I HAVE never seen as many spring blooms in our garden as we have this year. The beds are bursting with flowers and foliage and it feels that there will be no room for the summer plants to have their place.

Conditions have been ideal for early growth with a mild spring followed by a few days of heavy rain that came just in time to top everything up. A week or so ago it was necessary to water the pots twice a day, something I don't remember having to do as early as April.

In shady parts of the garden, lily of the valley, woodruff, bluebells and variegated honesty are in flower. They are useful plants that will grow in inhospitable areas under trees and shrubs, honesty being especially useful for dry shade.

This easy-to-grow plant, botanical name Lunaria annua 'Alba Variegata', has bright, white-splashed leaves and white flowers that lighten a dull area for weeks.

Despite the 'annua' part of its name, honesty is a biennial that can be sown outdoors in late spring or early summer. Variegated seedlings may be a plain, disappointing dull green in their first year but the following spring will take on their variegation.

Sowing will not need to be repeated as the plants will self-seed prolifically with variegated types coming true from seed as long as there are no green-leaved forms nearby.

However, I always gather a few seeds just in case. The silvery flat inner seed cases that give rise to the common names of moonwort, silver dollar and satin flower, can be cut in autumn for dried flower displays.

In a sunnier part of the garden, Geum rivale 'Leonard's Variety' is in full bloom and has appreciated the recent wet weather.

Water Avens is another name for this species of geum which, unlike the rest of the genus, is a moisture-loving plant that will do well in damp places by a pond. The flowers will keep going until October on this long-lived plant whose only requirement is a good soaking when the weather is dry. It can be divided in autumn or spring to provide more plants and will occasionally self-seed.

Hardy geraniums have become increasingly popular over the past few years with a good range of varieties available from garden centres and many more unusual ones from specialist nurseries.

Geranium phaeum is amongst the first to flower and has small, dark maroon blooms held on long stems above a mound of foliage. There are several varieties including 'Album' with white flowers that show up well in shade, and 'Stillingfleet Ghost' a pale grey form from Stillingfleet Lodge Nurseries, near York.

Dark flowered 'Samobor' is grown for its leaves marked with a central large brown blotch and the new foliage of 'Taffs Jester' is mottled with yellow.

WEEKEND CATCHUP

PINCH out the growing tips of sweet pea seedlings to encourage the growth of side shoots. Seeds sown at the end of March or beginning of April and grown outside should soon be big enough to pot on or transfer to the garden.

As slugs are a problem in my garden, I will pot my seedlings on and put them out when they are bigger. Although this involves more work - they will need individual pots and support - it is better than them becoming breakfast for the local molluscs.

Sweet pea seedlings can be planted in tubes of rolled up newspaper which provides an ideal run for their long roots. Wedge the tubes in trays so they support each other and in a few weeks plant out intact - the paper will gradually break down in the soil.

Updated: 09:38 Saturday, May 04, 2002