There has been a biblical amount of rain here over the past two days and the ground is sodden but I do have six things in the garden to share with you. Remember to stop by Jim’s Garden Ruminations to meet the rest of the sixers.

  1. The Sarcophagus is coming along nicely. The jasminoides trachelospermum looks well, fingers crossed that will continue with more growth this year. My ambition is to have most of next door’s patio obscured. I’m hopeful the floribunda rose Champagne will have less of a lean once it’s pruned later this month. Still to be planted is another rose, a climber ‘Heaven Scent’.

2. South Border is showing potential. Between the rain and the pigeons constantly walking to and from the feeder, the ground looks very compacted and in need of more mulch. The view from the pergola end towards the sarcophagus has rose ‘Chandos Beauty’ showing fresh growth after her second move in two years. The Japanese quince at the fence line is full of blossom; I’m considering adding a clematis armandii, having been inspired by the gorgeous shots shared by other sixers and it will give a bit more coverage and interest in that space. The quince is pretty at this time of year, the birds enjoy its cover but it is intent on taking over the garden with runners popping up everywhere.

3. The greenhouse is filling up nicely. I spent a couple of hours today sowing seeds for the garden and the allotment and potting up yet more dahlias ordered from Sarah Raven during an ‘armchair gardening’ session months ago. I’m excited to share this photo of newly sprouted rununculus; this is the first time I’ve grown them but following Monty’s advice for really sharp soil and Carolee for growing conditions has got me this far.

4. Still green in the front garden is this penstemon ‘Raven’ and surprisingly this antirrhinum ‘Appleblossom’

5. There are two Eremurus in the front garden, planted last year but had lingered a few days in the box before I could get them in the ground and it then it was very hot and very dry for a very long time. I was surprised and delighted to see both sprouting and both much closer to the roses than I recall, sigh.

6. The lavender hedge was trimmed last autumn and provides a green runway to the front door.

That’s my six for this week, the sun is shining now and the forecast for the week appears to be mostly dry – Spring is springing!