'...and long purples, that liberal shepards give a grosser name.'

I found this rosette of Early Purple Orchids in a shave that I've been coppicing along the lane below the farmyard. I hadn't seen them there before,so I'll be keeping an eye on them in the weeks to come. The clash between the indescribable blue of  bluebells, and the corporeal purple of the orchid is one of the sights of spring.

We've had a few dry days now, thankfully, but the fields are still saturated and a long way off workable. We took the covers off the setting out beds yesterday,letting some welcome sunlight onto the overwintered nursery stock.
On Sunday we hope to be taking some plants to Goodnestone Park, over in East Kent for the Hardy Plant Society's first event of the year, their snowdrop and hellebore extravaganza, not that we have any of these to sell! It's usually an encouraging day, buoyed up by keen gardeners eager to get outside after the long winter. Let's hope the wind isn't in the East.