Greetings friends!

The biting, brisk north wind has forced me inside today, which means it’s a perfect opportunity to post this early May greeting. The month of April was, for us, a pretty busy and productive time. It was also a mashup of changing weather, complete with huge temperature swings, rainfall, and bouts of high wind. A surprise amidst the month was the nearly full week of near 20 degree Celsius temperatures. Oh my, strange but highly enjoyable for all things out-of-doors. I managed to get quite a lot done during the warm period, which made up for the week before and the week after the warm spell when temperatures were unusually cold. All in all, I managed to get all the perennial beds set right and tidied up, the hydrangeas pruned and even managed to get roses mostly ready for the season ahead.

The first week of May saw the last fully loaded trailer of garden detritus leaving the property for the Rosk’n Roll garden refuse collection point! This week I began to finally disperse among our 200 roses the ten 60kg sacks of horse manure which was delivered last year. We had to tolerate seeing those black plastic bags gathered on the patio and pond deck all summer, *because* it was my hope baking them in the sun would kill off any weed seeds, etc lurking amid the manure. I am really happy to be seeing the last of those ten bags….that is until the local Routio school fundraising program who sells the manure reaches out to prospective buyers this year. 🙂

Currently, the back terrace and patio deck are adorned with large 40L tubs we once used in our former greenhouse. Now fully topped up with garden soil and compost for incoming tomatoes, onions and kale started from seed. Various perennials and annuals are awaiting their final destinations too throughout the garden. Thankfully, there were many successes from the seed growing setup I began in March! There are also a few packets for direct sowing after our last frost, to bring joy to a couple areas that would benefit from a little burst of color.

While reviewing the weather information of the previous month, the Finnish Meteorological Institute press releases included these two brief two summaries:

August 2024 temperature record in Svalbard exceeds climate warming trend

August 2024 was record warm in Svalbard, with a margin that far exceeded previous records even when the effect of climate change was accounted for. New research sheds light on the causes behind the record-shattering heat.

https://en.ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/news/7tewlFXycWztQGcCIAjXfB

Summer 2024 in Lapland was the warmest in 2,000 years

https://en.ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/press-release/3F5GuX7UNXM8j9xGbTfL6n

Temperature reconstructions from tree-ring records indicate that last summer was the warmest in Lapland over the Common Era. The summer climate in Lapland is moving beyond its historical range of natural variability.

Not trying to be alarmist, but wow. Strange times indeed.

On happier and more pleasant matters, bountiful sunshine is always a welcome sight in the garden. I hope you enjoy this glimpse of our early spring garden.

If you really want to be dazzled by what is possible in a woodland spring garden, please enjoy the splendid sights of Leena’s Finnish garden. Her YouTube channel, Leenan Puolivilli Puutarha @leenanpuolivillipuutarha585 is filled with over 130 videos of garden joy.

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time ❤