In the last few days we've had plenty of quite hot sunshine coupled with some rain and everything is growing like mad. I've had more ripe Strawberries and I'm pleased to say that the two Chilli Trifetti plants I had to put outside are thriving. The leaves are now taking on a purple hue (along with the green and cream) and one of the the plants has a number of baby fruits. The French Beans I sowed direct are starting to germinate and the Cucumber plants are looking strong and healthy with lots of flower buds forming.

The 'sacrificial' Sunflower I left outside in a pot has survived so far with no sign of slug or snail damage. It's over 30cm tall now but still fairly spindly. The remaining seedlings are in the greenhouse and nowhere near as big so I'll leave them there for a while longer. The Ipomoea Alba seedlings have started to climb up the obelisk, Agapanthus Lilliput and a number of Fuchsias are in bud and 7 out of 10 Gladiolus Callianthus have broken through the soil. I also have the first flower stem on my yellow Freesias although there is still no sign whatsoever of the purple ones.

On the wildlife front there are plenty of bees around and I saw what I think was a Variable Damselfly yesterday. There's also some kind of wood-boring insect making deep holes in a decaying piece of old Jasmine wood. I'm assuming that it is some kind of Beetle and I'm trying to research whether it is a welcome or unwelcome visitor.

Georgie