What a change from my last general look at the garden on 11th April. Spring is finally happening! The trees are bursting into leaf, there is blossom everywhere and the tulips have flowered. Here is a quick peek at some of the changes this month:
The Vegetable Garden:
It is finally all go in the vegetable garden. You can see in the photos that the rhubarb is looking fantastic, there will be asparagus for lunch tomorrow, the strawberries have lots of new leaf growth and I have started sowing seeds directly. There are also plenty of fresh greens from the kale, chard, spinach and spring greens that I overwintered and planted out earlier this month.
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Blossom:
Blossom is everywhere in the garden. The forsythia, magnolia, kerria, chaenomeles, cherry and plum trees are all in flower, with the pear trees about to follow.
Spring Bulbs:
This year I can finally, after lots of back breaking bulb planting, say that the daffodils are dancing in the garden! The late narcissi Thalia, Actaea and Pheasant’s Eye are all flowering and most of the tulips are now out. There are also fritillaria Crown Imperial, anemones, hyacinths and swathes of muscari. This is our fourth spring here and the most colour I have managed to achieve in this garden.
Tulips:
I love tulips. I love the variety and depth of colour and I love the crisp architectural shapes that they bring to the spring garden. They are such a contrast to the long months dominated by grey and brown. I have more tulips in pots this year, as a result of the bad weather before Christmas, but I am delighted with the results and am already planning my tulip order for the autumn. I find that it helps to make notes now whilst everything is in flower, rather than wait till August when my attention has turned to other aspects of the garden.
New Arrivals:
There is still plenty more to come before the spring is over. The Crown Imperials are just starting to flower and the first of the wallflowers are opening up. I also noticed that the cerinthe major sown in the autumn is just starting to flower. There are plenty more anemones to come, the spring viburnums are in bud, the spirea Arguta is coming out and the spikes of Solomon’s Seal and Lily of the Valley are now visible. One of my other spring favourites, dicentra Alba, should be flowering any time now and, most exciting of all, I have found the first peony bud, so there is plenty to look forward to as I deadhead the daffodils.
The Under Gardeners:
I thought I would include a few pictures of my team enjoying the better weather. If you look carefully you will see the first chicks of the year! There are only three, one grey, one black and one yellow and they are gorgeous! Hopefully their mother will let me get closer next week. The Buff Orpington pictured here is a big fluffed up broody chicken. I have two broodies at the moment so egg production is dropping. The rabbits are Bonny & Clyde, the cat is Ruby and the Irish Setter is Hardy.
See you in May!