A day of two halves

Well, after the snow of last Tuesday, the temperatures have never really got much above 9 and even the greenhouse has only just remained above 0 some nights.
But it was dry and not at all windy in my arrival so it was straight on the back with the knapsack sprayer and I sprayed off  all the paths, round the greenhouse, the veg bed and the area surrounding it, and a wide strip below the lower herbaceous border.
Despite the overall drop in temperature, the borders continue to progress and green up and it is good to see that most, if not all the plants are coming back bigger, better and stronger than last year, which for many was their first.

There are tulips starting to  open now, just as the daffs are starting to fade a wee bit (their lifespan wasn't exactly boosted by last weeks snow), including these ones in the top border

Similarly , down in the greenhouse the perrenials due to be planted out next month are really getting a shift on and despite a few casualties, most are looking really healthy. The ones pictured below, Verbena hastata "Blue Spire",  have really put on a lot of growth in the last week or so

Elsewhere in the greenhouse, I potted on the lupins grown from self-saved seed - there were 54 cells sown and we have got 48 young lupins so I'm quite happy, These are destined to form a "wall" below the hedge of the lower of the two herbaceous borders.

Also in the greenhouse are the sweet peas, both for the borders and for the exhibition cordon growing trial. These have already had their grwoing tips pinched out and the sideshoots are beginning to grow away well. The pots pictured below are the variety Daphne which are one of the three varieties to be grown as cordons.

Finally in the greenhouse, the onion sets are going to need planted out in the very near future - let's just hope it warms up soon.

Still on the veg front, Sally had put the seed tatties in the potting shed to chit a couple of weeks ago. However, see what happens when you feed the friendly mouse with pizza -this is how he / she / it repays you.

The trays are now balanced on top of two Morrisons Flower Buckets - hopefully this should stop any further damage.

As the title of this weeks entry states, this was a day of two halves. Fine and dry in the morning, really wicked heavy showers in the afternoon. I spent the afternoon with my mattock, continuing the removal of dockens, dandelions, nettles and old currant bush roots from the fruit bed. Finally, I pulled some leeks for Sally before I finished. There are another half dozen or so left and that's them done.

As you can imagine, I was pretty well soaked through by the time, so it was time to head home and get the stove on - bliss! See you next week