End of Month View: March 2015

 

Welcome to the March End of Month View. The view above is from the shadier end of the Long Shady Border. There are a few gaps, such as where I'm waiting for the perennial Epimediums to come up and the evergreen ones to fill out more and flower, but on the whole it's looking quite lush.

In the pot in the bottom right is Hepatica transsilvanica 'Blue Eyes', only just sending up shoots, and Cyclamen pseudibericum which I proudly grew from seed! I'm not sure if I'll get flowers from the Cyclamen this year but the Hepatica should be flowering by the end of April, but possibly early May as the potting up may have delayed it.

One of the evergreen Epimediums (above), I think Epimedium x youngianum 'Roseum'. I'll be able to confirm its identity once it flowers.

As you move down the border to the Bog Garden, where the square pot is, the growth thins out a bit as there isn't much in the way of evergreens.

Starting now from the conservatory end of the Shady Border (below), life is really getting growing now, with the Astrantias sending up shoots and Digitalis purpurea 'Pam's Choice' filling out. It's still a bit bare at this stage, but there are some plants of interest.

This following plant is meant to be Bergenia 'Wintermarchen' though it seems to stay red all year around, so I'm not sure if I've somehow mislabelled it. It's the only Bergenia I have though. Whatever it is, after taking some time to settle in after planting it in summer 2013, it's finally looking healthy and I'm hoping for flowers from it this year.

I do rather love Spring blues and here are three that have started flowering.

Omphalodes cappadocica 'Cherry Ingram' 

Anemone blanda blue 

Pulmonaria 'Blue Ensign'

The ever-delightful cowslip is shining its socks off:

Primula Veris

In the Bog Garden, after starting to dry out a little with the ongoing March winds, this reversed with the heavy rain at the end of the month and I think you can see that it really is quite boggy, with some water sitting on the top of the soil.

After potting it up in February, I'm pleased to see that Osmunda regalis 'Purpurascens' is starting to send up shoots.

My order from Fibrex Nurseries arrived and I've added the following to this area:

Dryopteris dilatata

For climbing up the fence and adding colour all year around to the Bog Garden and conservatory end of the Shady Border, Hedera helix 'Buttercup':

And one that is supposed to really be happy being damp, so I've planted it in the boggiest part of the Bog Garden, Dryopteris erythrosora.

These three evergreens should help add year round interest to the border and hopefully make it look a bit more lush, similar to the shadier end. Also from Fibrex Nurseries are perennial ferns Dryopteris wallichiana and Athyrium otophorum, which only have tiny shoots at the moment so not much to see just now, but I'm sure we will see more of them in April.

The lone flower in the Bog Garden is one of my favourite primulas, Primula 'Guinevere'.

I have almost completed planting up the Bog Garden, and just need to add in April, Primula beesiana and Primula florindae, which I've chosen thanks to suggestions from readers of this blog.

Further along the Shady Border lots of bluebells have emerged and the evergreen woodrush Luzula sylvatica 'Marginata' has started it's attempt to expand further. I think I may need to dig some of this out soon.

Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood' is also ready to leaf, I'm sure we will see it fully open by the end of April. I love the way the it catches the sun giving it a glowy pinky-red.

Slowly the Morello Cherry awakes from it's slumber. Will I get any fruit this year?

The first shoots of Lamium orvala have appeared.

I'm really pleased to see that Acer palmatum 'Sango-kaku' has survived the flooding and subsequent replanting from last year and is now looking quite healthy.

At the very back in the Damson Border there are lots of buds on the Damson. I did get a couple of fruit from it last year, although they fell off before they were ready. So have hopes that this year I might have more, enough to get to eat them. I don't expect there to be enough for making jam just yet, maybe next year.

Underneath the Damson the comfrey patch is coming to life, as is this unknown variety of Pulmonaria that I got from my mother-out-law Audrey.


Plus this Hacquetia epipactis which is forming a nice mound of yellow-green flowers.

Apart from the couple of additions I mentioned for April, I think I need to stop for a while, let the Long Shady Border fill out and see how it's growing before I make any further additions or changes. Of course, this is easier said than done, particularly as I'm planning on going to the Harrogate Spring Flower Show and there may be plants there to tempt me...

Narcissus 'Jetfire', which does surprisingly ok in the shadiest end of the Long Shady Border

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End of month view is hosted by Helen Johnstone, aka @patientgardener. Visit Helen's blog for her March 2015 EOMV and links to other bloggers EOMV posts.

