So Cold

dwarf yellow tulip, 

A row of early flowerers with forget-me-nots n the middle

I have had two mornings this month of sitting outside. They were both early and since then it's been freezing in the garden. I am putting off sowing several seeds - it's just too cold and they will simply fade away. But it has given me a chance to clear away a particularly unwanted weed, a buttercup that likes my wet soil and grows apace in my garden and to put in its place the plants I bought as a bargain last week. The idea this year is to fill up every bare inch with wanted plants so the unwanted ones won't find a space.

The terrible buttercup 

One of the nice things about the garden is the wild plants that grow.  At present I have masses of forget-me-nots. They fill up blank spaces and look lovely. They also attract beneficial pollinators and insects. And they don't have annoying roots which can take over, like buttercups. 

Self sown Forget-me-nots

The last of my tulips are still flowering. They are dwarf tulips in a yellow that brightens up the dull days. They close in cold weather but were out this afternoon in the sun and they flower for weeks. 

Dwarf yellow tulip

I have been turning over every brick and stone and have gathered up masses and masses of small slugs, the kind that eat new plants. If I gather them at the top of the garden they go into the compost heap, if at the bottom, they go in the bags collected every week by the rubbish people. I hope to save many plants from slug death. I sometimes collect them during the daytime, but I also go out (when it's not too cold) at night, with a strong torch and collect masses that way.