Adding a bit of colour

In early Spring my garden is usually a bit jaded and in need of re-vitalisation.

Last weekend I set to on a major tidying-up session. I removed the last few bits and pieces of over-wintered veg from a couple of the beds (e.g. the bed in the left foreground), dug in the compost that I had spread the previous weekend, and prepared the beds for sowing.

In one bed I put in some Parsnip seeds (Gladiator and Panache) and some Beetroot (Boltardy, Red Ace and Detroit), and covered them with two of my long cloches. I am trying hard to adopt the principle of successional sowing, so I only put in a half-row of each (actually they are double half-rows - half a row, side-by-side), and I will sow another lot when the first ones begin to show through. This ought to mean that my harvest period is a bit longer.

In another bed I put in some peas (Purple-podded Desiree, Boogie and Premuim), and two different types of Broad Bean (Imperial Green Longpod and Witkiem Manita). Again, the fact that I have sown small quantities of several types should mean that I get a modest harvest but over a longer period. I have erected my usual pea support mechanism - a length of 4-foot high chicken wire suspended between two stout posts and stiffened with three bamboo canes - and I have covered the whole of this bed with netting to dissuade the local cats and foxes from digging in it.

Pea-support mechanism in the foreground - unlovely but practical!

After the practical work was done I made a trip to our local Garden Centre in search of some instant colour. I came back with some Polyanthus plants in a mixture of colours:

I put them in pots so that I can move them around as required. As well as these I now have the Crocuses, which are probably just about at their best now; the Irises which are on their last legs; and lots of Daffodils which are just coming into flower:

My wallflowers won't be long now either. I can see colour in the buds of some of them:

Finally, a confession. It wasn't only Polyanthus that I bought. Acting on an impulse I also bought some Strawberry plants. They were being sold at four plants for £5, so I splashed out a fiver and bought four different ones.

I plan to put these in the big wooden planter outside our kitchen window - a place that is seldom visited by birds or squirrels! For the record, the plants are Cambridge Favourite, Honeyoe, Eros and Florence. Anyone know these?  I've heard of the first two, but I have never grown them, and indeed it's many years since I grew strawberries of any sort, so I shall have to go and read up on how to do it. A good place to start will be Sue's blog Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments, I think...