In a Vase on Monday - Something old and somethings new

It feels so spring like this morning: cool clear skies, sunshine and the birds are singing.  The change to British Summer Time really suits me as I am an early riser, and it also gives us more light hours in the afternoon in which to garden. As usual I am joining in with Cathy over on 'Rambling in the Garden'.

Early this morning I picked the flowers of flowering currant Ribes x beatonii, aka Ribes Gordonianum, or Gordon's Currant as the starting point.  I featured the plant in my Six on Saturday giving its details.  The primula is one I picked up at Yeo Valley HPS Spring Fair on Saturday.  It had the name P. 'Masie Michael', which I had not heard of, but looking it up, I realise it had the wrong label, and since then the grower has come back to me and said it is likely  to be Millwood Cream.  

It has just the right amount of pink up the stem to then bleed into the pale yellow, which goes so well with the Currant.The flowers on the Ribes seem brighter in the garden, maybe the camera bleached out the colours slightly.

Ribes x beatonii, aka Ribes Gordonianum, or Gordon's Currant 

The something old is the Persicaria Red Dragon, which 15 years ago came to me in the post, from Cathy, as a small rooted cutting.  I wish I had kept track of all the divisions I have taken and shared or sold for charities at plant fairs.  I took seven good sized plants to Yeo Valley and they all sold.  I showed the combination of Red Dragon and Sorbaria sorbifolia 'Sem' which I also posted about on Saturday. I also showed the combination to Derry of Special Plants, who was much taken with the combination which she hopes to try out in her garden.   

Six on Saturday - End of March 2025

The weather at the end of March continues cool, and yesterday it was quite windy , but with no frosts,  and bright days mostly is just right for the garden.  I am joining in with other gardeners over at Jim's, where we link in six observations from our gardens.

Today I shall be at Yeo Valley Gardens which is on the northern side of the Mendips, helping out at the HPS Spring Plant Fair, and taking a fair few potted up plants to sell in aid of our funds.

1. There may be lots of colour at the moment from the early spring flowers, however plant leaf colour is making a good show:

Here Persicaria Red Dragon with Sorbaria sorbifolia 'Sem' in the foreground made a good combination.

2. Where there are primulas and pollinators it isn't surprising that a little hybridisation should occur: within a short distance of the Primula White Wanda, which is at the bottom of the picture , a little seedling has come up with a creamier hue.  

Primula White Wanda in the foreground

3. Another Primula: 'Blue Horizon'' which like Primula Wanda is a juliae type, is having a particularly good season.

4. When a little celandine hitched a lift at the side another plant in a pot bought from the HPS, I thought I would keep it and see how it would grow: quite nice, and a double. It looks very similar to Ficaria verna 'Picton's Double' but the leaves are quite different, so who knows what is its name? 

5. There is nothing quite like the excitement of seeing a shrub growing in a garden, one I haven't seen before, and falling in love at first sight.  That is what happened when visiting Broadleigh Gardens last year. When I saw Gordon's Currant I knew it was one for me to try.  Within a week a little plant arrived in the post, and less than a year later, having made some satisfactory growth it is now in flower.

    

Close up the shape and colouring of the blossom is delightful.

Ribes x gordonianum, also known as Gordon's Currant

6. One of the plants I bought at the Bishop's Palace Rare Plant sale a couple of weeks ago was this rather fetching cross between P. juliae and P. elatior, named after its creator, David Valentine, in effect a P. elatior hybrid. Through finding out a little more about Primula David Valentine,  I learnt this week is that the Gold Lace Primulas are also P. elatior hybrids.

Primula David Valentine

Plants from friends this week: 

Omphalodes linifolia is a plant I very much admired, but had yet to grow in the garden, so I was delighted when my gardening friend Alison who has an English Flowers business for which she is growing many different plant brought a little plant for me when she visited for tea this week.  I was also very pleased that she was able to take several primulas and other plants to grow in her home garden.

Lovely white border Phlox from Maggie R, which was planted by the previous owners of her new home.

Yellow Lime Marmalade

 A Lime is a thing of beauty, and as we buy them when they are lime green they are picture perfect.  Just by coincidence when we were walking past a gallery in Bath today, there in the window was a beautiful oil painting extolling the beauty of limes.

