My Little Garden - a look back at spring.
December is the worst time of year in my little garden. It’s not the choice of plants particularly, but because the garden is north facing (and challenged in terms of size) I’m completely missing the type of light that can make some winter gardens look so beautiful. In spring and summer, the aspect can be a blessing, with full sun for most of the day on the borders and the main patio giving some shade at the height of the day. But that doesn’t help right now…..
To add to my garden woes, this week has also seen torrential rain and strong winds, so I’m very pleased that I planted the last of the bulbs for next spring after they arrived in the post last Saturday. They were an impulse buy, and given the inclement weather they were quickly “bunged” (technical gardening term) into pre prepaired pots.
Anyway, rather than bore you further with some rather dull December photos, I’m going to use my Six on Saturday choices to take a look back at spring and summer in my garden. Summer will be next week, so here we go with some spring favourites.
- Iris
Back in February, Iris ‘Alida’ provided some very welcome colour. Such a beautiful blue variety and needless to say, it will feature in 2022 as well.
2. Hellebore
Hellebore ‘Penny’s Pink’ was one of the first of the hellebores to flower. I had moved it to a new location in the autumn of 2020, but it appears that I was taking my life in my hands according to the very wise Pliny the Elder.
Apparently what I should have done, according to this very informative tweet by @VenetiaJane was to draw a circle around the hellebore with a sword, turn to face east and offer a prayer to the gods and, most importantly, check there were no eagles watching as this would be a sign of my imminent demise.
Thank you Venetia for this valuable new information, and I’m probably very fortunate that there are more pigeons than eagles around my local area.
PS, if you don’t follow Venetia on twitter already @VenetiaJane, she has a fabulous account that I’d highly recommend!
3. Narcissi
By the end of March, Jetfire was looking pretty good.
4. Aquilegia
Moving on into late spring, and the garden really comes alive with new growth. One of my favourite flowers is the aquilegia which comes in all sorts of colours, from the common pink to the elegant ‘Kristall’.
5. Crab Apple
This tree was covered in blossom in spring followed by so many little crab apples that it almost snapped under the weight.
6. Tulips
Well I couldn’t ignore the tulips could I……
Generally speaking, I tend to prefer pastel colours in the garden, but tulips are an exception and I love this combination of orange and purple in the east facing border. I dig up all my tulips every year (very wasteful I know, but I do give them away) so I can ring the changes.
And that’s it for this week. The Six on Saturday rules have been slightly tweaked, but I’ve enjoyed digging out a few of my spring highlights for you.
If you want to read the other Sixon Saturday blogs follow the link below and the hashtag #SixonSaturday on twitter.
https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/
Have a great weekend!
