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Here is a shot taken in early April showing how I have replanted some of the fuchsias from the front yard behind the bird bath. The next photo is a blurry failure of a shot, but shows the position of the ornate tulips and primrose - red splodges and yellow/green splodge.

Above is a reminder of what I have so far done on the patio. Below was my view from the kitchen window until this morning, when I removed the laurel seedling to the back fence area along with some seedums. The patch of 'weeds' is purposeful - it is going to remain wild flowers/weeds mixed - along with bird seeds that grow - a sort of bee-butterfly-bird meadow. I will cut back the ivy, brambles, and bindweed from that area, but all else can grow onward!

Alas, indoors is also outdoors - lol. My kitchen windowsill depicted above is home to an over wintered chocolate habanero, a newly emerged eggplant seedling, chili seeds, and was also home to a sweet potato (attempt #3 to make slips) til I moved that to the poly tunnel this morning. It got to 32 degrees in there yesterday, so I am thinking they may have more luck there than on the sill where they just go mouldy.

These were my two over wintered hot lemon chili plants, now safely planted at the allotment plot, as of yesterday!

My final shot for today is of a task I will get around to shortly. I had hoped to do it over Easter, but twice I went out and twice I had sinus issues, so it has yet to be done. This is what I encounter when going into the back yard - a great big tower of variegated ivy. I don't want to walk into ivy, but the yard - so it is going to go - soon!

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To begin today's blog, I will share a photograph taken during March of the fence-hedge border area in front of the kitchen window. In the shot, you can see the primrose Liz recently gave me along with 2 of the 3 tulips I bought this year, camellia cuttings, rose transplants, cyclamen transfers and a few bulbs. At the far left you can see the bluebells - or what will be bluebells, as they are only foliage at present.

This is the straw bale Liz picked up for me in early March - after 2 strawings, the strawberries are more or less secured from slugs and slaters, leaving me half a bale to top up and increase straw protection once the winds have died down and plants expanded. In the final week of the month I took the next shot -

- and you can see one of the raised strawberry beds all strawed up. You can also view the front edge where I was working and de-turfing into the weed bag, also the garlic/shallot/onion/broad bean bed, as well as the spare raised bed to contain squashes and nasturtiums. You can see my first harvest of rhubarb for the year, too!

Also taken on the last weekend of the month, you can see various other areas of my plot. On the left, the former onion bed with a half dozen or so leeks still growing. beyond that, my compost bin resiting and fruit area. My potatoes are behind the raspberry canes at the back, and coming back down past the other fruits, you can see where I planted beans, spinach and brussels sprouts, then my second strawberry bed. I am pleased with the rhubarb - it's as tall as the compost bin!!!!

We now jump forward to April, and here is a shot of the patio, which I have done a little work with during the first week of the month. Still to do, is the removal of the unwanted green garden chairs, tidying up the broken glass/debris, and securing the edges - but the other things I wanted to do have now been done.

Here you can see the azalea from the front yard repositioned underneath the kitchen window. It fits perfectly where the rose arch and pink rose used to be - before the arch collapsed and the rose was moved to the fence. You should also be able to spot that the pots on the patio have now been weeded, refilled, and have become a herb garden - sort of.

At least, there is parsley and chives in there, but the other herbs still need to grow!

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Down the allotment plot, as March commenced, much of the fall planting of garlic, onion, and broad bean had surfaced and was growing - although not as avidly as last season. I planted another 2 bulbs of garlic, 25 shallots/50 onion sets. I filled the patch in view above, apart from the small clump of last years rocket, which is still pickable - just. I also planted some further back, beside the raspberry canes, in front of the cauliflower seedlings that I brought along from the poly tunnel.

As you can see above, my old rhubarb plant is doing well - with plenty of nice thick red stalks shooting out. I have contemplated the possibility of entering a few stalks in the local garden show this year, just for fun, if they continue to grow so well. Regular readers may recall I transferred a lump of the plant to the other corner of my plot - and this too is sprouting out now, though not as strongly. I will leave it this year and pick only from the old plant, which I aim to remove at the end of the season.

The day after I planted all my garlic/broad beans/shallots/onions for spring, I went back and planted my potatoes. I am not doing as many as last year, as I hope to purchase some sweet potato slips and grow these this coming season.

As you can see in the photo, I positioned the spuds where my former fruit patch had been situated. I do not use the traditional method of rows and ridges, but my own personally preferred method as shown above. I dig a deep hole - at least a foot down and pop the spud in the hole, covering it with just a little soil. As it grows, I fill in the hole to level the ground. If I run short of soil, I use compost from my bin or horse muck to top things up. I find this method breaks the soil up better for the next crop when the spuds are grown and harvested, than the normal 'ridge n row' method.

This is a primrose. Liz and I trade plants from time to time and a primrose is a plant I did not have in the yard and she does - so, it was just a case of time and interest before I was offered one and popped it in place along the back yard fence. You can see its position in the next photo...

...compared to the roses, yew, bulbs, and other bits n bots. My plan is that as the hedge grows thicker and wider, the other plants will be in front of it or peeping through it. I aim to chop back about a foot off the path over the coming year as I reshape the garden. So the primrose that is now on the edge will have around 12-14 inches in front and space to spread.

Here is the view from the other end, as seen from the house.