I was pleasantly surprised today to find that the cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) seeds I planted a week or so ago had come up well in the polytunnel. The seeds were old ones that my parents had got years ago and passed onto me last year. They all had little tufts on the end so I thought they had probably spent themselves in the packet but they actually seem abundantly happy. I have now pricked out the seedlings into individual pots (previously I had sown them all together in one small pot) and look forward to observing their future development, including the all important question of what colour they are.