End of month view: March 2014

March has been a month full of quiet growth in the garden. Not much in the way of drama, just a gentle unfolding of new buds, leaves and early Spring flowers.

Overview of the garden, including new mini-greenhouse

Flowering and in leaf now appears to be quite a few blue-purple flowers...

An unnamed variety of Pulmonaria 

 I love the pink-purple tinge in the broad bean flowers (Imperial Green Longpod)

Muscari latifolium

 The 'back' of the Pulsatilla vulgaris is as pretty as the front

The tiny, fragrant Narcissus Minnow

A rather early flowering of Lavandula stoechas 'Fathead' (it's supposed to flower in Summer)

The cornus border

Early March I pruned back the Cornus shrubs to encourage lots of new colourful stems in anticipation of next winter. I've taken cuttings from the pruned stems in the hope that I might generate some new, free plants. I've not done this before and I'm not making a massive effort, I admit. I've just stuck some 'sticks' in the sides of part of the veg borders, am keeping them watered and hoping for the best. I want to focus my limited energy more on the vegetable & fruit growing, so any new Cornus shrubs I get will be a bonus.


I've added some further planting to what I'm now calling the Damson border, including Pulmonaria, Primula vulgaris and Alchemilla mollis. In early to mid Spring this part of the garden is in light shade, so planting 'woodland' plants is relevant. In between May & August it gets several hours of direct sun, so I've also added Helenium 'Sahin's Early Flowerer' for colour during the warmer months.

I've also placed my little Pukeko into this border, that I picked up in New Zealand several years ago. No worries - it isn't pining for home - it's ceramic, not real!

Although the Damson tree looks dead in this picture, it's actually got lots of healthy buds on it and I expect by next month it will look more lively.

The shadier end of the Long Shady Border. Lots of bluebell leaves have come up.

Thanks to my wonderful and ever-helpful partner Kevin, I now have training wire for all plants that need it, including the Morello Cherry above, which is also now budding.

He has also put up my steel artwork of gum leaves and gum nuts that I picked up in Australia during my visit in the (Oz) summer of 2012-13. This is now tied to the pergola, which you might just make out in the top picture of this blogpost. I am growing clematis up each side of the middle and right side of the pergola supports, with the aim that eventually they will reach and intermingle with the artwork. On the right side will be Clematis alpina 'Pamela Jackman', and on the left, when I've purchased it(!) will be a fragrant Clematis armandii.

I've also planted the grape vine that was on my to do list at the end of last month. This will grow up the left side of the pergola. My pergola isn't that big, so it's possible 3 different climbers will be too much for it. But let's see what happens.

Carrot (left) and parsnip (right) seedlings

In the kitchen garden the broad beans are flowering their socks off, and my first carrot and parsnip seedlings have poked their heads up. I'm rather chuffed about the latter as I was told not to sow carrots & parsnips until May in Sheffield. But the person giving the advice did have her allotment on an exposed hill, whereas I'm in a slightly more sheltered space. I also have been protecting mine with horticultural fleece at night and on the colder days. It shows you, once again, how important micro-climates can be in the garden.

Herb border (front) and strawberry border (right, next to house)

My herb border is coming to life and I'm very pleased to see I have new shoots of my French Tarragon coming up. Everything I planted last summer seems to have survived. I need to add some low growing plants to sit under the obelisk. I have some Cyclamen hederifolium and Cyclamen pseudibericum seeds I got from the Hardy Plant Society and I'm going to see if I can get them to take. If so, they will go here.

The strawberry plants are sending up new green leaves, although I sadly don't yet have flowers as Jono tweeted his did, the other day! This border also has Erythronium Pagoda, which I hoped would be flowering now, but it is just holding out on me! What's the bet it's been and gone by the end of April...

I have also tempted fate by starting to put outside my Lemon & Lime trees. During the cooler months they stay in the conservatory, and during the warmer months just outside. So if we get a cooler night (which I count as 5 degrees or less for the purposes of these two trees), I can easily bring them back inside again.

View of the garden from the driveway

View from conservatory

I picked up a new mini-greenhouse at the beginning of the month and it is now starting to fill up with a mix of hardy perennials and vegetables sown in modules/small pots. Some of the veg, at least, I hope shall be planted out during April, unless we suddenly get a cold spell. That's not going to happen, right?!

March hasn't been an explosion of growth and colour in my garden, rather a gentle welcome to Spring. I suspect by the end of April the garden will look dramatically more green and floriferous.

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End of month view is hosted by Helen Johnstone, aka @patientgardener. Visit Helen's blog for her March 2014 EOMV and links to other bloggers EOMV posts.