Camellia phenomenon.

I noticed this strange phenomenon on my white flowered camellia today. Some of the branches have sported a new coloured flower, pink with pale edged petals. Googled it and it appears that Camellias will do this. I've had it in this spot for 3 or 4 years but it's a bit squashed so hasn't produced many flower to date. Hopefully it will flourish now and I'll have a 2 for the price of one plant.
 

As predicted the weather has returned to seasonal temperatures again. I visited the allotment to collect a few sticks of rhubarb for crumble tonight, and I was pleased to see that the peas and beans that I sowed direct a couple of weeks ago are just breaking through the soil. I'll have to put some protection around them to keep the pigeons off.

On the way home I decided to get some cucumber seeds. Delighted to find Lidl have some for 49p, so they have gone in the windowsill propagator this afternoon. Only about half the courgettes and squashes have germinated. I think it might have been too hot on the windowsill for them. But I've got more than enough now so will turn my mind to some other veg. I went to Kenyon Hall Farm Shop on my travels today and spotted some unusual tomatoes. These are Coeur de Boeuf ( not my photo) . I'll try to save some seed and see if I can grow them.

Potting on.

 More lovely hot days but will come to an end soon. I'm enjoying potting up and sowing more seeds as space in the transparent tent frees up. Planted out some sweet peas yesterday along the west wall of the fruit cage. I've got some nice blue s' pea to go in too but they have been slower to mature. Nothing very exciting to photograph yet so I've taken some for the gorgeous flowering tree in Paddington Bank.

Diary photos

Unbelievably nice weather for March, 20˚C and cloudless skys, will there be tears before summer? I spent the morning potting up the tomato seedlings until I ran out of 3" pots. Got some more when we went out to Lud's Church in the Peak District National Park http://www.roaches.org.uk/places5.html#ludchurch
Also splashed out on a soaker hose (get it? Splashed - soaker?)
But back to the gardening diary. Photos from today will remind me where we were in March.

 Little "Little Gems" ready for transplanting.

 Spinach and Spring Onions (package was in another language and I thought they were both spinach, lol)

 Tomatoes awaiting pots and Fennel seedlings

 My favorite lettuce, Lidl's seeds which give a lovely flat lettuce when they grow up. I packet has kept me going for years. Such good value.

 Tomatoes just re-potted.

 A little bit of colour

 The camellia that flowers it's heart out every year. Is it because Patsy's underneath?

 Coriander, I think I can risk planting these out soon.

 Courgettes and ? - saved seed from either some pumpkins or marrows - time will tell.

 Baby Leeks and fingers crossed some wild garlic.

 The 1st few sweetcorn just coming up.

 Little ol' Rhett who is 16 now

 More tomatoes, I hope they do as well as they did last year. Marmande was fantastic outside. 

One of my covered racks. I had to replace the plastic cover after a year but at £9 for the supports and cover I think it's money well spent.

Well, the weather forecast says it will be nice all this week, hooray. I'm going to try to get some flower seeds in and brighten up the allotment later in the year.

And so I begin another year

It's all go on the allotment this week, a little bit of sunshine and heat has got the sap flowing and we are all busy getting a new season underway. Terry's dug over most of the plot for me and I've got some peas and beans in the ground.

I've created 3 drills for potatoes and planted them this morning. A full row of tiny Home Guards, I hope their offspring are bigger than the parents. A few Wilja, 2 half rows of Maris Piper and a few very healthy looking Kerr's Pinks from NI that we've been eating since Christmas.