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At last the first good handful of sweet peas from the polytunnel! All the warm days and cold nights have meant the buds have been dropping off before they develop. We’ve been keeping tunnel doors closed every night and open all day, but I’m not sure it made much difference. They just needed the night temperatures to be consistently above about 6C, it seems. Anyway, they’re here now, so looking forward to many many more. The scent is amazing and, this early in the year, I can really appreciate it.

It’s a big picking day today, and it has just started raining 🙄 So we will move into the tunnels to pick in the dry, starting with this lovely summery Saponaria. We’re always dodging the rain when we’re picking - mainly for the benefit of the flowers, not us pickers, of course 😉. As we don’t store our flowers or transport them long distances, we can pick them when they are out and ready to use for events in just a few days. But this does mean they are more prone to damage when they are wet and we just have to plan well and take more care of them. It’s all part of the job.

Linaria maroccana. I grew this a few years ago, but I was under-impressed. It was too short. Paula @millpondflowerfarm then showed me hers 😳 so I decided to try and grow it better, and a wider range of colours. This is the result. Not really photographing well on its own, but I like the tiny little spires of strong colours. Perfect for adding depth and interest to softer shades, or a kind of airy gardeny feel to arrangements. I shall be getting more acquainted with them this week. Thanks Paula!

Self-sown beauties in the polytunnel - and a lovely dusky combination too. Like many flower growers, we grow lots of specially bred cultivars, but many of the joys and surprises come from the accidental and self-sown, always prompting me to open my eyes and see colours differently. I really admire the efficiency of the big glasshouses of straight lines of perfect, identical, upright blooms, but give me an untidy, overgrown polytunnel anytime.

Lupins are go! Actually these ones have already gone. I have lots of different colours, mainly grown from seed, but these looser-headed nearly-wild blue ones are my favourites.

Testing poppies. In all their squiggliness. These are self sown from various Papaver rhoeas varieties. I’m getting a full range from speckled red to pure white. I love the sometimes surprising mix of colours that can come from home collected seed.

What’s not to like? Proper beautiful old fashioned pinks. Full of scent and character - quite a different thing to the sad 2-week old, scentless carnations in your local garage or supermarket. There’s no denying they have that apparent floral holy grail: Good Vase Life. And indeed, good life out of a vase - so great for installations, buttonholes, flower crowns, cakes (yes, edible too). I know it’s all about the colours, but really, what’s not to love? They’re doing their best. 💕

The white aisle. Cress, Coriander, Orlaya and Nigella. All a bit trussed up to try to stop them falling all over the place, but ready for cutting at last. Not the sweet peas behind though. They are still dropping all their buds because of the cold nights. Night time temperatures are forecast to rise slowly this week, so hope they will start by the weekend. Just in time for some weddings next week. 🌱✨✂️

The sun is shining in the distance but hasn’t made it over the hill yet. Aquilegias are looking just perfect for cutting later this week. I have planted them in lots of the dappled shady places around the edges of the fields. Partly to help reduce the chance of mildew diseases but mainly because I like to see them everywhere. Especially the yellow ones with long spurs. And the frilly pink ones. And the palest ghostly blues. And the sultry deep burgundy. And the common all-garden blues and purples. Nearly all of them, so long as they dance. 💫

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