Corydalis popovii is a small bulbous plant flowering up to 6 inches in height. In spring it assumes a white colouring after the purple flowers. This plant comes from Central Asia and is easy to grow and long-lived in a well-drained compost in a pot.
They can be grown in the open garden in full sun and freely drained soil.
Fertilize with a specific fertilizer for bulbous plants, every 2-3 weeks, from when the first flowers start withering.
Corydalis plants don’t like cold temperatures or wet conditions and need a rest period before being brought back into growth.

There is more information on silver specter CorydalisPaghat

Different Corydalis are available from Christie’s Alpine plants.

Series of well ventilated cold frames.

Cold Frames are an excellent low cost method for developing and growing young seedlings. Cold frames make a good alternative to the the cost and size of conventional greenhouses.
To some extent you can make your own cheap cold frames. See this post – Home Made Cold Frames

This cold frame from Focus DIY is good value at under £100.

A good cold frame needs to have an easy mechanism for allowing air in. The cold frame can then be closed at night to protect seedlings against frost. This wooden variety helps keep the heat in. For best results keep at a south facing wall. The wood also makes quite an attractive feature for the garden.

The only problem with cold frames, is that  once you realise how useful they are, it soon becomes full and you start wanting a greenhouse! Of course, a cold frame can be an excellent choice for those who find the greenhouse overflowing at this time of the year.

Cheapest Cold Frames

Some of the cheapest cold frames can be bought for under £50. This Gardmen cold frame holds 6 seeds trays (1000mm *650mm) and can be bought for less than £50. Cold Frames at Amazon.co.uk

The smallest Greenhouses (6ft * 6ft) will come in at over £200. Greenhouses

Watering can be the key to  success in the garden and with your houseplants. Not surprisingly plants without water die !  Plants can drown with too much H²O so watering is a skill worth learning.

Conserving Water in the Garden

• Dig in bulky organic matter to increase the water carrying capacity of your soil.
• Keep the surface mulched to avoid evaporation.
• Keep soil weed free. Weeds compete for moisture and evaporate through their leaves.
• Wind increases evaporation so build wind breaks.
• On sloping land sow across the slope reducing run off and soil errosion problems.
• Plant water hungry plants together where rainfall will be highest. Do not bother to water lawns they will recover from most drought conditions when it rains.

How to Water Garden Plants

• Concentrate watering on special plants in critical periods do not just water generally.
• Only cultivate shallowly in hot drying weather so the dusty top soil can act as a mulch for the wetter deeper soil.
• Water with a fine spray, large dropplets damage plants and soil structure.
• Water deeply so water penetrates to the roots. Direct water to the base of plants. Watering through a sunken clay pot can allow water to reach roots.
• Water in the evening to reduce evaporation.
• Plants grown close together make heavy demands on water, plan your spacing.
• Too much water can encourage lush growth at the expense of strong roots and can lead to rotting so ration the amount.
• Water slowly and throughly.

Watering Houseplants

1. There are two main ways to water either method is suitable. The most favored being watering from the bottom by immersing the pot in standing water until it is absorbed and the soil is damp to the touch.
2. Contrary to popular belief  you can water most houseplants  from the top but I believe it offers less control and can damage bulbs and plant prone to rotting. You also  have to be sure not to splash water on the leaves, or soak the crown of the plant.
3. Use tepid water and   water when the plant shows signs of needing moisture such as  slightly wilted leaves or very dry soil. Some plants thrive best in humid conditions so use hortag or clay granules under pots but do not allow houseplants to stand in a puddle.

Watering Equipment

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Dionysia are a group of plants containing 30+ species found in mountainous areas in Afghanistan and Iran. Dionysia are the ultimate alpine plant producing a mass of, often fragrant, bloom on top of a perfect dome. However they are tough to keep alive without alpine house conditions. These plants are not for the novice and need care particularly with watering.

Dionysia are cousins of the cushion Androsaces but differ by having a long narrow tube to the corolla. They like a gritty scree with some humus and plenty of water in the growing season.

Dionysia are part of the Primulacea family and have many similar genes particularly when it comes to colour. For example, hirsutin has been identified as the violet pigment in flowers of Dionysia archibaldii, D. bryoides, D. curviflora and D. microphylla. Yellow pigment in flowers of D. aretioides is now reported also in D. bornmuelleri and D. paradoxa.

Download a pdf article on 5 new Dionysia species or visit Rock Garden database for a list of the Dionysia species.

A four foot square clump of plump new peony shoots were highlighted at Kew Gardens by the grey, gravel mulch around them. I have not suffered from slugs on Peonies, nor have they had problems with rotting, so I do not put gravel around my plants. However if it is OK for Kew then I guess it is OK for me. At least it would be a decorative improvement on my bare soil.

Ask two gardeners about mulch and you will get three answers. For example when asking about mulching Peonies I got these answers ‘Three popular choices are straw, compost or dry leaves.’ ‘Some popular spring mulches are shredded bark, pine nuggets or straw.’ So no gravel there then!

Planting deeply may prevent the peony from flowering, they do better for a bit of frosting on the crown apparently. Peonies can live for over 50 years and mine flower just fine so I am leaving things as they stand ie. very occasional mulch when the compost heap has generated compost to spare .

