April 2022...where did March go!

​Well March flew by in a blur of bulbs and general busyness in the nursery, in fact at times I’ve been so focussed on the work in front of me that I’m quite sure half the month just slipped by without me even noticing. Yesterday I was exhausted so I decided to put a dress on and take the day off…my theory is that if I wear a pretty dress then I’m not going to go anywhere near potting mix! I stayed clean all day so it did work, except maybe when I decided to make bread 😉
Maybe I’m channelling my inner feminine side this week, because all my walks around the garden seem to involve admiring clouds of pink things. The attraction of hot oranges, rusty coppers, golden yellows and searing reds that came at the end of summer has been replaced with a love of all things floaty and dreamy…the Japanese Anemones are stunning at the moment, particularly the single soft pink variety which wends its way up alongside the lawn, hugging the limestone rocks behind it, the flowers held up above the foliage as if to greet the sun, and gently waving in any breeze that comes along. The white form ‘Honorine Jobert’ is looking equally as beautiful, although this year she has been joined by an interesting Dahlia, which must be a relic of the previous garden there…something akin to one of those woollen pompoms mum taught me how to make when I was a child, and a mixed up colour of dishwater, lemon and pink. Not the best combination really...I feel this one is on my hit-list. Anyway, throughout the garden there are clouds of Aster and Boltonia varieties which draw the eye, particularly the smaller-flowered ones like ‘Coombe Fishacre’ which starts out pinkish and deepens to mauve with berry-pink button centres, it reaches a reasonable height too and has good strong stems. Nearby there’s a lovely single soft pink variety that was a gift from my friend Glenys, which has been a stunning hazy cloud for weeks on end, plus who could go past ‘Little Carlow’, one of the finest Asters of all time with masses of glowing lavender blue flowers, although I must say this year it has competition for my affections…a highly floriferous variety that was already here in the garden, and has been allowed to shine now, with masses of slightly arching, upright stems carrying short branchlets studded with flowers in a gorgeous shade of softest lavender with a hint of pink…whatever it is, it is a real beauty and goes so well with everything else in the garden. On the eye-catching side of the colour spectrum, ‘Andenken an Alma Potschke’ has been in flower since January…viewed in the morning or the evening she is easy on the eye and not particularly remarkable, but visit her during the day and she is resplendent in glorious hot cerise pink daisies, just a shade darker than that which would have you reaching for your sunglasses. I remember she was a favourite of our friend Roger and I often wondered what the attraction was, but now I can see…long flowering, strong but not too tall, and such a colourful impact plant.
Back to the clouds of girlish pink…I selected a particularly sturdy Gaura from a batch of ‘Sparkle White’ seedlings last year, as it was a bit different from the rest. Having planted her out last spring I can now report that getting to the vege garden has taken on a whole new level of ‘into the wild’…she is magnificent. We measured her the other day – a mere 80cm at her tallest, which is not particularly tall for a Gaura, but at 1.4m wide and densely covered in fluttering pink-tinted white flowers from one end to the other, she is certainly not like the lofty, willowy varieties I am familiar with. I shall have to take cuttings. Another plant that seems to have spread out and is now beginning to send up lots of flower stems is my apricot pink form of Salvia spathacea, each pink flower looking like someone has dipped it in apricot coloured blusher. Standing there admiring it I realise at the back of the bed there are long stems of Salvia confertiflora ‘Meg’ appearing, rising upwards like trails of soft peach-coloured stars above a sea of grey-green foliage. And just to the side an expanding mound of the mauve and white flowers of Salvia leucantha ‘Spring Gold Joy’ a form of Mexican Bush Sage which is softer and easier on the eye than the vibrant purple form called ‘Midnight’ (although to be honest I wouldn’t be without that one ever…it is looking absolutely incredible right now as well!).
 
Out in the nursery there is plenty happening, lots of plants coming on for autumn and winter planting, plus forward planning for spring sales. In a few weeks’ time we will see the much awaited return of the Lupins in individual colours. I haven’t grown these for a few years now and I get asked about them all the time…so out there in the nursery are rows of pots with strong, healthy seedlings which can be planted this autumn for spring flowering. There will be white, pink, red, carmine, yellow and blue so you can colour coordinate your plantings. There’s plenty of them but if you’re worried about missing out or have ‘big plans’ for your garden this year then feel free to pre-order some.  I’m also getting ready for another round of seed sowing next week with the arrival of the new moon, and more importantly the arrival of some exciting new seeds…all sorts of plants that I’ve never grown before, so there will hopefully be ‘some for me and some for you’ later in the year 😊
 
I’ve just updated the website and there’s more stock been added to the existing numbers of the beautiful Patrinia villosa, the good form of Sea Holly Eryngium planum ‘Blaukappe’, bronze flowered Digitalis trojana and some 1 litre grade Agastache cana ‘Bolero’.  Below is a list of new additions to the line-up since last month:
 
Eryngium giganteum ‘Silver Ghost’ (few only)
Echinops bannaticus ‘Star Frost’
Salvia ‘Shangri-La’ (S. moorcroftiana x S. indica)
 
Agastache foeniculum (anise hyssop)
Agastache rugosa ‘Arcado Pink’
Amsonia tabernaemontana
Cavendishia acuminata
Echinacea pallida
Eryngium yuccifolium
Heuchera maxima
Patrinia villosa (few only, more coming)

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