Here in the UK it feels very much like the depth of a wet winter. It is gwetting a bit lighter in the morning and there is little colour in the garden. It’s hard to imagine in a few more weeks, the garden will spring to life. I hope the gardener springs into life too!
These are a few spring scenes to give us a taste of things to come.
Daffodils by River. …
Greenery is all very well but I like to see swathes of colourful flowers.
I try to envisage how mixed planting will shape up in terms of colour but generally my minds eye falls short when it comes to the imagination department.
The best tip is to keep it simple with only a very limited number of varieties chosen because they are due to flower around the same time.
By contrast my wife, on the other hand, is wedded to green leafed houseplants, green conservatory plants and even green outdoors. (She is also wedded to me and I am not as green as I am cabbage looking so at least I get some colour into the garden)
Perhaps she should grow Gloxinia
I do not mind seeing my colour in wild meadows or just as yellow in a field of buttercups. This photo looks like a pointillist painting rather than a snap shot but it was planned by RHS gardeners to look something like this when the ground was laid out.
A friend at our village gardeners club insists she only grows flowers that avoid yellow – I guess she thinks it too garish and she misses out on some grand flowers.
Woodland walks in Spring would not be the same if it wasn’t for the Snowdrops, Aconites and Narcissus.
Even wild garlic is better when you can see the white flower.
Is white really a colour some folk ask – to me a resounding yes, just consider a rainbow.
White is the second most useful colour in the garden after green. I am progressively increasing the number and variety of white and grey plants that I grow.
Some of the best garden flowers are white! See our selection.
White Lily. A very delicate white with yellow stamen.
One of the favourite coloured flowers in the garden is white. The good news is that there is a huge variety of plants and flowers to choose from. White is admired for its simplicity and purity. White can go anywhere in the garden and will mix with any colour. Even on a dark day, white flowers can brighten up a darks spot of a garden. In addition to white flowers, also consider white / silver leaves and bark. For example, the lovely silver birch tree.
Small Chrysanthemum perennial
Snowdrops. Pure white in the depth of winter
Lupin.
Note this looks even better in early morning / late afternoon when the sun is less strong. Here the white stands out more. In the mid day sun, it can look a bit bleached by intensity of the sun.
Snowdrops are officially called Galanthus. This snowdrop is Galanthus elwessii with larger than normal blooms and a honey scent the other main species are Nivalis and Plicatus. The snowdrop is very hardy, grows in most soils and prefers partial shade.
Cultivation
The process was originally developed for narcissus, but works well with galanthus producing 10-30 new bulbs from one old one.
Art can be found in many situations and you don’t need to look too far in the alpine house.
See my many magnified, magnificent and magical mushrooms and alpines for startling patterns.
Getting up close and personal is one of the main ways to enjoy Alpine plants and succulent species.
Houseleeks seem to grow for the sake of making patterns from Hens and Chickens through to this rapidly reproduced colour scheme. Other images on Google
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Tale Valley nursery hold a national collection of these floriferous plants.
For a short intensely coloured alpine or pot raised plant there is little to touch Rhodohypoxis. The flowers are thick and wax-like white or shades of pink to purple. Interesting doubles are now being bred such as ‘Lilly Jean’, ‘Hope’ or ‘Kiwi Joy’.
Rhodohypoxis grows to 2″ in height although Rhodohypoxis deflexa only reaches 1″ or less depending on position in your garden and Rhodohypoxis ‘Tetra White’ can be 4″ tall.
Regular dead-heading of the spent flowers helps to improve flowering performance.
Grown in plastic or terracotta pots, they are best re-potted every year.
Add a high potash slow release fertilizer into the compost at potting time.
Compost should be relatively free draining by adding from 30%+ grit to the growing media
Around May the first lance-shaped leaf growth appears. They are quite short and form a spikey matting until covered in flowers for the rest of summer.
Rhodohypoxis will happily withstand freezing cold provided the plants are kept almost dry through winter.
Their chances of survival outdoors can be enhanced by placing a pane of glass over the top of them during their dormant period.
‘Containerised plants require plenty of moisture in the spring and summer which is reduced as the leaves start to die down in August to October depending on the variety.’
Provide a liquid feed to build up the, small corm like, root stock during the growing period.
Trim off dead foliage and store corms through winter in a cool environment.
Propagate by division when dormant.
Rhodohypoxis baurii
White flowers with shorter but wider leaves.
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A rock garden is a grand place to display your alpine plants. You can shade them with rocks, provide deep root runs and provide rain cover with perspex roofs
In Alpine conditions plants can shelter behind rocks that give them protection from wind and rain and help with drainage. Try to give your plants similar conditions to there original habitat and they will repay you for your attention to detail.