Aim for a waxy texture with your salad potatoes and you will probably get some of the best flavoured spuds you have had in a Salad. Waxy potatoes remain intact after cooking and do not go into the water. Waxy potatoes tend to be Early to crop 75 -95 days. Waxy potatoes lend themselves to growing in large pots, barrels or containers.

Early Salad Varieties of Potato

Charlotte is resistant to blight and has a good cooked waxy texture.
Roseval is an attractive, high yielding pink skinned potato will make attractive salads.
Anya has a distinct nutty taste and waxy texture. Very long oval tubers with brown skins and cream flesh but susceptible to greening.
Maris Peer looks creamy yellow with regular shaped tubers.
Nicola will produce a high number of uniform tubers per plant.
Jersey Royals are a well known ‘new potato’ with good flavour but hard to grow well.
Belle De Fontenay is a variety I am trying for the first time this year .
Maincrop varieties include the knobbly Pink Fir Apple, Ratte an heirloom variety and Aura.

Roseval variety pictures from British Potato Database

Gardeners Tips on Salad Potatoes

• Grow your spuds in half a grow bag stood on its end and you will get clean tubers.
• Containers can be stood on paths or decking to increase your cultivated area.
• Provide good drainage and top up the compost when leaves show to avoid green on the tubers.
• Do not put too many tubers in each pot or container.
• Save some tubers to plant later in the year – I have had new spuds on Christmas day.
• Make a list of possible varieties and go to a good seed merchant who sells loose potatoes. Do not worry if some of the varieties you list are not available, try a lucky dip.

How do you plan a colour scheme when gardening with a wide palette of colour. The answer is to use complimentary colours that are directly opposite on the colour wheel. This give a lie to the old phrase about red and green which is about dress sense rather than gardening nous.

Other colour combinations that work well include yellow and violet or deep purple and for the adventurous blue and orange.

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Bluebells are brilliant plants for woodland and glades but in my garden they are a bit of a nuisance. I would like to think my Bluebells are pure English but I think they may have hybridised somewhere down the line. They are scented but are light blue! I can’t remember
my flowers but English Bluebell flowers are narrow bell shapes hanging on one side of the stems, unlike the Spanish which are upright and wide open bells.

The reasons I find them a nuisance is the soft leaves become floppy and messy as soon as the flowering is finished. For years I have pulled up the leaves and composted them and thereby starts my problem. I have inadvertently spread the bulbils via compost to many unsuitable parts of my garden. The bulbs are deep and hard to eradicate so I am stuck with them.

See more Bluebells in Flower and ‘Tidy Up Bluebells’

It is illegal to dig up wild Bluebells but spring is a good time to plant them in the green. If after all this you wish to buy Bluebells you can do so from Thompson Morgan

Seeds that have germinated and grown roots (radicles) and sprouts (plumules) can add flavour and texture to your meals. They do not take up space in your garden and can be grown all year round.

Bean sprouts in Chinese restaurants are crispy additions to the flavours and textures of your meal. The trick to growing long crisp sprouts is to grow them under pressure. In a dark, free draining container put a half inch layer of bean seeds, cover with a damp cloth and put a one pound weight on top. Rinse daily under a tap and 4-5 days later they will be ready to eat.

Open sprouting can be done like our childhood mustard and cress on a foam base covered with layers of paper towels or on moist cotton wool. Cover with tin foil to exclude the light and germinate in a warm spot.

There is a wide variety of seeds that can be eaten as sprouts or seedlings but do not eat legumes to excess. TLegumes, particularly  Broad beans and French beans are  slightly toxic. Corriander, Leeks and Onions can be eaten as seedlings. Cereals are only eaten as very small sprouts. All Brassicas can be eaten as seedlings.  Buy from health food shops or specialist suppliers and keep seed cool and dry until ready to use. Below is a table of some suitable plants for sprouting.

Planning for next spring I am listing plants I want to grow which includes some Narcissus romieauxii after I saw this display.

Narcissus romieuxii ‘Julia Jane’ is a small, low-growing daffodil with rough dark green leaves similar to Narcissus bulbocodium but distinguished by short wavy petals and protruding stamens. Flowers are pale yellow blooming well each year between late December and March. This is an early flowering species and is a native of Morocco
White flowering Narcissus romieuxii ssp. Zaianicus flowers in the very depths of winter and is unusually precious.
Protect your plants under glass, in pots in an alpine house, or planted out in a bulb frame. Although they will withstand at least 15 degrees of frost while in full flower without being damaged, if exposed to the wind and rain of a typical English winter, the pristine flowers spoil. Also, the bulbs need complete desiccation in summer, and it is difficult to ensure this in the open garden. If you doubt this advice read this from the Alpine Garden Society.
‘A few years ago I read that a distinguished grower of Mediterranean bulbs never completely dries them off, but leaves the pots in a sand plunge which is kept slightly damp in summer. When I followed this prescription for N. romieuxii, the bulbs were smaller, failed to multiply, and no flowers whatever were produced the following winter. When I reverted to the previous treatment in which the pots were lifted from the plunge in early May as the foliage withers and placed on a hot sunny ledge without any water for three months, it took two years for full vigour to be restored. I repot into fresh gritty sandy John Innes No 3 in the first week of August, water heavily, and keep the compost moist until growth starts. If there is no frost, I water with a dilute feed every two weeks throughout the winter.’

The best supplier I have found so far is Pottertons but let me know if you know of other companies.