Category Archives: frog

Mid March 2026

14/03/2026colour, flowers, frog, newtsJackie

Mid March and it feels like we are still in winter. Rain, more rain, wind, frost, tiny bits of sunshine then more rain. The patio pots are all still water logged but most of the plants look like they have survived although some are covered in moss like the red astrantia. But I am hoping the astrantia will soon pop up through the moss.

moss covering the top of a plant pot. — Moss taking over the astrantia.

The crocuses that were eaten when they flowered in the trough last year have survived as I put one of the seed tray lids over it this time. They looked great in the little bit of sunshine that we did get.

Pale purple crocus flowers with yellow centres in the sinshine. — Crocus sieberi ‘Firefly’ in the sun.

Most of the hellebores are in full flower now so here are a few:

Pale green flowers against dark green leaves of hellebore argutifolius. — Helleborus argutifolius

White flowers against green leaves of helleborus niger white. — Helleborus niger white.

Double pink flowers of hellebore picotee with shrub berberis behind with tiny jaggy leaves. — Helleborus picotee.

In the stumpery: the small white erythronium are almost flowering. The pulmonaria are looking lovely with their spotty leaves and pinky/mauve flowers. The tortured hazel looks a little half and half as the side that gets the most sunshine has the most catkins on it and the shadier side is looking a bit bare. Even the dead witch hazel that is still clinging onto it’s dead leaves has some colour – the leaves look almost red. There are some very fragrant flowers now on the sarcococca and also on the winter flowering honeysuckle.

Spotty leaves and pink/mauve flowers of pulmonaria. — Pulmonaria ‘Lewis Palmer’

Red coloured dead witch hazel leaves still on the shrub. — Dead witch hazel leaves clinging on.

Dangly yellow catkins on a twisted branches of a tortured hazel shrub. — Corylus avellana contorta catkins.

The best news is that we spotted the first lot of frogspawn on 6^th March this year and the other day I counted at least 30 frogs and loads of frogspawn – at least 11 clumps! And even better than that- Harry saw loads of newts in the pond at night (he counted at least 10 but they move really fast so getting a photo was tricky).

Lots of frogs and frogspawn in a small garden pond. — Frogs and frogspawn 2026.

Frogs, newts and frogspawn in a small garden pond at night. — Frogs and newts.

The mouse plant that we are trying to get rid of in the raised bed came back with a vengeance so Harry dug down and got most of the soil out of that corner. Before we put and soil in there we will wait and see if any more reappears. We have already waited over a year to get rid of this stuff. Right next to that area is a small clump of tete-a-tete narcissi and at the other side a clump of hardy geranium so I am hoping the mouse plant will not appear in amongst them.

Dainty yellow flowers of tete-a-tete narcissi. — Tete-a-tete narcissi next to the dug out hole.

With a bit more sunshine the rest of the narcissi out the back will bloom while the large yellow daffodils out the front garden are flowering away and the mahonia it just about to bloom. I can’t wait to get out and enjoy the garden without having to wear about 6 layers of thermals. I have just got over a horrid cold and am still struggling to keep warm even in the house. On the plus side – I haven’t seen any huge slugs yet this year – it is only a matter of time.

Mid March waiting for spring proper.

12/03/2025frog, plants, pondJackie

It is still very chilly out there with threats of frost. We did have a couple of lovely mild, sunny days and it was so good to get back out in the garden. We chopped the pond lily in half as it was taking over the pond and we dug out half of the rush too as it was getting too big. Just in time too as the frogs started to arrive – this year 8/3/25 I have been keeping a not over the last few years of when the first spawn appears in the pond:

22/3/18

27/2/19

05/2/20

15/3/21

18/3/22

13/3/23

19/3/24

08/3/25

The photo isn’t great but I counted about 20 frogs and can see about 8 or 9 dollops of frogspawn so am happy with that. I haven’t spotted any newts this year yet.

frogs collecting in a small garden pond — Frogs in March

There are a few splashes of colour now mainly with the hellebores, some narcissi, crocuses and viburnum. There are a few low branches of the viburnum with lovely scented flowers that are within my reach so I can really get a nice whiff going past. There are big yellow daffodils out the front but tiny yellow narcissi out the back. The tiny ones are the Tete-a-tetes and the clump in the raised bed are doing well, whereas the clump just a metre or so away in the border has had the flower heads eaten.

