Everything on the allotment is sprouting at the moment. Lots of green shoots popping up in response to these beautiful sunny days. The daffodils and grape hyacinths have flowered and gone, but are replaced by orange and yellow wallflowers, plus delicate blue forget-me-nots. There're clumps of leaves promising spiky foxgloves later in the year, and my herbs are doing well too - rosemary, lemon balm and fragrant thyme. Sadly I've also found the first signs of bindweed. I'm sure there's some noxious chemical I could use to help clear that away, but as I'm gardening organically I just have to grit my teeth and dig, dig, dig it out wherever it crops up. Tiresome, but necessary.
I'm hoping this year to have a bumper crop of sunflowers for no other reason than they're such cheerful flowers. Those round, open faces can't fail to raise a smile.
I bought a pack of Johnsons seeds last year in the end of season sale at Wilko. 6 varieties of sunflowers, 10p a pack. I'm aiming to have some Red Suns, Italian Whites, Teddy Bears (a kind of pom pom flower!) and some Russian Giants. Fingers crossed those dratted slugs 'n' snails don't get my fledgling seedlings before they've had a chance to shoot up.
I bought a pack of Johnsons seeds last year in the end of season sale at Wilko. 6 varieties of sunflowers, 10p a pack. I'm aiming to have some Red Suns, Italian Whites, Teddy Bears (a kind of pom pom flower!) and some Russian Giants. Fingers crossed those dratted slugs 'n' snails don't get my fledgling seedlings before they've had a chance to shoot up.