I have had a lovely morning in the garden. The weather is warmish and with hazy sun. The dew is prolific.

I was inspecting my beds in the usual fashion when I noticed this very pretty fungus

Stropharia aeruginosa

It took me a while to identify it using ‘Roger’s mushrooms’ website, which I can recommend for its useful search feature and the helpful pictures uploaded by members.

http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/

Interestingly one of the pictures uploaded was from Milton Keynes, quite close to us, and looking absolutely like mine so I am sure it is identified correctly.

I then spent some time trying to reduce the population of lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis) in a border. This plant is so useful for spring colour and ground cover but sometimes it gets a little out of control and it was swamping everything else. The self-seeded hellebores and the High Sheriff roses now have space to grow.

Overgrown with lungwort

Following this I needed a less demanding job to finish the morning. I pulled the weeds out of two pots, near to the kitchen door and behind a herb area, which have some spring bulbs in them. I added Iris reticulata ‘Harmony’ to one and Narcissus ‘W.L.Milner’ to the other, so I will have more February to March colour right outside the kitchen window. I already have a patch with the delightful and ubiquitous Narcissus ‘Tete a Tete’, which is a bright yellow, so ‘W.P.Milner’ with its pale yellow flowers will be a good contrast.

Yesterday I had sown some Cerinthe seeds in the greenhouse and today when I went in I found that mice had eaten a hole in the packet. They had munched through quite a few packets, so all the seeds are now safely in the house. It is rather touching to think that the greenhouse is mine in the day and theirs at night, although it won’t be quite so interesting for them now.