Toxic Plants

The evenings are getting longer, the daffodils are out (in the Isle of Man they are anyway, maybe not so much in Alaska) and gardeners’ thoughts start to turn to the year ahead.   There isn’t a lot to photograph or write about right now as most annual seeds haven’t started to germinate and most perennials are coming out of their winter dormancy, but here is an update. The above photograph shows two cold frames and six seed trays on my patio.   I generally overwinter existing plants and start new plants off on my patio before transferring them to the allotment in late spring or early summer, because the allotment is actually quite a plant-hostile place.   It is out in the countryside, it doesn’t benefit from the “heat island” effect of our small town, so the nights are colder and frostier.   It’s more exposed to wind, which I have spoken about before: the strong, cold, salt-laden winds of the Isle of Man are enough to shrivel even the hardiest of plants.   And it’s full of critters who