It will be my first attempt at growing tuberous begonias this year and I am just stunned by how such unpromising, shrivelled, brown gnarly things could possibly produce such beauty and abundance. Of course, they may not! Like a lot of advertising these days, the picture on the right may be after ten years! However, from little acorns (tubers)……….
My little patch of hardy Cyclamen coum have doubled since last year but are still very few. Mind you, they started from one pink and one white so haven’t done bad. They seem to like it under the Silver Birches in the leaf litter and composted bark mulch. I am told they are mostly propagated by ants which like the sticky sweet coating on the seeds and disperse them in the process. I do have a lot of ants! Every year my lawn resembles seaside sand dunes in summer thanks to the ants and their elaborate tunnel highways.
My first vase of home grown early daffs. Hopefully the first of many. These were picked in bud and opened within a few hours of being brought indoors. Remarkable! Nature never ceases to amaze me!
This is year one of the transplanted snowdrops and, understandably, a bit sparse as yet!. Received wisdom from those in the know suggested planting “groups of six bulbs 12″ apart” which is roughly what I did. Eventually, the groups are all supposed to join up and look ‘au naturel’. It will be awhile!
The Iris reticulata ‘Katharine Hodgkin’ shrugged off last weeks snow and are resplendent in their powder blue and speckled yellow. But, who was Katharine Hodgkin? A quick internet search revealed only that she was raised by EB Anderson in the 1960s but not who the elusive Katharine was. Wife? Mistress? Neighbour? Answers on a postcard please.
They are going to regret it! Surely these tulip ‘Queen of Night’ are emerging far too early? They normally don’t appear until March to flower in May. They have done well to survive at all from year to year in my clay soil., This is their fourth year in the ground without any cosseting or covering so I am impressed with their resilience, if not their timing!
Have a great weekend.
Wrap up warm, it’s going to be cold out there!
David
Davids Garden Diary 
You have some lovely spring flowers performing nice and early. Many thanks David for showcasing your tulip Queen of the Night: it has much to recommend it since you have shown them to grow so well after four years in the garden. Looking forward to you posting about it again when it is bloom.
Lovely Katherine Hodgeson, and tough too! Always nice to see the first daffs, they are always appreciated the most. Spring is springing. 🙂
👍Another interesting blog. Thank you.