Low branch of pink viburnum flowers over a wall. — Viburnum flowers on low branch.

small narcissi Tete-a-tete in a raised bed — Tete-a-tete in the raised bed.

small narcissi Tete-a-tete flower heads eaten. — Tete-a-tete flower heads eaten.

I am blaming the wood pigeons but it may actually be mice or slugs too.

The same goes for some of the crocuses flower heads The ones in the garden are doing well, but the ones planted int the small trough on the patio have been eaten.

Crocus bulbs just about to flower in a small trough. — Crocus just about to flower in the small trough.

Crocus flower heads eaten. — Crocus flower heads eaten in the small trough.

At least the crocus indoors came up without being eaten by anything giving some colour indoors. I did order some ‘Gypsy girl’ and was given ‘Cream beauty’ instead which was rather annoying but they are pretty.

Crocuses indoors in pots on a table. — Crocuses in the conservatory.

Pale yellow crocus Cream beauty in a pot. — Crocus Cream beauty.

Pale yellow crocus Cream beauty. — Crocus Cream beauty – very nice but just not as nice as Gypsy girl.

I had also planted some in the garden in front of my favourite stone which is covered in blotchy lichen.

Crocus Cream beauty in front of a tall stone covered in pale grey lichen. — Crocus Cream beauty in front of lichen covered stone.

Although the sun is out just now it is still bitterly cold so spring proper will be a few more weeks yet so still in my thermals for the time being.

Wildlife in my garden…

17/12/2017frog, wildlifeJackie Elwin

My garden is my sanctuary where I can just sit and just be. I don’t need to think about anything in particular but instead just watch, feel and listen to what is going on in the
garden. The sounds are mostly the birds different songs and swishing of the leaves in the wind or maybe splashing of birds having a bath. The squirrels bark at each other and you can hear them leaping through the branches. Birds can be heard rustling through the dried leaves in autumn looking for creepy crawlies, frogs can be heard croaking in the spring looking for a mate. High above are the calls of the sparrow hawk and in summer when the swifts arrive they scream over the gardens catching a meal on the way. I love to hear the
constant chatter of the sparrows congregating in the Cotoneaster over next door’s garage roof. I used to hear crickets and had fun trying to find them but sadly I haven’t seen or heard them for a few years now. I plant lots of flowers for bees and love the differences in the deep, low buzz of the huge bumble bees to the fast , ever busy, buzz of the smaller bees and wasps. The buzz changes as they enter the big flowers of the foxglove. Then there is that strange scraping noise some wasps make when scraping the wood for their
hive. The pigeons make a strange almost whistle noise with their wings when they take off. The magpies and jackdaws can be very noisy creatures cackling away to each other as can the starlings. The colours I choose are not jarring or too bright but are the more gentle pinks and mauves with a few splashes of white or even yellow for highlights. You will see dark purples and burgundy running through too but mostly it is green. I am drawn towards plants with texture like ferns and grasses to run your hands over of soft plants like the feathery fennel to brush over your face. I have made areas with different habitats: logs, grasses, sun, shade, pond, shrubs, and ground cover to entice the wildlife in and I do try not to use chemicals and if I do use any at all I make sure it is at a time that won’t harm the wildlife. I get such a buzz of excitement when I spot some new visitor in the garden with the exception of things like New Zealand flatworms and Spanish slugs. I do go on early morning patrols to get rid of these as I haven’t heard of any native predator that will help out. Please excuse the photos – I have a new camera and will hopefully do better in the future.