Tag Archives: Anemone blanda

Six on Saturday

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Despite the dreadful weather lately, the garden has flourished and plants are growing before my very eyes. Each day now there is something new, better, bigger or beautiful to look at. Today it was the the Amelanchier lamarckii against a clear blue sky.

As soon as the sun comes out, the Anemone blanda open and is an arresting sight alongside the naturalised narcissus and primroses.

Why are the tulips out so early this year? Is it the variety? The fact that they are in pots (the ones in the ground are not open yet, though already in bud), or maybe just the warm, wet Spring has brought them on quicker. I don’t know.

This large clump of Purple Honesty, Lunaria annua, decided to make its home at the front of the drive border, peeping out from the permanent shrubs, which seems to be its preferred habitat.

Last Autumn, I split a huge clump of Penstemon digitalis ‘Dark Towers’ into quarters and potted them up in 10 litre pots. Two have found new homes and two are now waiting for me to make up my mind where to put them. I now know they need a lot of room, at least a metre due to the volume of foliage they produce, and that is a metre I don’t currently have!

At least the rain gave me chance to get in the greenhouse and transplant the Cosmos seedlings and a few of the Which? Gardening trial seeds I am growing this year, including, for the first time, Amaranthus paniculatus ‘Foxtail’, a variety of the old fashioned favourite Love-Lies-Bleeding. They sent me 50 seeds but only half germinated. Not a great start!

Have a great Easter Weekend

David

Six on Saturday

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We are now at that inbetweeny stage in the Birch circle where the snowdrops have gone over, the early narcissus are flowering along with the Anemone blanda (when the sun shines!) Amazing to think that by June, all this foliage will be gone and there will just be 6 Geranium ‘Rozanne’ covering the composted bark.

Amongst them is Chionodoxa luciliae ‘Pink Giant’ which I rescued from the undergrowth during our first spring here back in 2009 and still going strong.

Gardening friends thought I was mad last year, for growing Camassias in pots, but I had dug them up from elsewhere in the garden and was undecided where to put them. It was a temporary solution but they did so well that I just left them in the pots and put them behind the shed with the gone over narcissus and tulips. Without any attention whatsoever, they survived and appear to have prospered. They are usually naturalised in damp grassland but they go very well next to late flowering yellow narcissus in pots! Rules are made to be broken!

Wild Primroses love the sticky clay in my garden and pop up everywhere. The couple of pink Primulas are not so gregarious and stay put. I had several more in various gaudy colours but they seem to have disappeared. I am never quite sure whether they are, in fact, a Polyanthus rather than a Primula. Perhaps some kind reader can help.

The fat buds of the pink flowered Tree Peony promise a good show in a few weeks time, along with the taller yellow Paeonia ludlowii which looks like it will be spectacular if a late frost doesn’t kill the buds. Definitely a potential SoS contender.

Erysimum ‘Red Jep’, a gift from a kind friend, will be flowering for many months, and will have another go after it has been trimmed back in mid-summer. Such good value plants.

Finally, barring a late frost which is likely to kill off the buds, the Wisteria sinensis ‘Prolific’ is showing signs of another fantastic display in April. Fingers firmly crossed!

Have a great weekend

David

Six on Saturday

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My Six on Saturday blogs have recently been interrupted by illness and holidays (in that order!) and on my return I was laser focused on getting the rose garden in shape. I foolishly (as it turned out) spread my own compost over the beds last year, and paid the price in millions of weeds. I also succumbed to my tendency to overplant, and stuffed every available space with herbaceous perennials, summer flowering bulbs and any spare plants looking for a home. I soon discovered that roses don’t like that. They like and need space and airflow around them, otherwise they sulk and whole stems die off! So, 13 old compost bags full of plants, weeds and detritus have gone to the recycling centre, beds are now weed free, fed and mulched, and looking all the better for it.

There is not much colour in the garden yet, but these little Anemone blanda have spread themselves around and pop up everywhere to compete nicely with the unwanted, and impossible to eradicate, Ficaria verna commonly known as the hated lesser celandine.

The other stalwart of the early Spring garden is the common flowering redcurrant, Ribes sanguineum. This one grows as a ‘full stop’ at the end of a beech hedge and gets a hard prune in August, which as every gardener knows, is far too late, But somehow, it has adapted to to this and rewards me with a good show every February and March. When I walk past, it is buzzing with bumble bees which always brings a smile.

Last October, a kind friend gave me some seeds of Lunaria annua ‘Chedglow’, a rather choice variety of Purple Honesty which begins life with blotchy leaves before they turn a dark shade of purple topped with dark purple flowers. I look forward to seeing it in all its glory next Spring.

The mild winter seems to have confused some of my November planted Tulips! These are not a dwarf variety, nor are they an early variety. They are supposed to be up to 40cm tall and flowering in May!

As usual, I seem to have sown far too many Cosmos in the mistaken belief that, because they are last years seed, the germination rate would be far less. Cosmos, as we all know, does not follow the rules, hasn’t read the packet, and will grow regardless of age!

Right, back to the pressure washing!

Have a great weekend

David

Six on Saturday

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The garden plants escaped any major storm damage. No fences down, greenhouse intact, trees all still the right way up. However, my very heavy and expensive glass topped patio table was upended and flew against the wall causing a million tiny bits of safety glass to spread themselves far and wide. I will be picking it up forever! Fortunately, Bramblecrest still provide replacements but at £180 + delivery, it was an expensive storm!

Finally, some decent weather has arrived after the storms and I can get out there and start some actual gardening. The 1000 litres of soil improver is still sitting on the drive where it has lain for two weeks untouched! The Anemone blanda is loving the sunshine between the showers and is stretching her little faces upwards to catch the early morning rays.

Th Cyclamen coum are hardier than their delicate appearance would suggest. They can take everything the weather throws at them. The snowdrops are gradually fading after giving a great show, even holding their flowers aloft in 70mph winds last week. Next, it’s the turn of the daffs and hyacinths.

This multi-headed little beauty always cheers me up when she appears. The label disappeared eons ago so I can’t help with a name.

I don’t have many Hellebores, I found that they all gradually turn out to be a sort of muddy purple colour but these are a couple of beauties.

Finally, a Wallflower, Erysimum cheiri, which was sown four years ago , has flowered every year since and looks better than ever. The books say it is a biennial but this one appears to be perennial. The solitary bumble bees were all over it today.

Well, that’s my six for this Saturday.

Have a great weekend.

David