I managed to get some proper gardening done over the weekend, the first of the year.The weather was sunny, warm and Spring-like, what could be better?

First I weeded and tidied the existing strawberry bed, then dug over the site of the new strawberry bed that I’m going to plant up in the next week or so.

In the conservatory I potted on 12 tiny  ‘Lucifer’ seedlings. I sowed 48 last September, so not a great conversion rate. There would have been more, but the same cold snap that did for our plumbing also did for a few baby ‘Lucifers’.

My dozen or so Rudbeckia, that I sowed last August as a bit of an experiment, are looking interested at last. They’ve been in the conservatory all winter and had been looking a bit sad, but seem to be responding to the rise in temperature and longer days.

I’ve also started sowing seeds. Just a few to begin with in modules on top of the central heating boiler. Assorted daisies, pale yellow antirrhinum and bright pink Nicotiana (seeds collected last Autumn) Larkspur and Salvia Patens (seeds from old packets)

I’m particularly interested in the antirrhinum and nicotiana, as I selected the seed specially from pale yellow and bright pink plants respectively. I have no idea if they come true from seed.

The only down side is that whilst preparing for a new (non-gardening) project that I will be writing about later, I noticed the big mower seems to be leaking oil on to the garage floor. Hey-ho!