Well, Spring seems to have finally sprung here in England, and I feel all gardeny again

Today my sweet peas arrived and I planted them all along the fence I adore sweet peas, they are my absolute favourite flower. I have them in the house all the time in the summer and give them to all my friends.

The forsythias (I have two, back and front) have finished blooming and I cut them back today. The ceonothus is budding - mine is very small yet, but my neighbour has a monster one which he is very kindly not pruning and a couple of feet of it is visible over my fence My pieris forest flame is looking gorgeous, it's one of my favourites with its red and green foliage and white flowers. I have scented stocks which I didn't pull up last year (lazy me) and they actually survived the winter, I just gave them a haircut a couple of weeks ago and they are looking lovely and smelling divine. The broom is budding up too. I am waiting for my white solanum to do something - it had been in a small pot since last year, it now has a home in the ground, but it's looking a bit depressed. What else? The forget me nots are blooming (I took some from my dear Auntie's garden after she died two years ago, and it's been growing in my garden ever since). There is love-in-a-mist coming up all over the place (I shook last year's seed pods around a bit). The grape hyacinths are looking sweet. My lavender is looking well, and has increased in size quite a bit (it was a small plant last year) and the campanula is enormous - might have to do something about that if it gets in the lavender's way. And my favourite thing this year - the clematis I planted THREE years ago which has grown and grown all along my fence but never flowered, until I was beginning to despair it ever would, is absolutely smothered in bud. When they open I will take a photo

New this year - this year I have planted a dwarf red rhododendron in a pot, a purple hydrangea (which is in the ground, but I think I may change my mind and put it in a pot too) and a red climbing jasmine.

I have also planted vinca major (periwinkle) underneath our privet hedge - the ground is dry and all knarled up with privet roots but I think vinca will cope with that. I want wallflowers there next year too, so they peep through the privet hedge to the street outside. I'm also planning everlasting peas growing over the hedge.

I have been given lots of seeds this year, by a retiring friend who used to work for a seed company. I am planning a cottage garden style, at least in part of the garden. I want to look for a climbing rose to grow by our front door. I'd like something that grows fairly fast, doesn't mind full sun and must be fragrant, with as long a flowering period as possible.

I love Spring

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