The gardening year really takes off in April and it is certainly one of the busiest months for seed sowing, whether direct in the garden or in the shelter of the greenhouse. It is the ideal to sow a range of our hardy annuals such as cornflower, calendula, godetia, eschscholzia (Californian poppy) and nigella direct in their flowering positions now that the soil should be warming up. Sowings made in informal drifts often produce a more pleasing effect than those in straight lines.

Vegetable plot
In the vegetable plot there is a wide range of seeds which can now be sown in their cropping positions. Beetroot, parsnip, carrot, onion, lettuce, radish and spinach can all go in during April, but hang fire with runner and French beans, as these need the soil to be considerably warmer before they will germinate – May is early enough for these in the open.

Greenhouse
If you have a greenhouse, however, get beans off to a flying start by sowing individually in cells of compost, but remember to cover the seedlings with fleece or newspaper when frost threatens. They should make fine plants for going out to their final positions in late May.

Summer Bedding
Staying in the greenhouse, most of our flamboyant summer bedding plants are half-hardy annuals, so these too need protection until the danger of frost has passed – usually the last week in May here in Suffolk.

Marigolds
French and African marigolds are some of the easiest bedding plants to grow from seed and while some gardeners believe dahlias can only be grown from tubers, we offer a wide range of superb dahlias from seed. They germinate readily and the large seedlings are easy to handle and grow on.

Cottage Garden
If you are thinking of planning a nostalgic cottage garden, old favourites such as foxgloves, sweet Williams, Canterbury bells, wallflowers and forget-me-nots are biennial, so seed is sown one year to produce flowering plants the following year. April is a good time to make seed sowings of these in short nursery rows in a corner of the garden. The seedlings can grow on steadily through the summer before going out to their flowering positions in the autumn.