Rain and shine
Since my last update two weeks ago we've had rain, sunshine, hail and wind!
Seeds have been sown, plants pruned and the garden has really come alive.
The seedlings above are sunflowers. I sowed them along with peppers and chillies indoors; the sunflowers were first to germinate. It doesn't matter how many times I grow things from seed, it amazes me that a whole plant emerges from something so small! Nature is amazing.
Wild violets have started flowering in the front again; I think they came from a seed mix I scattered. Technically they are weeds — but a good food source for pollinators so I'm leaving them in. A weed is only a weed if it's unwanted.
Check these two out! The ladybird on the bottom looked like it had dozed off. The one of the bottom however, had enough enthusiasm for both of them. Even the sight of my prying camera lens wasn't enough to put it off. Just watching was exhausting!
On Sunday we finally put our cold frame together! It didn't go totally smoothly — we snapped a drill bit and the screw heads kept threading because the ones included were cheap. Gah! But we got there in the end. No substitute for a greenhouse but it will help us get a head start on a few things. Hopefully the mice will have a harder job stealing our beans this year too!
Bluebell buds are starting to appear. I'm considering digging the bulbs up later in the year and moving them to a damp shady patch in the back garden. They don't seem very happy where they are.
More ladybirds! Happy to see them, we need as many as possible to win the aphid war.
And lastly, I have a mission for you! You might remember me mentioning a plant called cowslip in the past? It's a native UK wildflower in serious decline due to loss of habitats. If you're trying to decide what to plant in your garden this year, why not add some cowslip? You can buy plug plants online and I've seen mature plants for sale at my local centre — so I'd imagine others would sell them too.
