Since I tend to mention how the weather has been during the last week, I was relieved in a way to hear on the radio that this has been the wettest March for 42 years. This is no April Fool joke, but I think it may have been even wetter where I am. We also had violent gusts and strong winds due to a storm a named one: Mathis, according to Jin. The garden has been so wet, but good drainage means that I have been able to do a little from all the gravel that I have, gravel paths and a gravel garden.
The gardening gods must have been thinking of me and all the other people who came to the HPS spring Plant Fair last Saturday. For my shifta on the gate at Yeo Valley, although I caught a little wind burn from the cold wind, elation at the variety of plants on offer kept me going. Not being counted as my six I'll just slip in a list and will in coming weeks or years comment on them: Iris Lutescens, Anemone Blanda White Splendour, Tetraneuris scaposa, Daphe x susannae 'Cheriton, Osteospermum Irish, all from Pottertons I think, and
Muscari pseudo muscari Azureum from Avon Bulbs.
1. Muscari from the above,
Chris Island-Jones from Avon Bulbs assured me it was a well behaved one and not invasive.
These are Muscari from a few bulbs found growing close to an old conifer which I dug up three or four years ago.
A feature which distinguishes the genus Pseudomuscari from the related Muscari is that the mouth of the flower is not narrowed but forms an open bell-shape. It grows in alpine meadows in north and east Turkey.
2. I cut down the stems on both the Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire'. The stems will probably end up as pea sticks, but in the meantime they brighten up the pots of Tulips which are yet to flower. Here are few are around the Primula auricula 'Nessun Dorma'. I've placed them on the table to catch the maximum light to help them achieve lots of flowers. One is really meant to have just a single rosette of leaves, to have show standard plants, but I decided to grow them with several this year in larger and longer 'long toms'.
3. This is one of the Euphorbias I did keep, and was moved out of its pot into the hot dry front garden.
4. On the side of the garden where I have a small 'potager' the edge between the soil and the gravel is starting to look a little messy. Is it my fault or are the blackbirds and robins at fault, or is it a design error? I intend to get a couple of sacks of gravel to tidy it up soon.
For a few years there was a lovely edge of chives, then it went to a variety of herbs. For this season onwards I am planning a nice of edge of strawberries, after all this is the only productive area of the garden. In readiness to plant out the Sweetheart Strawberry plants which I had picked up at Rocky Mountain Nursery this Thursday, I had several thymes to dig up.
I trimmed off a very good supply of thyme and was delighted to discover some good rooted young stems which have now been moved elsewhere. We had chicken tagine with preserved lemon and lots of thyme last night whilst they are fresh and green.
5. These two conifers in pots have been looking good all winter, with a garden on the small side sadly they will not make the open ground, but I would not be without them. I have a couple of others too...
Japanese Umbrella Pine Sciadopitys Verticillata, Chamaecyparis pisifera var. filifera maybe ‘Filifera Aurea’, it could be 'Golden Mop'. This one is crying out for a bit of sun to enhance its 'highlights'.
6. It is less than a month since I bought Clematis alpina Blue Dancer, and it is now in flower. I potted it up in a longer plastic long tomb shaped pot but on one of the days when we had a bit of sun, I felt the pot was getting too warm, and after all they do say to keep the roots of clematis cool, so I slipped it into an outer terracotta pot, and now with again a few sticks from the Cornus is forming one of the bookends on the posing shelf. I'll repot into a slightly larger pot in a few weeks time and keep it the shade. |
| Clematis alpina Blue Dancer |
A lovely six, I can't decide which I like best. The new Muscari is a darling.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rosie, as you say why single one out just enjoy. Have a good week.
DeleteThe Muscari azureum is quite unusual in its shape - I like the way the bottom flowers push out, a bit like a ballerina's tutu. :D Your clematis 'Blue Dancer' is going to be a beauty!
ReplyDeleteThanks Catherine, nice encouragement regarding the clematis, and Avon are really good at new introductions, which is why they are so well regarded.
DeleteThat muscari has a really nice look and is different from the others we usually see !
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to seeing how it behaves and how well it will return next spring.
DeleteA lovely Six. It's very satisfying when thyme stems root themselves. I'm trying to encourage a silvery white variety to do the same.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a pretty thyme you have, these were bog standard culinary ones and a good lemon thyme for using in the kitchen.
DeleteThanks for explaining the difference between the Muscari and pseudo muscari. I can see the latter have a fluffier appearance as a result. I am a bit amazed by the size of the blooms on your clematis. I've definitely chosen a poorer variety.
ReplyDeleteI had to look it up, curiosity lead to find the explanation by searching and just thought I would share that. Maybe it is because the clematis is such a young plant but as you suggested there are different varieties and I struck lucky as single stem with two leaf buds when I bought it from Morrisons.
ReplyDeleteWe had the first completely dry day today that we've had in a good while 😂 Glad that you enjoyed your stint at Yeo Valley Noelle and that the weather gods were in a reasonable humour. That clematis looks most attractive indeed.
ReplyDeleteSo pleased it was dry for you too, a bit of sun makes such a difference.
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