I will begin with spring because it’s a nice place to start in the gardening year and has a peek at what’s to come later in the year. Hope you enjoy my Gardening Year.
We have an early flowering Cherry tree. Not sure of the name of this Cherry tree but it’s flowers are a a pale pink borne in abundance along the tall deep red branches. It has a more upright habit so not spreading wide like some flowering cherry trees. Against a clear blue sky this is a stunning site to see especially now the tree is about 15 years old so is mature. Very little maintenance is required so simple to look after, too.
Daffodils, and lots of them to make the best impact. There are so many varieties it’s difficult to have a favourite, however, I can definitely make my most favourite daffodils to be the variety Tête-à-tête. They are early flowering, make for a brilliant vibrant colourful display in late winter early spring. Oh, they’re is little fuss from them too as they just last a long time too.
Hellebores are a favourite of mine except for one thing about them, they’re shy at showing they’re wonderful flowers. However, one thing that does help to show off the flowers is to trim off some of the leaves.
Taking care not to be pricked by the spiny growth the leaves that are the oldest looking are probably best to be cut away. There will be plenty of new growth later on and it’s at the point before the flowers turn to seed pods you might want to trim the flowers stalks away from the plant. Of coarse you can let some go to seed and see what you get and you never know what you might find growing as there’s many a new hellebore born this way as they’re unlikely to to come true to the parent plant.
Forsythia, this is the post amazing showy shrub especially now it has grown so big. For the months of about November to February there’s just bare branches, then we are rewarded with a profusion of small golden yellow flowers with intense scent. It has been showing off got many years in the front garden. Nothing much has been done with the front garden as it is mostly concrete except for this diamond bed in the middle. It’s in this diamond bed come together in the spring with forsyt muscari and crocus and a little later tulips.
Spirea Bridal Wreath produces the most amazing show of white flowers on mass that it can dominate the garden. But I find this view of domination to be awesome and it’s sad when it comes to an end. The shrub is now ten or twelve years old and tends to be suddenly entwined by convolvulus or bindweed. I’ve had trouble controlling the bindweed which is now beginning to take over.
Erysimum Bowles’s Mauve, is for me a plant that has lots going for it. Not too large a plant, easily propagated, good foliage and some really good flowers that go on forever so it seems. The flowers start out pale yellow and turn into a mauve shade. It starts in spring and goes on through the summer with a short period of it needs to recover from all the flowers and narrow leaves it has been producing. Then, in the autumn gives to another show of spectacular blooms. Sometimes these perennial wallflowers are short lived. They will seed easily and you can end up with lots of young plants!
Gardening My Way 