Dog Violet - April 2018

After the glorious weather of last week, this week we seemed to have fallen back into the clutches of winter. It was a cold, wet, miserable day for my photo shoot in dad's garden on Sunday, but there were a few high points to record.

There were quite a few of these pretty little Dog Violets (Viola riviniana) popping up in various places, including the lawn.

Azalea Awakening - April 2018

One of the Azalea bushes had woken up, and was showing off its pretty pink flowers.

Blueberry Blossom - April 2018

The Blueberry (Vaccinium) bush had started to produce blossom, and looked like it would be producing quite a few berries later on in the year.

Pretty Weed - April 2018

The Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) continued to provide lovely flashes of pink, all around the patio, growing anywhere and everywhere.

Hanging Blossom - April 2018

The blossom of the Forest Flame (Pieris) bush was coming to an end, but what was left, still looked quite lovely.

Night Queen - April 2018

The Tulip (Tulipa) 'Queen of the Night' blooms that had looked the correct colour last week, were, to me, starting to look a little lighter, and a little browner than they should this week!

Forgotten Four - April 2018

The beautiful blue Forget-me-nots (Myosotis) were flowering all over the garden, and looking particularly nice, despite the dull weather.

Rhododendron Reveal - April 2018

It wouldn't be long before the Rhododendron bush revealed its bright pink flowers, despite it looking like they were going to be dark red at this stage.

Virginia Creeper - April 2018

There was some new growth on the Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), which had had a jolly good prune back since last year.

Ready to Fly - April 2018

Sometimes it's a shame to do the weeding! I thought this partly dispersed Dandelion (Taraxacum) clock looked great against the backdrop of the Forget-me-nots.

Spurge Sampler - April 2018

Despite the abundance of insect life last week, the weather must have had my bug buddies scurrying back into hiding this week. This small Fly (Diptera) enjoying the delights of a Honey Spurge (Euphorbia mellifera) bush was the only insect I managed to track down.

Singing the Blues - April 2018

Turning my lens towards the feathered community, I spotted this Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) singing atop a Holly (Ilex) bush.

Dunnock - April 2018

I was very pleased when this Dunnock (Prunella modularis) came quite close, enabling me to get a shot of him that almost filled the frame.

Goodbye Gull - April 2018

Meanwhile I had a host of bird life flying around above my head, including this rather large Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)...

Mottled Feral - April 2018

...and a whole flock of Feral Pigeons (Columba livia).

Little Sparkler - April 2018

Finally, another week brings another new fish friend. This is one of a group of new inhabitants to a tank I'm going to dedicate to the species of Sparkling Gourami (Trichopsis pumilis). This one is a juvenile, and is only a couple of centimetres long at the moment, and will almost double in size by the time he turns into an adult.

So, this week I went with Dog Violet as my Image of the Week, simply because they get treated like weeds in most gardens, but are actually quite pretty when you see them close up...