April's Promise

Our valley and the Gironde Estuary

In spite of a mild winter, many birds were slow to arrive in March and we had to wait until April to hear the first cuckoo and admire the first swallows swooping over our valley.  Since then, it's been a constant procession of new arrivals: the exotic hoopoes with their three-note calls; the rather irritating wryneck (a small woodpecker) and most recently the incomparable nightingales, who fill the air with their liquid song but are almost impossible to see now that trees are in leaf.

La rainette (Hyla arborea)

Meanwhile in our garden the tree frogs are in full voice, croaking loudly to one another when not basking in the sunshine.

They seem to enjoy gardens and human company... several times I've found one gently sleeping inside a rose or an iris, looking rather jewel-like with their strange golden eyes.

It's noticeable how many of the flowers in bloom right now are either white or blue/mauve, with aubretia and honesty being particularly attractive to butterflies.

Large White

We allow the honesty to seed itself quite freely where it fills in some of those awkward shady areas under trees and hedges. 

They produce mauve flowers which are particularly intense in colour and eventually you get disc-shaped seedheads which help to scatter the plant in winter.

Lunaria annua

Orange Tip butterfly on aubretia

Another early visitor which flutters around the garden regularly is the Orange Tip butterfly, which is prettily marked in white and orange with a totally different camouflage pattern on its underwing.

Other butterflies visible now are the Wall and Speckled Wood - both brown with spots and fond of sunbathing.  (Who can blame them??)

Early morning light

Although it's still a bit cool to eat breakfast outside, we like to be up in time to enjoy that wonderful golden light which floods our back garden as the sun comes up over the hill.  

Flowers are illuminated against dark shadows, adding drama to photos and saturating colours to a point where they almost look unreal.  A magical moment.

Wallflowers are especially bright and I'd recommend growing a Persian Carpet mix from seed in late summer, so you can plant them out whilst it's still warm and let them bulk up over winter.

Cheiranthus 'Persian Carpet'

We also left a few in containers so that we can move them around our seating areas to provide some instant colour.  Their velvety flowers are complemented by a rich scent and although the colours are vivid they never seem to clash.

A Walk on the Wild Side

As soon as our weather started warming up about a week ago we took an evening stroll through nearby woodland and were surprised by the variety of wildflowers scattered across the sandy soil and leaf-litter.

Stichwort (Stellaria holostea)

Starry flowers of Greater Stichwort are reminscent of British woods and verges, as are clumps of Solomon's Seal, Bugle, Herb Robert, Speedwell, Sweet Violet and Celandine.

Apart from firs, these woods are home to broadleaved trees such as hornbeam, oak and cherry, providing a rich humus for small perennials.

An English carpet of Scilla non-scripta

We even came across a clearing of bluebells which is quite unusual this far south.  They were akin to the delicate English variety rather than those butch Spaniards, Scilla campanulata, which can be found in gardens around here.
Alas there weren't enough to produce that intense blue haze associated with British woods!

On the other side of the road from this attractive woodland is an even sandier area full of mysterious and eye-catching asphodels.

According to Greek mythology, this was a meadow lily of the underworld and people used to plant them beside graves so that the aromatic roots would nourish the dead as their souls departed.  No wonder it looks rather ghostly and other-worldly at dusk... 

Asphodelus albus in a forest clearing