SPRING FLOWERS IN FOXLEY

This was the time of year again when the club would arrange a trip to Walsingham to stroll the Snowdrop Walk.  But this year we were going to be saved the journey:  Mary and John Fletcher had already given us an invite to come and see the spring flowers in their five acre garden at Street Farm.  A date had been set for two o’clock on the 1^st March.

  Come the morning of the 1^st March and of course everything was pretty much covered by snow. 

Trying to identify  spring flowers under a couple of inches of snow was going to be difficult; and there was also the added hazard for some of the less agile members of walking to Street Farm on the icy roads.  As the morning moved on though, the sun began to bring some warmth and the snow began to recede.  Hasty telephone calls were made to assess the keenness of members to proceed with the set plan, and it was found that most were still enthusiastic.  Duly at 2 o’clock a party of intrepid members began trudging round the five acres---mostly unrecognisable in woolly hats, thick scarves, gloves and stout boots.

Mary and John are serious gardeners (they need to be with five acres!) and their garden is living proof of this.  There are poly’ tunnels, cold frames and greenhouses all filled with seedlings and cuttings which in themselves must take up a considerable amount of Mary and John’s time---and then there is the established garden in the bulk of the acres.

When we had finally completed the impressive spring flower circuit, with the snowdrops, crocuses and aconites cheerfully defying arctic conditions, we were invited into Mary and John’s home for tea and cakes. We needed no second bidding to get into the warm after having leant into a vicious, unrelenting wind that swept the garden.  But it had been worth it: it was a first class show.

After a couple of mouthfuls of tea and coffee, and a bite on some home-made cake, it was soon situation normal:  hats and coats off, and conversation and heat rising in equal measure.  Thank you, Mary and John, for a wonderful afternoon.   SB