Two weeks ago there was frost on the grass at the gate in the morning; this weekend gone it was 24 degrees, warm and sunny.  We have gone from winter to summer in two weeks.  But the drought is still going on.  I can't remember the last time we had proper rain here, it might have been the November floods.  Shopping in Cockermouth recently I was taken by surprise by a few drops falling from the skies, as it is so long since I have had to think about protection from the wet, but fortunately it didn't last very long.

We have been planting (actually that is an untruth: I have been ordering plants on the internet, Walter, the South African rugby playing gardener, has been planting them) trees and shrubs, as I am determined over the next 12 months to complete the landscaping work begun over 5 years ago.  Nothing is to be gained by putting off planting trees that may take 60 years to reach maturity.  But the drought is putting all that at risk.  Purple hazel seem to suffer most, as their leaves have wrinkled up and they look forlorn.  Mahonias also have lost their leaves, and look dusty and dreary.

But this afternoon we had 20 minutes of a heavy shower, including thunder rolling, and hope dawned anew.  Walking round and seeing drops of water on leaves and damp soil was strangely surprising, but satisfying.  The newly laid turf now has a chance of surviving the next few days without 3 hours of watering to keep it damp.  In a few months there could be a surface there worthy of Wembley, which incidentally used to lay the same Solway turf on their pitch.  If it is good enough for Wembley....

The new orchard looks to be thriving.  Perhaps it is benefiting from the watering of the new turf just uphill.  I hope I am not tempting fate by stating that all the new fruit trees appear to be thriving, with plenty of green leaves.

Strangely, it is the roses that appear to have loved the dry weather.  None of them seems to have suffered in the least, but rather they have all put on lots of leaves and new growth.  Although some of the new plantings are very small, they look promising for the future, when blooms everywhere will I hope be the result.  Colour, scent, shape - and lots of roses everywhere next year will be idyllic.

I suppose that is the point about landscaping: the realisation that time will pass before things happen, and that it will probably go on for much longer than any of the people who start it.  Our job is just to get on with our part in all this, and help nature if we can.