It’s All Happening Now!

With a positive telling our full day in the garden yesterday might be described as an excellent example of the “Carpe Diem” attitude but, if truth be told, it was more a case of headstrong revolt against cabin fever for it was preceded by days of horrible weather with gales, heavy rain and flooding. After such weather the ground was saturated and working on beds wasn’t appropriate but I was adamant that a job on the long finger for ages should be done and, indeed, it was.

There were two small jobs listed before the main event – the lifting, splitting, relocation and replanting of a clump of Leucojum vernum var carpathicum (Spring Snowflake) and of a clump of snowdrops (Galanthus ‘S. Arnott’) both for the good of the plants and to fill two areas which needed a little interest. Both were light easy jobs, if a little slow, for there was a good hundred bulbs in each case but it will prove worth the bother when they flower next spring.

The main event was the rescue of two clumps of Iris ensata which had been encroached upon by super vigorous hostas, the cultivars ‘Empress Wu’ and ‘Sum and Substance’ and the division and replanting of these hostas. The irises came with ease as they are reasonably shallow-rooted but the hostas were big brutes and the work was made difficult by the soft, wet clingy condition of the soil after all the recent rain. ‘Empress Wu’ was divided and replanted as five large pieces with another smaller piece set aside to be grown in a pot near the house. ‘Sum and Substance’ made six large pieces and, again, with a piece set aside for a pot. We didn’t have suitable pots at the time but will got one today and will empty two others of winter pansies and use them.

When the work was finikshed there was still time to stroll the garden and to be amazed at the enormous burst of growth there has been in the few days when we were confined to barracks. Even when the weather is dreadful I usually manage to take stroll around the garden on most days so see what is looking well, to admire newly emerged plants and note anything which needs attention. A break of this routine for even a day or two at this time of the year guarantees many surprises when one returns to normal ways. A little growth day by day is noticed on a daily walk but it can be amazing to see the accumulated growth of a few days and the emergence of flowers where only very recently none was apparent. I find it one of the great joys of gardening and certainly far better than plonking about in muddy conditions to divide hostas and the likes.

Now, a photographic update on the garden at the moment:

A walk around on a recent bright morning:

These recent days have seen a wonderful explosiong of plant growth. We no longer look to the snowdrops for our flower interest and though there are some still in flower at this moment they are now overshadowed by the newcomers – magnolias, daffodils, trilliums and primulas among others.

With Mount Congreve Gardens only a few minutes away from us we are spoiled by the display of magnolias we can see there yet always delight in the handful of specimens in our own garden. We have been fortunate that frosts have not hit the blossom this year and the flowering of the magnolias seems to be as good as has ever been seen here. Magnolia x loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’ always gives the first and an outstanding display each year despite my heavy pruning to lift the lower branches. Magnolia stellata follows quickly, though ‘Rosea King’ was slow this year. Magnolia soulangeana follows with one tree open and others to follow – ‘Rasperry Ice’, ‘Heaven Scent’, ‘Yellow River’ and ‘Yellow Lantern’ and a few other later performers but they are for another day/blog.

When you click on a photograph to view in larget format, the name will appear underneath:

Ireland has a wonderful tradition of daffodil breeding which continues strongly to this day. Our climate and soil suit daffodils perfectly and it is no surprise that almost every garden will have a selection and it is common to see roadsides planted with drifts of daffodils each March. Here is a selection from our garden:

There was a time when I baulked at any attempt to grow trilliums in the garden. They were only available as dry plants, were quite expensive and were very slow to establish and then slow again, extremely slow, to flower and bulk up in number. That was enough to discourage me but I was given a piece by a friend from his garden and it simply romped away as did similar pieces received from kind friends who had them growing well so that they have now become a favourite plant here for their ease of cultivation, the wonderful display they give and the generosity with which they now self-seed in the garden – I planted out over 80 garden seedlings of Trillium albidum two years ago and most are coming into flower at the moment. Trillium chloropetalum is leading the show at the moment with several species yet to come into flower. None of the yellow forms of T. chloropetalum are open yet but all are in bud so something else special to look forward to.

Finally, it is just the beginning of the primula season with the first of the season opening:

Wherever you are, Happy Gardening!