I sat by the pond for ages today. I spotted a new thin creature on the rocks down in the water. They seemed to move fast so I’m not convinced they were leeches. I saw another creature (the same kind?) on some algae near the top of the pond. It had a clear head and body and flexed its back end. The irises have begun to open in Bed 3 and the ones around the pond are days away from joining them.

The lupins are starting to open. This pink one is a transplant after the pond build, so it’s great to see it looking so healthy after a winter in the nursery. Foxgloves, which I suddenly love this year, have started to open. I have white a pink and this deeper pink and yellow one is just starting to open on the ledge.

I’ve marked out where the tomatoes in Bed 1 will go, and where the courgette in Bed 7 will go. I’ve finally got the latter to germinate by putting the seeds on damp kitchen towel in the airing cupboard. After all the trouble I’ve had this year, I’ll be doing that again.

Three of the 4 cucumbers in Bed 7 are now up inside their cloches. I gave them all a water to encourage the last one to get going. At the sides of the bed, I’ve added some cornflower seed. What I thought were cucurbit volunteers are now clearly borage. I’ve learned that they have new reserves of nectar every two seconds, so I’m glad to see them again for the wildlife.

A mad piece of chard had started regrowing in Bed 2, so I’ve moved it to the end of Bed 6. I was going to have a row, but it turned out that I’d thrown out the old seed. I added some cornflower to the middle of Bed 6. Most of the rest of the bed will be Summer Carousel nasturtium.

I did some pick weeding and sprinkled a little more larkspur in the flower beds. There’s little point in having it grow old in a pot. I’ve dumped handfuls of morning glory seeds along the perimeter, just in case it magically germinates and decides it can climb the fence after all.

In the heat of the afternoon I strimmed the edges and the grass. Strimming the edges is always the best way to make the plot look better. I’ve removed the plastic squares from in front of the pond now, as when I lifted them it turned out that the worms had been busy making casts up into the grids. The pond edge looks better without them, but I need somewhere permanent to sit in all weathers, as I clearly can’t tear myself away from the pond’s edge.