The first bud is forming on the Centaurea.

This is the first of the new tulips planted in January this year.

I didn't notice that they were double flower types until after I bought them and I thought that I might not like them much. But this one at least looks great. The other concern is that some of these varieties are not reliable in flowering every year so I will have to see what happens.

First saw this on about the 12th April or a few days earlier. I didn't notice it until it was fairly large as it blends in quite well with the lilly of the valley plants that are surrounding it.

Now that it has flowers forming in pairs along the stems I feel confident in identifying it as a Polygonatum of some kind, also known as a Solomon's Seal.

I think I ignored this plant, thinking that it was just another tulip, but now it is very clearly not so here is a picture to start tracking it.

This is one month after planting, there are now two to three pairs of real leaves.

Here are the seeds one month in.

The zinnia are doing well, and the lobelia too.

The Californian poppies are also doing well and have their distinctive floppy stems and thin highly divided leaves. The basil just behind not doing so well, only three have appeared, and the largest is just getting its first real leaves. At this point I planted a few more seeds.

The petunias are doing fairly well, but slower growing than the lobelia. Strangely even though seeds were planted in all six cells of a tray, the two at the "top" (where the letter labels are) have no or fewer seedlings in each case.

I bought an Astilbe on a whim while at Earsdon Plant Center. I don't know why I got it as it had no information about variety or what colour it is going to be.

So it is going to be almost as much of a mystery as the plants that I didn't buy. Fortunately it seems to be a plant that likes a moist soil that doesn't dry out.

Anyway here it is just after planting, I bought it a couple of weeks ago, but just planted today.

This is a newer tulip that I planted in the trough container. This is its second year, so it is good to see it back, although it has not multiplied. I must admit to having damaged the bulb by cutting through it with a trowel when trying to remove something else.