It’s very difficult to get to work when all around the plot there are new flowers to look at.

I uncovered Beds 4 and 5 as they’ll need a bit of work and sun/rain on them. I’m glad I did, because I uncovered big ant nests. I raked them to disturb them and was very happy that the blackbird and baby robin came to get their fill of eggs. I’m not sure how interested they are in the actual ants. There was a deep hole in the corner of Bed 4, with an unidentifiable lump – quite possibly a chewed and stored tulip bulb, stolen from Bed 3.

I’ve sown a front row of candytuft in Bed 9 as it takes a while to come up and I feel like time is getting away from me a bit. I also poke a few nasturtium seeds in Beds 5 and 6, to possibly help out the plants I have at home.

I’ve propped up the everlasting peas using the hoops. I don’t know why the one by the apple tree has to be the most resplendent of the plants.

I’ve separated the two cucumbers and replanted them. A germinated seed has been poked back into the ground to carry on. Also in Bed 7 I’ve thinned and moved around what has turned out to be borage plants. I’m happy for them to help in the flower areas of the bed as they’re so nectar-rich.

I did a great chore of tidying up the nursery. One poppy got tucked into Bed 7, other pots were emptied onto the compost. I put together a terracotta pot of poppies and while I was working in my shed doorway, a red-head cardinal beetle dropped from the roof and crawled around on my foot.

What looks like godetia is growing in the cracks of one of the stone steps and nearby bindweed has found the apple stick frame.

I had a fiddle with the pond beach. Lots of pebbles had fallen in making it too shallow. I’ve made it better but it may benefit from being a gravel area. I’d like a shallow water area for birds, but it’s not really that yet. The big excitement was that I saw a pale green damselfly over the pond!