The spring garden

The new garden is really taking off now as buds open out into flowers & leaves. There is a bit of me that’s almost reluctant to go away to France & miss some of the show. However, the other half of me acknowledges we’re both bone weary & need a break. France should buck us up to cope with the coming summer & the workmen changing all our windows & doors in June/July time.

At the moment our walled garden is dominated by the tall holm oaks which have yet to knit together to form a screen. Below is a line of bright yellow flowers of mahonia. In front of that is some viburnum. These are just coming into pinky white flower whilst one still has its brilliant blue berries as well. The berries are quite glossy & jewel-like. The colour of the berries seem to have got bluer & brighter as the winter’s gone on. We’ve sat out in the walled garden a couple of times & can’t wait to get on to sorting out some colourful pots to make it a thoroughly welcome area. We’re even contemplating putting in a solar powered water feature to provide the gentle tinkle of moving water.

As for the main part off the garden, the most noticeable feature is the wild garden area. The stand of silver birches are getting a green haze. Below is a sea of creamy whites as all the narcissi are in flower. The scent is wonderful. I suppose I would have preferred yellow daffodils. To me that would be more in keeping with the wild theme of this part of the garden, but the creamy whiteness does echo the other colours in the garden in the garden at this time of year.

Nearer the house the pulmonaria is just about coming to an end. The white flowers are beginning to scatter across the beds. However, the mottled leaves still give interest. Behind them are a few coppery saplings with beautiful delicate white flowers.

Further up the garden some hellebores, both greeny white & dusky pink hang there heads. Then there is a spiky green plant, I’m not sure what it is. The flowers are limey green with a tiny bit of deep crimson in the centre, rather lovely in a subtle sort of way. In the bed near the wild garden is a low lying plant, full of little pale yellow & white bells, almost like miniature daffodils. Again I don’t know their name.

On one pergola the clematis is beginning to open out. The flower seems small, but a wonderfully deep purple with a white & yellow centre. When it is grown a bit & covers the pergola, mixed with the wisteria also growing on the pergola it should look fabulous. Now it is not even a third of the way up the uprights so it’s got a long way to go.

Buds are everywhere & we’ve not yet even seen some of their colours as the garden wasn’t planted until the autumn was on its way. It is all very exciting. It is also pretty mysterious as so many plants lost their name tags, if they ever had them, over the winter months. What is more the actual planting was changed from the plans we were given last year with the result some plants aren’t in the garden or if they are they moved position.

 It’s going to be an adventure as we discover what’s out there.