By Isle of Wight Observer
It’s been a long time coming, but at last we’ve had some lovely warm sunshine.
Our gardens are starting to burst into life, with perennial plants looking lush after the wet start. Flowering shrubs and climbers, such as wisteria, and early-flowering clematis, are bursting with colour. It’s a lovely time of year.
Still, it’s wise to keep an eye on the weather forecast. We’ve been told for many years not to plant out anything tender until May is out.
Despite the changing climate, I would still urge some caution. Better to delay by a week or so than to have all your hard work undone by being too keen.
However, that being said, the long-range weather forecast does appear to be on the mild side, so it’s a good opportunity to get your tender plants hardened off prior to planting out. This means bringing them out of the greenhouse to acclimatise to the outside conditions. Then if it does turn a bit chilly you can always bring them inside overnight.
If you haven’t sown your runner beans and French beans, courgettes and marrows, it’s not too late. Now that the temperature is improving, it won’t take long for them to germinate. You can do regular sowing of carrots, beetroot and salad crops.
Spring flowering shrubs, such as forsythia, can be pruned back once they’ve finished flowering, as they will flower next spring on this year’s growth.
At the end of the month you can cut back any spring bulbs. They need six weeks after flowering to build up their stores for next spring. Summer bedding and baskets can go out once the fear of frosts has all but gone.
When you read this, we will be preparing for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. With more than just a bit of luck my sweet peas might just come out into bloom just in time.
It has been a very difficult growing season, with it being so, so wet and quite cold, and it’s going to be touch and go as to whether we’ll have enough blooms on the day – fingers crossed!