We Need Some Sun

Now two weeks into May and it was -2 in the greenhouse overnight !! Although the plants are growing , and are healthy, they are way behind where they should be for this time of year. I wanna see some sunshine, and I wanna see it soon. !!
Anyway, here is this weeks pic of the borders from the potting shed

Other than the tulips we have a couple of Oriental Poppies opened, with lots more to come, the Knapweed (Centaurea) is in flower......

....one of "Richard's " geraniums is starting to flower.....

....and we have peonies still threatening.......

......and one lupin beginning to show some colour (no photo).

In the greenhouse, both the runner beans and french beans are all poking their heads above the compost, but the sunflowers have yet to show.
I erected the bamboo frames and wigwams for the beans in the veg patch and also put up a row of "pea sticks" using the top 3ft of some of the natural bamboo canes we got last year, as these have a lot of twiggy stalks still attached. I then planted out the Hispi cabbage and Nelson sprouts and covered them with netting to keep the pigeons (aka flying rats) off them and finally planted out the International Kidnet and Desiree potatoes.

This in effect has filled the pre-cultivated area of this years temp veg patch and I still have to find space for the PSB, cauliflowers and kale, as well as the leeks. Methinks the veg bed will be extended soon !!
After this I returned to the fruit bed and starting at the end closest to the summerhouse, began weeding - removing dockens, creeping butterdup, willowherb and dandelions by hand, then rotavating the area with the Mantis. - all I need to do is make sure I stay on top of it now.

The redcurrants look as if they will produce an excellent crop if we can keep the birdies at bay, and the blackcurrants are the same. The summer raspberries are beginning to produce new shoots from their base which bodes well for next year and the late fruiting row is looking nice and healthy too.
Finally I checked over the cherry trees for blackfly and found two small infestations, which were promptly given a dose of Provado, so hopefully, that's all we'll see - much improved on previous years when wqe've seen more of less the whole tree smothered in the nasty little critters.