What to plant in April

Three to plant in April

Warming soil, reliable moisture and a long season ahead — these three will be flowering by midsummer.

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  Foolproof

  Nigella 'Miss Jekyll'

  Nigella damascena

  Sow direct and thin ruthlessly. Sky-blue flowers in a haze of thread-fine foliage, then inflated seedpods worth keeping for the vase well into autumn.

• 
  Shade-lover

  Astrantia 'Roma'

  Astrantia major

  Dusky pink pincushions that flower for months in the half-shade most plants sulk in. Cut it back hard after the first flush and it does the whole thing again.

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  Long-flowering

  Geum 'Totally Tangerine'

  Geum chiloense

  Apricot petals on wiry stems from May through October. Forgiving in any decent soil, and it looks gorgeous threaded through grasses.

Garden ideas to nick this month

• 

  Before it needs it

  Stake now, not in June

  Put supports in while the perennials are knee-high and they grow up through them invisibly. Wait until a June downpour flattens the border and no amount of string ever makes it look right again.

• 

  Tulips now, dahlias next

  One bold container by the door

  A single statement pot at the front door does more than six small ones scattered round the garden. Switch the planting twice a year — spring bulbs, then summer dahlias.

A garden to visit

Batsford Arboretum, Gloucestershire

Cherry blossom, briefly

The Japanese cherries here give you maybe ten days. That brevity is the whole appeal — nobody photographs a hedge, but everyone stops for blossom that they know won't be there next week.