The first flower

We've been working in the garden. Usually first thing in the morning, which is a favourite time of day and at the moment, the coolest. Depending on what's happening, we try to get out again in the early part of the evening. Probably we're totalling up around an hour a day. It does make a difference being able to get out there regularly. The ground can bake hard here and when it's like that, there's nothing you can do, except wait for some rain to soften it up a bit.  So we're working fast.

The most difficult thing is the cooch grass which took root while we were in the UK. There's no other way than to dig it up. It's quite satisfying, and right now, not too dry. So the fork is going in easily,  the grass isn't proving difficult to pull out and the soil is dropping away very nicely from the roots. This grass is a nuisance though, particularly when it grows up through another plant. You can't get at it.

Colour in our garden at the moment is coming from the azaleas. We've one particular bed at the back that's full of them. They're at different stages, with the red and yellow flowers being the most advanced.  The pinks and purples are still in bud stage. Such powerful colours. Azaleas are actually quite tricky to photograph. You have to be careful to set the camera properly, otherwise the images are over saturated and you can lose a fair bit of detail.

Red poppies are particularly difficult to capture, at least for me. The colour has such a sheen to it and almost vibrates. I'm determined to crack it this year. Have more time to spend on flower photography, which until now has been consigned to an occasional macro shot. But I've some new lenses to try so there's added incentive.

One thing that was a real delight to see today, was the first flowerhead on our Wisteria.
We planted it a couple of years ago. But apart from looking healthy and
gaining some foliage, that was about it. This year it's obviously developed well enough or is established well enough to produce some lovely pale purple flowers. Lots of leaves as well. It's growing up against the side wall of our house, and has plenty of uninterrupted space to fill.  Eventually it will look quite dramatic and no doubt, as Wisterias tend to be, very beautiful.