April in the Garden 2026

The weather is still volatile (to say the least), with average temperatures ranging from the teens to minus two degrees with gale force winds and frosts still in the mornings. It’s a tricky time of year for the team to determine when and what to sow so the timings are right to transfer out to the garden from the glasshouses. The end of March into April is full steam ahead for our seed sowing when it seems all we are doing is sowing seeds, pricking off seeds and potting on seedlings!

Summer bedding, vegetables for the kitchen garden, flowers for the cutting garden, hardy annuals and herbs have all been sown and can be seen in various stages of progress in the glasshouses and standing out areas. We don’t direct sow until the end of April or the beginning of May here at Floors, once the soil has warmed further, but when it is time we will be direct sowing into the cutting garden and borders including more hardy annuals as well as Papaver (poppies), marigolds and cornflowers.

Direct sowing in the Kitchen Garden encompasses carrots, lettuce, radishes, spring onions and our potatoes start going in very soon starting with the first earlies.

Our lovely volunteers started back in late March. We have five newbies starting with the team in April and we must say a big thank you to our volunteers who make such a difference to the Gardens. We also have a new WRAGS trainee starting in April and look forward to welcoming Kirsty to the team at the start of her horticultural journey.

Everything in the Garden seems to have suddenly sprung into growth and the Spring Border is looking lovely. Plants to look out for include the Hellebores which seem to glow in the low sunshine, the tulips and hyacinths and a special treat to seek out in this border is Iris bucharica (Bukhara Iris). This lovely little iris has lemon yellow and white blooms atop sturdy bright green stems. It is native to Central Asia (in fact when visiting Bukhara in Uzbekistan last year I saw them in the wild). It is perennial, so if happy it will multiply each year and makes gorgeous clumps of soft lemon flowers and is well worth considering for your own garden if you can get hold of it. Ideal for a well-drained and sunny position and needs no watering over Summer at all so ideal if we get another hot one this year.

The Gardens are open every day and the hard work put in over the Winter starts to show results from now on, so please do pop in and take a look at how we are progressing. We are always happy to answer any questions or provide advice.

Have a lovely Easter and we look forward to welcoming you to the Gardens soon!