraeli in 1881. Disraeli was apparently so fond of primroses that Queen Victoria used to send him bunches of them. 

 The reason I know this is because the 19th  was also my father's birthday.  He would never have voted for Disraeli, being a confirmed Liberal but we always used Primrose Day as an excuse to make him cakes iced with primroses and pick him big bunches of primroses for his birthday.  

Primroses by my great aunt Jinny (c.1880s)

Primroses really lend themselves to being brought indoors and arranged in little vases and jars. My great Aunt Jinny (my father's aunt) was an amateur water colour painter. Her painting of primroses was a feature in my home for as long as I can remember and now  hangs in my daughter's home. 

My daughter, Jane Glynn is an artist and she is painting primroses this spring.  

Primroses by Jane Glynn (2021)

This is certainly primrose time in my garden. And I am not the only creature to enjoy them. Last week when it was still warm I found what I thought was a bee on one of the primroses. It turned out to be a bee-fly (Bombylius major)  which is furry and looks rather like a mason bee but has a long long tongue, a single pair of wings, no waist and it hovers. My insect book shows a bee-fly on a primrose too, so my garden must be a huge attraction for it because primroses and cowslips are everywhere. 

Bee-fly on primrose