A Busy Start To April

It has been a busy couple of weeks. We have been decorating the house which has took up the vast majority of our time and has left us with plenty to do in the garden. Things have really started to take off with the herbaceous perennials such as the Phlox pushing through. Tulips have begun to flower and many more are getting close, which should hopefully lead to a great spring display in the next couple of weeks. The Alliums I planted earlier in the year are also growing and will provide a succession of flowers to the tulips after they have finished.

Our first Tulip flower bent over by strong winds 

Meanwhile the many of the seed are growing well in the cold frame. The Cornflower and Cosmos are doing particularly well. The giant Sunflowers are more sporadic with only two of the five I sowed having germinated so far, which is also true of the Californian Poppies. I may resow some more of these as two of each plant is a little less than I hoped for.

One of the Climbing Roses with its new growth which will produce this years flowers

As far as my experiment of germinating everything in the cold frame, except the Tomatoes has gone, it has been quite successful. Exceptions to this are the Castors and the Mina Lobata, which probably need hotter temperatures to germinate than the cold frame can provide at this time of the year. I have moved the Castors to the bedroom window and put them into plastic bags to heat them up and within a day one seed has already sprouted through. The Mina Lobata have been moved to the top shelf of the cold frame as they need light to aid germination and If nothing happens I will move them to the bedroom window too.

The Dogwood's earlier leaves contrast beautifully with its deep red stems

I have made space in the cold frame by taking out the tender Rhizomes of the Canna Lilies we were kindly donated. I have planted them in a container as they were showing spikes, where the leaves and flowers will grow from. The Chocolate cosmos we have in a pot has also been moved out of the cold frame into the now milder temperatures of outside.

Our Blackcurrant plant is growing its leafs

To make even more space for propagation of seeds, we have bought a large clear plastic storage box, which I have put growing seedlings into such as the Cornflowers, Chard and Cosmos as they will get more light that way but are still too small to leave outside where if the cold and bad weather did not damage them, the Blackbirds probably would peck at in there quest for food and nesting material.

Blueberry flowers are beginning to bloom

I have planted the Dahlia tubers we bought earlier in the year into simple black containers which we will put into the borders, surrounded by bedding later in the year once they grow. I have planted some dark red Sunflower seeds called 'Black Magic', which we are looking forward to seeing bloom. Also to help in the quest to provide flowers for pollinators, I have planted ten Scabious seeds which are now in the more spacious cold frame and will hopefully germinate soon.