It has been an odd Spring as beautiful piercing blue skies one day are replaced by gloomy, drizzly grey the next. Have found it hard to get into a gardening rhythm and the sowing of seeds and preparations for this year have been uneven with frenetic busy days of seed sowing marathons being followed by strangely dithery indecisive ones when I have worried that I have sown too much too early.

Wondering how to manage the new greenhouse has been puzzling as it gets very cold in there at night. Impossibly cold in the last few weeks for tomatoes and other tender plants, so these have been gathered back onto warm windowsills. Am keen not to heat the greenhouse, but have had to accept that a small paraffin heater to take off the bitter chill is needed on exceptionally frosty nights.

Small tomato plants enjoying warm windowsill

But when I am willing to look, there are optimistic signs of growth everywhere – inside the house (to my family’s frustration); around the house, as well as inside and around the greenhouse. Some plants like the Autumn planted cornflowers and sweet peas are being given tough treatment and have been planted out (to make room for more small pots). Hopefully, they will survive the wind and rain.

Cosmos Dazzler coping with the cold frame

So what is growing? Cornflowers, blue and black, in modules; lovely deep blue Larkspur; antirrhinum Night and Day are at the tiny seedling stage; regal and species pelargonium grown from seed are healthy looking small plants and the cosmos, the deep pink Dazzler and the white, are looking healthy. Most of these are destined for the plot and cutting, but the extras will go to the Farmers Markets and hopefully some might even end up in the garden.

Night and Day seedlings which will soon need potting up

Species pelargonium sown from seed growing well

And another

Plenty still left to sow and today scabious, salvias and hollyhocks will be sown for the next hopeful wave.