Green and fluffy

Oh how wondrous to come back to a blazing spring sunshine.   I didn’t even bother to unpack the car but just raced straight up to the potting shed to see if there was anything left.

We have had four days of very warm weather here and I worried that everything inside the warm new potting shed would have cooked the lot.   Ye of little faith.   Jean Daniel had kept the door open and even did some watering.  Â  So I had some parched pots – the verbena bonariensis and marigold seedlings were thirsty – but much else was alive.

The seedlings that lived outside on the north side of the shed were perfectly happy and alive.   No deer or horses had munched them or kicked them.   And the only sad plant was the hothouse mint plant that I bought at a garden centre out of greed.

I watered lavishly, put the outdoor seedlings back inside via the windows  and then went on a good inspection of the farm.

The daffs are out.   And will probably be battling with the surrounding grass as there had been so much rain last month.   So it’s not as stark and dramatic, but rather fluffy and soft.

I have found a few rogue yellow ones in among the Thalia whites, and really should be mean and pull them out.   But it’s hard to do that to a plant whose only crime is being mixed up in the bulb box.

I’ll take more pictures in a few days time when they are all out and sunny.   These shots were taken late afternoon with my new birthday camera. Pictures look a bit sharper I think.   So here’s hoping that my poor skills will be masked by this lovely new toy.

I have snapped away at so many things and was delighted to see things have survived the winter. It’s always amazing.   This euphorbia polychroma is lovely and remarkable. I thought it had died.

But it fits quite well in the shade garden which is a picture of green and promising stuff.   The narcissus are up among the mulch.   And the tulips are about to burst.   I haven’t seen too many weeds yet, but there is more mulch required here.   But will I ever get time to do this?

Actually the weather is set to be a bit blah for the next few days, so maybe I will walk up to the forest and get some sticks for chipping.   Actually I have been making a mental list of all the things I would like to do tomorrow – and it is growing alarmingly.   I need to get the potatoes planted. I’m way late on that.

But I’m also excited about how many seedlings there are to prick out and pot on.   So few failures. I doubt it’s my skill, but it does seem to work in this perfect little potting shed with the clear roof.

I sow the seeds in small trays (recycled  supermarket food containers), cover with vermiculite which I bought for a song at a builder’s merchants.   Then soak in a box of shallow water so the whole pot is wet. Cover in a plastic bag, place on table and forget for ten days.   So far, touch wood, I haven’t suffered from that fungal disease damping off, when everything collapses and dies.

So after that brief boast, here are some more pictures of things sprouting.   The zillions of plants on the steep terrace bank are alive and putting on growth.The sedums and grasses and cornflowers are going to be a success.   Well that’s a silly boast. They show promise.   It’s funny how gardeners are always wary of things ahead.   We never know what’s going to get thrown at us.   So for now I’m happy.   But need to have a cup of tea and a sit down before I do more laps.