Even in our kitchen I have chosen lime green as an accent colour.  However I have known for some time that lime green limes are under ripe limes and once picked do not ripen. If left to mature on the tree they turn yellow, and as they ripen they get juicier and loose that extreme acidity.  When they are unripe and green a set marmalade requires the maker to reduce its acidity by adding bicarbonate of soda.  

Therefore when I saw a small box of limes being sold for 20p, yes about 1.5p each being sold off when I went up to Wells Fruit and Veg last week up at the Rocky Mountain Nursery, I knew one of the boxes had my name written on it.  

Even though I knew the acidity would be reduced, I still wasn't sure by how much, and thought about what I would add to the marmalade.  I have sometimes added extra 'botanicals' to lime marmalade such as cardamom and have tried juniper too, all of which taste wonderful. Over on my other blog, if you search on Lime, you will get an idea of some of those variations using limes.

This time I used cooking apples whole after removing just the stalk and flower ends.  The fruit was pressure cooked which really helps to soften the lime peel, which I then chop up after they are soften and passed all the remaining fruit through a fine sieve.  I wanted a fruity nicely set marmalade quite different to the jelly like Rose's Lime Marmalade. 

The set was perfect and this mornings breakfast proved that once again limes really do made a delicious marmalade. I'll be posting the recipe on  my other blog: Mrs Mace Preserves. 

Six on Saturday - 22 March 2025

I believe only a gardener could be thinking we need a little rain when everyone had been enjoying a really warm and sunny day on Thursday!  It rained overnight last night, so I had my wish granted, and this weekend I am sure there will be more mulch spreading, and adjustments, repotting etc.  Here are just Six of the many things going on in a small garden.  I am linking in with others over on Jim's Blog, where everyone rolls in with sixes, and you don't even have to play to enjoy watching what other gardeners are posting this week. 

1. Nothing quite like evening sun and Primula Wanda to brighten up the garden.

Primula Wanda

It doesn't mind the overnight frosts at all, is not fussy and happy anywhere in the garden.

2. A few years since first posting about Corydalis cheilanthifolia, it has found its own favourite place in the garden, no doubt helped by ants, and is very much thriving on the very sunny and dry stone wall.

A close up of the plant shows its dissected foliage and pretty flowers.

Jim showed his last week, and here are mine this week, here it is an evergreen.

3. Following Fred's almost all leaf theme last week her are beautiful shiny leaves of  Loropetalum 'Fire Dance', which this year seems so far to have survived the winter undamaged.

Loropetalum 'Fire Dance'

4.  There are so many plants in flower now in the garden and all around bees, bumble bees etc are harvesting, with this white Pulmonaria 'Sissinghurst' being one of the favourite. Again this is one of plants which reminds me of my friend Kay who gifted this to me many years ago.  I have three large patches in the garden, again one of those plants that I divide frequently to share with friends.

Pulmonaria 'Sissinghurst' 

5. One of the violets new to the garden last year is Viola 'Baronne Alice de Rothschild', doing very nicely in the Millefleur Border, aka the Conservatory Border.  I am trying to work on it looking like one of those very early tapestries during this spring periods. When my friend Alison visited, we went round the garden and she pointed out plants which I was able to divide and send her home with, I picked her a little pinch of these blooms, and they definitely have a strong scent.  They were put a little vase whilst we had coffee etc in the conservatory, and then with all the plants to pack up, I forgot to give her the violets, which are still on the Kitchen window sill.  

Viola 'Baronne Alice de Rothschild'

6. At this time of the year I find it hard to resist buying little pots of flowers, then placing them in the garden and forgetting what I planted and where.  This Spring I was totally surprised when these very pretty and small Scilla bifolia which I bought in 2023.  I read from my notes that I would need to find somewhere shaded to plant them.  I can't have headed my own notes as they were planted in a fairly sunny space, close to the seating circle in the bed that extends from the Acer. 

Scilla bifolia

New Plant bought at the Bishop's Palace last Sunday, to be featured in the coming weeks.

Phlox bifida 'Alba' from one of my favourite growers Pottertons

Primula David Valentine Vigorous cross between P.juliae and P.elatior. Lavender flowers in Spring.

