After the wettest April in 100 years, and the coldest in 23, May was not much better either, until 10 days ago. Then, temperatures suddenly jumped to the upper twenties, and the clouds vanished - and all the plants suddenly burst into life again!

More sowing!

Spring has most definitely sprung, as evinced by the cheerful yellow daffodils and scented pink hyacinths in the front garden. Unfortunately, they are poking through last year's weeds so I haven't taken a picture! I foresee a busy weekend...

Not just with weeding and pruning the front garden, but finally planting the first of my square foot garden. My wonderful SO has made the frame from untreated timber, and we filled it with a mixture of bought potting compost, vermiculite, garden soil, and our own black gold - the garden compost. Look how rich and dark it was, under a layer of still non-decayed garden and kitchen waste. We removed the top layer, used the well-rotted compost to fill the square foot bed, then put back the rough stuff and mixed it with even more peelings, grass trimmings and such.

I have also sowed two more batches of seeds, mostly a variety of herbs (2 types of basil, hyssop, borage and winter savoury) and some bright annual flowers (zinnia). It is still early to sow warm-loving plants such as French beans and courgettes, but more resistant veg such as radishes and carrots can be sown directly into the soil of the new bed. Something else to look forward to, this weekend!

Square foot bed:

Compost:

New Season

Happy New Growing Year, everybody!

Today, I sowed the first seeds of 2012.

Chillies Serrano, small (3-5cm) and hot

Chillies Anaheim, milder and up to 20cm long

Tomato San Marzano, plum cooking variety

Finally, a highly scented Sweet Pea Beaujolais

The above pictures were all Google image searches; fingers crossed that the seeds I sowed today will result in similar (or better) yields!

The colour pink

... and a little bit of purple as well! ;)

In addition to the soft, blush pink colours of a couple of rose bushes, some sweet peas and trailing geraniums, there is also some stronger colour in the garden.

The new oleander shrub - very short at present, but they tend to grow quickly. In a few years I expect it to be taller than me.

The pink Zephirine Drouhin and striped Ferdinan Pichard roses next to each other, showing off the limitations of my phone camera.

Foxglove. I like the little blotches, like freckles on a fair maiden's cheek.

Two tall herbs - angelica already going to seed, seen through a mist of bronze fennel. OK, they are not actually pink, but there is a purplish quality to the tips of the fennel fronds and the stems of angelica.

Bank Holiday!

Perfect time to do some gardening...

In addition to planting a new bright pink oleander and blue hydrangea, we (well, really my SO) put up a new trellis on the patio fence. The troughs contain (amongst tobacco flowers and catanache caerulea)cream-coloured sweet peas that will, I hope, scramble up the trellis and surround us with a beautiful scent when we start having breakfast/coffee/meals on the patio.

The rose pics are just a bonus! ;)

More roses!

The old shrub is taller than me at the moment, and the blowsy flowers are bigger than my fist:

Another leftover, a small rosebush that didn't flower last year. There goes my "no yellow" rule! :D It's too beautiful to dislike...

The first stripy bloom of Ferdinand Pichard - and it's facing the garage! Still, plenty of buds on there to look forward to...

Late Spring Blooms

In addition to the roses from the previous post, there are a few other flowers currently on show.

The rhododendron, underlined by the new door paint:

Strongly scented pinks:

And a close-up of a Zephirine Drouhin rose: