Growing pains

There are one or two places in the garden that needed something just to fill them up so I went over to the garden centre this afternoon to investigate the plants. Those that I bought a week or so ago are growing furiously now and hopefully will start flowering soon.
I bought two English lavenders which are very small but will grow quite quickly, a kniphofia (red hot poker) which is also still a baby, a gaura and some dianthus. When I bought the other plants and filled the patio pots a couple of weeks ago, I also put two geraniums and a pelargonium in separate plain pots. I keep these so that I can use them in the height of summer to fill up empty spaces as other plants go over.
As for the sunflowers seeds, they are beginning to sprout quite well but unfortunately Squidge decided to bury a peanut in one of the cells so I have now had to protect them by placing a couple of pieces of wood over the top. I saw the woodmouse shoot across the garden yesterday evening with a peanut in his mouth (it was almost as big as him) and this was one Squidge had hidden under the bird table. It serves Squidge right for messing with my seeds and I'm sure that mouse was smiling!
All I will need to get now is a couple of osteospermums, I think they may have some perennial ones in the garden centre, and a basil plant which I can get in Tesco. I have found that buying a basil plant from the supermarket and putting it in some good compost and then into a nice hot, sunny spot on the patio is better than getting this particular herb from the garden centre. This was a tip I heard on the radio some time ago from a top Italian chef and it works.
I can't wait for the weather to warm up a bit because the roses, clematis and honeysuckle are already in bud just waiting for some warm sunshine like the rest of us.