Grey clouds are looming. Before it starts to rain I wander round the garden to take in what’s come into flower, unfurled or faded after the heat of the recent Easter weekend. I know Easter was late this year, but 24C is surprising for April. As unlikely as wall-to-wall sunshine in Manchester!

Spring flowering shrubs are blooming about two weeks early this year. Ceanothus and Choisya are already in flower and my tulips haven’t lasted as long as usual. I’ve been planting up new borders and the soil is dry and dusty, despite the added compost. Keep watering I tell everyone. So I am happy to see grey clouds looming and hope for some steady rain before too long.

Here’s what’s looking good in my garden right now…

A dwarf bearded iris acquired many years ago for which I have no name. Wicked colouring!

Viola ‘Susie’. Sweet little faces! Grown in a 12” terracotta pot, I find this the best way to keep them in my garden.

Choisya ‘Aztec Pearl’. A reliable evergreen with scented white flowers.

Geranium ‘Stephanie’. An early flowering hybrid of Geranium renardii with pale lilac, purple veined flowers over hairy grey/green foliage.

A white flowered perennial stock, Matthiola incana ‘Alba’. Deliciously scented! Planted by my bench where it gets baked in the sun.

Sweet Cicely (Myrrhis odorata). It seeds around my garden and is good in dry shade. I use it as a sugar substitute in stewed rhubarb.

The beautifully shaped and shiny leaves of Asarum europaeum that’s seeded itself next to my greenhouse.

The zingy combination of Smyrnium perfoliatum, with tulips ‘Ballerina’ and ‘Burgundy’ and Euphorbia polychroma ‘Midas’.

The subtle bronzed foliage of Epimedium rubrum.

My pots of tulip ‘Princes Irene’. The squirrel didn’t eat them!

There’s something new to see everyday during this fast moving spring, so don’t miss it before summer takes over.