A "Miscellany" post

Since the weather has been so atrocious recently I haven't had many opportunities for taking photos - just the odd few minutes here and there in between the periods of rain.  This post is a collection of photos without any real theme other than that they are all of recent developments in my garden.

The "Midwinter Fire" Dogwood is recovering well, and the new shoots look very colourful.

The Rhubarb is about to produce a flower. I used to think that removing any flowers that formed ought to be a good thing - preserving the plant's energy maybe  - but I have recently read that leaving them in place does no harm. Does anyone have any advice to share with me on this?

The first few Lily of the Valley flowers are out now. The little patch of it down by my shed has expanded a lot since last year. It must be enjoying the moist conditions.

Close by I notice there are a few bronzey-purple leaves of Heuchera poking through the faded foliage of the Daffodils. I planted this Heuchera years ago and it has never done well for me. I have actually re-located it twice to see if different conditions would produce a better result, but to no avail. This is a shame, since it can be a good-looking plant. Maybe this year, with all the drenching it has had recently, the Heuchera will do better?

When harvesting lettuces recently I have been in a hurry (trying not to get too wet!) and I have just cut them at ground level without pulling up the roots. The stumps have begun to re-grow:

I think the re-growth would probably be less good than the original (perhaps a little bitter?), but in any case those stumps are coming out just as soon as there is a good day, because I need that bed for the Three Sisters.

Against the back fence, the Clematis has started to recover after its ravaging by the foxes. It has never flowered yet (this is its third year) and I was hopeful that this year would see it producing its first blooms, but some weeks ago the foxes trashed it. The plant, though badly bruised, is nevertheless now putting out some shoots.

One of the jobs I was able to do last weekend, under cover in the garage, was pricking-out my Bush Basil plants.

The bush variety of Basil has much smaller leaves and I think the plants will probably stay more compact - ideal for a windowsill site. I don't see myself needing more than three or four of these and of course I now have far too many, so I shall be giving away a few of them.

My Coriander seedlings are getting quite big now.

My plan is to prick-out about half of them into bigger pots and grow them on for their seeds, whilst using the other half for their leaves. I hate Coriander leaf (I'm allergic to it), but I love the seeds. Jane likes both however, so she can have the leaves for garnishes on curries etc.
 

At this time of the year I'm normally thinking about potting up into their final growing-containers my Tomatoes and Chillis (plus this year I have some Aubergines as well) but, judging by the weather forecast, I think they are going to have to stay in little pots for another couple of weeks.