Articles on Primulas this week:

https://www.rareplantfair.co.uk/news-and-articles/primulas-are-back-in-vogue/

Six on Saturday - 15 March 2025

 It is still cool here in Somerset, with some night frosts earlier on, but thankfully some good periods of sunshine.  The Snowdrops are very nearly over. On a couple of day a pair of Long Tailed Tits have been charming us as they search and collect little feathers and other soft material from between the plants. This weekly post is for the plants and matters gardening, and it is under Jim's wing that we gather and share .

My six this week:

1. I had not expected any gift, when I invited my friend and near neighbour Maggie round for a kitchen supper, but I couldn't turn down this little beauty: Anemone pavonina.  The 'Blooming Fun Gang' had all been to Forde Abbey earlier on that day,  but I did not go this time. Looking up its requirements and also its origins, a place downslope, in front of the Cistus x obtusifolius, was found. 

Anemone pavonina

2. Last week Beth mentioned the mosses in her garden, and joining in with that theme, here is one of the three pots growing in our side alley with ferns about to unfurl,  with their mosses.

3. On a little outing just on my own in order to maintain my driving, I visited a local spot called Rocky Mountain, to buy fruit and vegetables.  It also happens to be a plant nursery but here I only bought ericaceous compost and some slow release feed to plant up the Camellia 'Fairy Blush'.  A little detour saw me visiting a friend who had set up a new plant and gardenalia place, and I came back with a little addition to my primroses.  It is so small, neat and cute, and being well grown it easily separated into two.  Of course two labels were required!  I am showing flowers of Primula Schneekissen on the left, with Primula White Wanda on the right for comparison.

I wasn't surprised to read that it a  Juliana hybrid primrose from Germany, its original name Schneekissen, means snow kisses or snow pillow. Raised by George Arends sometime in the 1930's at his nursery in Ronsdorf, near Cologne.

Primula Schneekissen with label reading Snow Cushion

They may have had snow at the races in Cheltenham, but the only two snow cushions were lovely little primroses. 

I just love primulas, and here is a 'gratuitous' picture of the primroses in the Wells Bishop's Palace arboretum this week to show just how well they grow in Wells.  Their rampart walk bank is covered all with naturalised primroses with many variations.

 

4. Only a couple of weeks ago I mentioned on my SOS post my disappointment regarding the lack of growers for the Primula vulgaris 'Taigetos'.  I remember the wonderful display when the Blooming Fun gang visited  Broadleigh Gardens last year. My SOS Sis sent me a very generous package with two plants courtesy of one of her Patrons, and again two labels were duly written, and the garden will no doubt be a spectacular primrose garden this time each year going forward. 

5. In the front garden the earliest species tulip to flower is the multi headed T. Turkestanica.  You can probably see that the soil is in need of a much after the heavy rains this winter, and yes mulching is on the list of jobs to do this coming week.  I have had the bags standing by some time now, but the opportunity or weather have been against me till now.

6. Early in the week, I felt the lovely Pittosporum Tom Thumb was getting a little large and decided to have a prune of it. I didn't take any before pictures but this is what it looks like now, diminished in volume by about half.  It had a harder cut on the southern side. I had been looking to giving it  a trim, a little more than the odd the pieces which grace my Vases on Monday, for some time.  I also like to cut quite good handfuls and place them just on their own in a vase, and place them as if they were house plants around the house. The dark maroon shiny foliage is so attractive and it also gives off a pleasing scent. There often  seems to be the newer green growth appearing and I felt then the sap would be active and could lead to too much bleeding, I caught it when it was just ticking over without the new growth, and   I just hope it has not suffered too much. 

Pittosporum Tom Thumb pruned

A few days ago my friend Mandy asked me if some of the YouTube videos were possible such as growing a rose tree from a whole rose hip, which just grew roots and shoots.  I am sure this is a ruse to get people looking and a clever piece of trickery, but it did get me thinking and feeling pleased for having so many plants in my garden that I raised from cuttings.  This Pittosporum is one of them, taken from a shrub from my previous garden. Of course a few more cuttings were taken this time just to see if they would take, without knowing where in the garden there would be any space! 

Interesting sources of information found on the internet this week are the various names for leaf shapes for primulas...I had no idea there were so many! https://primulaworld.blogspot.com/2015/10/primula-leaf-glossary.html and that site offers so much more botanic details.