Flowers

Daffodils were out throughout the month, finally removing most of the dead heads right on the last day.

Muscari also flowered throughout the month, and although past their best are still providing one of the dashes of colour in the borders.

This year's tulips are just starting to flower.

Also in flower the Brunnera, the Clematis Pieris, Kerria japonica and various Primula of the cowslip form (flowers that are tube like on a tall stem looking mostly down.

A few Lily of the valley plants are starting to flower although it is going to be May before they are in full flower.

Budding

The most advanced Aquilegia plants have buds, the Alliums and the Centaurea plant is also showing a flower bud. What I call "the tree" (I'm not even going to guess what it is) and the Pyracantha both have buds too.

Plantings

A quick list of …

There are several Aquilegia plants in the garden, many of them probably growing from seed and still quite small.

This is the largest and was first noticed growing in mid February. Now it has thrown up tall flowering spikes and here are some of the buds.

The first bud is forming on the Centaurea.

This is the first of the new tulips planted in January this year.

I didn't notice that they were double flower types until after I bought them and I thought that I might not like them much. But this one at least looks great. The other concern is that some of these varieties are not reliable in flowering every year so I will have to see what happens.

First saw this on about the 12th April or a few days earlier. I didn't notice it until it was fairly large as it blends in quite well with the lilly of the valley plants that are surrounding it.

Now that it has flowers forming in pairs along the stems I feel confident in identifying it as a Polygonatum of some kind, also known as a Solomon's Seal.

I think I ignored this plant, thinking that it was just another tulip, but now it is very clearly not so here is a picture to start tracking it.

This is one month after planting, there are now two to three pairs of real leaves.

Here are the seeds one month in.

The zinnia are doing well, and the lobelia too.

The Californian poppies are also doing well and have their distinctive floppy stems and thin highly divided leaves. The basil just behind not doing so well, only three have appeared, and the largest is just getting its first real leaves. At this point I planted a few more seeds.

The petunias are doing fairly well, but slower growing than the lobelia. Strangely even though seeds were planted in all six cells of a tray, the two at the "top" (where the letter labels are) have no or fewer seedlings in each case.